Michigan football makes major lineup change against Illinois

Trent Knoop | 3 Hours Ago

Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images / Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

Coming out of the bye week, Sherrone Moore said his staff looked at any and all options -- including personnel changes. Many wondered if there would actually be any changes to the Wolverines' starting lineup besides Jack Tuttle at quarterback.

Turnes out there was.

The Wolverines changed their offensive line in hopes of better pass protection and continuity on the line. Left tackle Myles Hinton, who was ruled as questionable on the injury report, did not start and that's due to his injury -- not performance-related. But Michigan did switch things up at both center and right tackle based on what gives it the best chance to win the game.

Veteran Greg Crippen replaced Dom Giudce at center and Andrew Gentry started at right tackle in place of Evan Link. The Michigan offensive line is now -- from left to right -- Jeff Persi, Josh Priebe, Greg Crippen, Gio El-Hadi, and Andrew Gentry.

Both Crippen and Gentry have played plenty of football this season. Crippen started last week against Washington due to an injury to Giudice, but he has rotated with Giudice all season. Gentry has been used as the sixth lineman in packages this year. Michigan believes Gentry gives the Wolverines the better option in pass protection since Link has given up 19 pressures in six games.

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