Michigan Football: Offensive Line Review vs Hawaii

C Victor Oluwatimi (#55)

Grade: A- // Not the Herculean performance of last week, but Oluwatimi had another very strong showing in the Maize and Blue. He’s forceful at the point of attack, leads the unit well, and is agile and stout in pass protection.

Best Play: On J.J. McCarthy’s keeper, Oluwatimi had a simple double team with Gio El-Hadi. The duo uprooted the 2i technique, forcing the LB to fill hard. El-Hadi split off quickly and landed enough contact on him, leaving Oluwatimi to finish the block on the defensive tackle. He did so with force, driving the defensive tackle into the dirt for the finish, a textbook back block from the center position.

Oluwatimi also deserves some significant credit on Roman Wilson’s touchdown run, as he had a delayed pull, a very challenging block to execute. He engaged with the playside defender and occupied him for the right timing before disengaging to pull back and seal a linebacker, ensuring Wilson was able to turn the corner and get upfield on the play, ultimately a touchdown. Elite stuff.

Stats: 2 finishes, 0 pressures, 0 sacks allowed

RG Zak Zinter (#65)

Grade: C- // Zinter, unfortunately, struggled a bit in this one. Or at least, relative to the level of competition, you expected a lot more. Zinter got beat on the first pass play of the evening, J.J. McCarthy’s touchdown pass to Roman Wilson, and a few other times later on, including a very unfortunate sack when Cade McNamara stepped in,

Best Play: Late in the second quarter, Zinter finally got an opportunity to tee off on Blessman Ta’ala on the backside of an inside zone from C.J. Stokes. It did not really contribute much to the run, which went off the left-hand side, but Zinter made excellent contact, pressing Ta’ala off him with his inside arm and driving him a clean four yards off the line of scrimmage. This looked a lot like the Zak Zinter we have come to expect.

Stats: 0 finishes, 3 pressures, 1 sack allowed

RT Trente Jones (#53)

Grade: B // Jones had a nice game against Hawaii, though not entirely perfect. It’s clear he’s still got some room to grow but shows plenty of flashes suggesting he will be a very good player for the Wolverines the more reps he continues to get. He once again was a force in the run game, consistently uprooting defensive ends and getting to the second level.

Best Play: The Wolverines ran a simple power on 2nd and 1 late into the second quarter. Jones had a terrific chip block on the double team with Zak Zinter, then turned and booked it to the second level. In space, Jones not only made contact with the linebacker but locked into the block against him and drove him almost 10 yards downfield as Corum ran right behind him for a big gain for the Wolverines.

Stats: 1 finish, 1 pressure, 1 sack allowed