ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan football has managed to make it through the first 10 games without having any significant injuries. In the 11th, however, the Wolverines emerged somewhat banged up at key positions.
Mike Barrett left the Maryland game with a shoulder injury, but he returned shortly after going to the locker room. Myles Hinton left with a knee injury, but it was determined after he went to the locker room that he didn’t suffer any structural damage. Roman Wilson was in street clothes after sustaining a brutal hit after his one and only catch, as he entered concussion protocol. LaDarius Henderson was out and didn’t travel to College Park.
The good news is that acting head coach for Saturday, Sherrone Moore, says that the latter three should be fine for the Ohio State game, though it will be pending being cleared by doctors.
“Should be good to go,” Moore said. “We’ll see further and we’ll check with the doctors as we go as far as all three.”
The above are certainly among the concerns, but quarterback J.J. McCarthy has been playing through a leg injury he sustained during the Penn State game. McCarthy looked unlike himself against the Terps, leading many to fear what that might mean for The Game on Saturday.
However, on Monday, McCarthy ensures that he’s feeling healthy and good to go for this upcoming rivalry tilt.
“Doing really good,” McCarthy said. “Yeah, last week was a little bit rough. But I’m doing fantastic right now, treatment’s been great. And yeah, we’ll be ready to go.”
Michigan will need all hands on deck in facing the Buckeyes. The Game will kick off at noon EST and will be broadcast nationally on Fox.
No injuries all year, really, and then suddenly a bunch in one game. Unreal. #GoBlue
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — For the first time all year, Michigan football found itself having injury timeouts with players heading to the locker room banged up. With Ohio State coming up in a week, it’s not exactly the greatest timing.
Starting left tackle LaDarius Henderson didn’t make the trip to College Park to face Maryland, and his replacement, Myles Hinton (who started at right tackle, thus shifting Karsen Barnhart to left tackle) left the game with an apparent right knee injury.
Interim head coach Sherrone Moore said after the game he expects Henderson back next week and Hinton didn’t suffer any catastrophic damage to his knee on his injury.
“LD was working through something,” Moore said. “I think he’ll be back next week and Myles got a little knee — ended up (with) no structural damage, anything so nothing crazy.”
Perhaps just as key, especially considering how much the offense struggled against the Terps, was the injury to wide receiver Roman Wilson.
Wilson made the first catch of the game for the Wolverines, but the play was reviewed for targeting. Though the referees didn’t uphold the charge, Wilson immediately went to the injury tent and returned later to the sidelines in street clothes.
Moore isn’t sure the extent of the injury, whether it was precautionary or not, but he says Wilson appeared fine when he returned to the team’s sideline.
“Yeah, obviously was out. Not sure the exact knowledge what it is but the trainers ruled him out at that time, which was a responsible thing, I think, for us to do as a staff, medical staff. So they’re always on top of that stuff, especially when it comes to anything that could be the head. So he was fine. Talking and everything, everything was good. He was on the sideline afterward.”
While Moore didn’t update Mike Barrett’s injury, the sixth-year linebacker returned to the game after heading to the locker room. Barrett, who appeared in his postgame interview with an ice pack taped to his left shoulder, said it isn’t much to worry about as far as his future prognosis is concerned.
“Just a little AC sprain on my shoulder,” Barrett said. “I kind of got hit on one of the plays as I was making a tackle — somebody came in and kind of hit my shoulder.
“Just kind of came in and got it looked at. Got it padded up and went back out there. Nothing a little Tylenol won’t fix.”
Michigan and Ohio State will kick off next week at The Big House at noon EST with the game televised nationally on Fox.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan football heavily pursued former five-star offensive tackle Myles Hinton during his recruitment. While it seemed the Wolverines had a few aces in the hole, Hinton opted to carve out his own path.
Hinton’s brother, Christopher, was a defensive tackle in Ann Arbor at the time, and his parents moved to town as a result. However, when decision day came around, the younger Hinton opted to attend Stanford, all the way on the other side of the country.
However, Michigan waited patiently, and Hinton ended up in Ann Arbor after all. When he entered the NCAA transfer portal this offseason, he only had one real choice.
“Yeah, so, entered the portal and in my mind, I feel like it’s only one real option with me, which is Michigan,” Hinton said. “Because I had the prior experience my brother going here, family lived here for like a year, my brother went here. I had a lot of experience and being around the team, as a recruit, and then like, during COVID-19, when I like, went home. I felt like it was just natural — knew people on the team, knew people on the staff. It was just like, an easy transition versus like going to somewhere completely new.”
But the path to Ann Arbor from Palo Alto wasn’t as easy as one would think.
The Wolverines have long struggled to bring in top-flight transfer prospects because the University of Michigan admissions often doesn’t clear students from other programs. And when they do, if they haven’t already graduated and come aboard as a grad transfer, they’ll lose out on the credits attained from the classes they’ve taken at their previous college.
Such was the case for Hinton, who is still an undergraduate. He says that he cannot major in what he wants to at the moment, because, inexplicably, his credits from the prestigious Stanford didn’t transfer.
“Here, right now, general studies, because they had like, transfer — like the credits kind of messed up,” Hinton said. “But I was in human biology at Stanford. And then for some reason, they didn’t take a lot of the credits like, all my bio credits dropped. I don’t know, it’s crazy. But I’m trying to get into environmental science. I want to do marine biology — it’s what I want to do when I get out of football.”
Hinton’s story certainly highlights why the maize and blue don’t generally receive many undergraduate transfers as semesters, if not years, can be erased should players a few seasons in choose to continue their career with the Wolverines.
He continued, noting that in what is considered his senior year, Michigan had him take a class he started with when he first arrived in Palo Alto.
“Yeah, it was crazy! I was like, ‘What in the world!” Hinton said. “I took an intro to writing class last semester, and I was like, ‘What’s going on? What is going on?’ I took this class freshman year, it was crazy.”
This isn’t limited to football. Most recently, the Michigan basketball team had gotten a commitment from former five-star guard Caleb Love, who had started his career at North Carolina, only to learn he wasn’t admitted into the university.
So, when Michigan insiders insist that transfer targets couldn’t make it in due to extenuating circumstances when they opt for other programs, now you know one of the reasons.
Hinton has primarily played right tackle his entire career, so a lot with depend on what Karsen Barnhart decides. If Barnhart comes back to Michigan, then Hinton will need to shift inside, play left tackle, or be valued depth next next season.
Notes
Brother of former Michigan DT Christopher Hinton
Started nine games in 2021 and seven games in 2022 at right tackle
Was the teams Most Outstanding freshman in 2020
Allowed just two sacks in 2022
Highlights
RT 11AliveSports: Landmark Dodge Team 11 Truck of the Night: Myles Hinton from GAC https://t.co/0jkojbuV8E GACFootball myles_hint75 LandmarkDCJ #Team11 – 11AliveNews
Hinton, who was a part of the 2020 recruiting cycle, was ranked the No. 74 recruit in the country. He chose to attend Stanford over Michigan, Alabama, Florida and Georgia.
Hinton is the brother of former Michigan defensive tackle Christopher Hinton and was a major target in that 2020 cycle.
Hinton joins former Arizona State offensive lineman LaDarius Henderson and former Nebraska linebacker Ernest Hausmann as transfers headed to Ann Arbor.
Prior to landing Hinton, Michigan was ranked second by 247Sports behind Oklahoma in the transfer rankings.
