Michigan football had to deal with some surprises against the UTEP Miners on Saturday, one of those being the starting right tackle, Andrew Sprague, missing the game due to an injury.
In an interview with Jon Jansen on his weekly radio show, Kyle Whittingham said it was a "surprise" that Sprague had to miss the game last week. It also doesn't sound like he will be coming back anytime soon, at least not for the Iowa game on Saturday.
Sprague started every game at right tackle last season for Michigan football. The 6-foot-8 right tackle is one of the stalwarts on the offensive line. Yet, it feels like this injury could be one that lingers, just the way Whittingham talked about it made me feel uneasy.
Kyle Whittingham on Andrew Sprague timeline: "Could be anywhere from this week to several weeks ... making sure that we get the exact diagnosis and treat this thing the right way... he's a big part of what we're doing."
— Tony Garcia | Detroit Free Press (@RealTonyGarcia) September 21, 2026
"Could be anywhere from this week to several weeks ... making sure that we get the exact diagnosis and treat this thing the right way... he's a big part of what we're doing," The Michigan head coach said.
Michigan football is dealing with multiple injuries up front
Against an Iowa team that is always stout in the trenches, it's a less-than-ideal time to be missing one of the best offensive lineman on the team. This is a guy that Texas wanted in the portal.
What's worse is that all the depth Michigan had at offensive tackle has evaporated just like that. Andrew Babalola hasn't been available all season. It's fair to question when he will be available, if at all, this season. He has missed the first 16 games of his U-M career.
If Babalola were healthy, this injury news might be less worrisome. The response last week was to move left tackle Blake Frazier to the right side, with Evan Link at left tackle. That left Nathan Efobi and Brady Norton as the starting guards.
All those players have starting experience, but in an ideal world, Link and Frazier or Babalola would be the starting offensive guards. That's the weakness. Now that Sprauge is out, it feels like offensive tackle could be a weakness, too, which, again, is not what you want with Iowa coming to town.
Michigan leads the Big Ten on defense with 35 sacks and tackles for loss combined. The Wolverines have 25 tackles for loss and 10 sacks. No team has a combined number higher than that. Indiana is close with 33, followed by Iowa with 31.
That's why the Sprague news is so worrying.
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