ATHENS — Michigan’s offensive linemen, fresh off being awarded last year’s Joe Moore Trophy, arrived at pregame warmups for the Orange Bowl wearing matching T-shirts emblazoned with “Run the Damn Ball.”
The Wolverines did. Twenty-three times, in fact. They averaged 3.4 yards per carry.
Perhaps they should’ve worn T-shirts that read “Protect the Damn Passer,” because they couldn’t. Quarterback Cade McNamara was sacked four times, pressured three times and intercepted twice. The Wolverines lost the College Football Playoff semifinal to then-No. 3 Georgia 34-11. Georgia, as we know, went on to win the national championship.
The Bulldogs’ offensive line came into that game against Michigan feeling slighted for not making it past the semifinalist stage for the coveted Joe Moore Trophy, awarded to the best offensive line. They left feeling vindicated after Georgia rolled up 518 yards, including 190 rushing.
“Their offensive line won the Joe Moore Award,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said afterward. “Somebody made that decision who’s a lot smarter than me, but we’ve got a hell of an offensive line, too. I never had questions about this team and its resiliency and its amount of character.”
One year later, little has changed. Georgia’s offensive line was tabbed a finalist this year, but Michigan’s unit won the Joe Moore again. It became the first group in the history of the award to repeat.
The Bulldogs and Wolverines don’t meet in the semifinals this year, but they will on Jan. 9 in the national title game if each team wins Dec. 31. No. 1 Georgia (13-0) plays No. 4 Ohio State (11-1) in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, and No. 2 Michigan (13-0) faces No. 3 TCU (12-1) in the Fiesta Bowl. No doubt offensive line play will dictate whether either or both get to Inglewood, Calif., for the title game.
The people who vote on one of the only position-group trophies in college football are certain they got it right by picking the Wolverines again. Their regular-season-ending win over the Buckeyes was a big reason.
“What really impressed me was the Ohio State game,” said voter Jimbo Covert, who played for Joe Moore at Pitt and also with Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh when they both played with the Chicago Bears. “Great offensive lines take control of the football game when they have to. Their teammates depend on them to do it, and you did it. You ran the football down their throat and won the football game, which put you in the position that you are today.”
Covert spoke while presenting the award to the Wolverines in person in Ann Arbor.
ESPN analyst Cole Cubelic, chairman of the award’s selections committee and a former Auburn offensive lineman, agreed.
“As punishing and physically impressive as Georgia was, the collective voting body felt strongly that Michigan, above all others, was at their best when their best was needed, and that really seemed to be the differentiator,” Cubelic said. “The committee also recognizes that there is still more football to be played, and we’re excited to watch all of our milestone recipients finish their seasons strongly.”
Like all college football awards, there might be some regional bias within the voting body.
The group includes all 131 current FBS offensive line coaches, a legacy committee of former coaches, players, and colleagues of coach Joe Moore and select media with “vast experience and strong ties to college football or scouting,” according to the award’s website. Moore coached at Pitt, Notre Dame and Temple from 1977-96. He died in 2003.
But it’s not like there’s a long, deep history from which to draw. The gargantuan Moore Trophy has only been awarded since 2015. Like Michigan, Alabama has won it twice, the first year and again in 2020. Iowa (2016) and Notre Dame (2017) each claimed it once. Oklahoma and LSU won it in 2018 and ‘19, respectively.
No Georgia offensive linemen have been available for interviews since the 2022 award was presented Saturday. But a couple of the Bulldogs’ defenders who go against UGA’s group every day in practice are certain the selection committee got it wrong – again.
“I feel like they deserved it two years running,” junior nose guard Zion Logue said. “I think last year we got snubbed on it as well. But we’re not here to tell (others) what they’re supposed to say. We’re just here to play on Saturday. … But I feel like we have the best O-line in the country, hands down, every week.”
“The way they’ve been working … maybe it’s motivating them more,” sophomore linebacker Smael Mondon said. “I don’t think it’s negatively affecting them.”
It’s certainly hard – if not impossible – to make any kind of objective determination. Statistically, the Wolverines have a slight edge when it comes to running the football. They rank sixth nationally with 243 yards rushing a game. Georgia’s 17th at 207. Michigan, with 38, also has one more rush touchdown than the Bulldogs and is averaging 0.9 more points per game (40.1-39.2).
The rest of the pertinent stats would seem to favor UGA. That includes sacks allowed at No. 2 (0.33 pg) to Michigan’s No. 11 (1.0 pg) – with the Bulldogs passing the ball seven more times a game. They allow fewer tackles for loss per game (3.54 to 4.31). Georgia also enters the playoffs ranked seventh nationally in total offense (491.9 ypg) to the Wolverines’ No. 27 rank (453.5).
Of course, even meeting head-to-head doesn’t resolve the argument. After all, Georgia’s offensive line didn’t go against Michigan’s last year when they met in Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium. The Bulldogs held edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson, the Wolverines’ Heisman Trophy finalist and No. 2 overall pick in the NFL draft, without a sack. They nary saw quarterback Stetson Bennett even pressured on the way to 333 yards passing and four touchdowns. Georgia’s offensive line seemed significantly better, at least for one day.
But that was last year. This year, the Bulldogs’ offensive line features three new starters in right guard Tate Ratledge, left guard Xavier Truss and left tackle Broderick Jones. Jones, a redshirt sophomore, hasn’t allowed a sack and is currently getting first-round grades as an NFL prospect. Junior right tackle Warren McClendon and redshirt sophomore center Sedrick Van Pran also are receiving some first-round marks. Only McClendon made first-team all-conference, however, while Van Pran made second team.
Conversely, Michigan center Olu Oluwatimi and guards Trevor Keegan and Zak Zinter all were named first-team Big Ten, while tackle Ryan Hayes was second-team. None of the Wolverines’ linemen are receiving early-round mention from NFL scouts at the moment.
According to the committee, tight ends are also a consideration for the Moore Award. It’s hard to think of many better than Georgia’s Brock Bowers and Darnell Washington.
Regardless, Georgia first will have to prove itself on the field against Ohio State. The Buckeyes were overwhelmed by the Michigan line in the fourth quarter of a 45-23 loss on Nov. 26. No matter what happens going forward, that was good enough to land the Wolverines a second really big trophy.
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