One of the final remaining question marks regarding position battles on this year's Michigan football team is the competition at center between seniors Dominick Giudice and Greg Crippen.
Of course, the quarterback situation is still somewhat fluid, with the Wolverines making a change as recently as last week, but head coach Sherrone Moore has confirmed that Alex Orji will remain the starter until further notice.
At center, though, the competition seems far from over. Crippen was the presumed starter heading into fall camp, but Giudice overtook Crippen before the season opener against Fresno State, and he earned the start in Week 1 against the Bulldogs.
In that 30-10 win over Fresno State, Giudice played 49 of Michigan's 62 offensive snaps, and Crippen accounted for the other 13.
Giudice then played all 57 offensive snaps against Texas, while Crippen didn't see the field.
In Week 3, Giudice barely edged out Crippen in snaps, 34-30.
And in the team's most recent game against USC, Giudice played 38 of Michigan's 58 snaps, while Crippen saw action for the other 20 snaps.
On Tuesday, Giudice met with reporters to discuss the ongoing battle.
"It's been good," Giudice said. "Honestly, we've just been pushing each other. ... No matter who's out there, we're always looking for whatever it is — if I'm out on the field and Greg would tell me what he's seeing out there. If he's out on the field, I'll tell him what I'm seeing out there. Whatever we can do to help each other out. Obviously, we're gonna compete and try to be out on the field ourselves, but we're gonna try to make the team win. That's what matters the most."
"Obviously, we're at the University of Michigan. Competition is what we strive for, right? We say all the time, 'Pressure is a privilege.' So, at any point in the season, whoever's playing better, that's gonna be the person who plays in the game, and we don't shy away from that at all. That's why, at the end of the day, we want to win. ... I care about us winning. So, whoever's able to put us in the best position, I'm gonna do everything I can to help us win."
Oftentimes this season, Giudice has earned the start but then has been replaced by Crippen for a period of time, only for Giudice to reenter the game. The Texas game was the only contest in which Giudice never left the field, but he says even when he's subbed out for Crippen, he has to stay engaged with what's going on between the white lines.
"I gotta stay just as engaged, because there's a chance I'm gonna go back out there again, right? So, it's like, we both gotta stay engaged when we're off the field, and then it'll help us once we're on the field."
According to the senior center, the competition is much like the quarterback battle — very cordial. Both players obviously want more playing time, but they're simply focused on helping each other — and more importantly, the team — be better. Giudice says regardless of who's in the game, Michigan will get the same level of communication, chemistry and play out of the center.
"The fact that we try to help each other when we see different things is just helping us be able to plug and play. Whoever's gonna go in there, it's gonna be synchronized no matter what. ... It's gonna be the same thing no matter what — with how we communicate and the way we go about it."
It doesn't appear as if Michigan has a timeline to settle the ongoing battle, but Giudice noted that the Wolverines will just ride with whoever's playing best at that point in time.
"It's just best man's gonna win. So, who's ever doing best at the time, just gonna stick with that person, and we're gonna roll and obviously we're both playing really well right now, so whoever's gonna play better will be in at that time."
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