Michigan named semifinalist for Joe Moore Award

Michigan is hoping to go back-to-back with the Joe Moore Award and is certainly equipped to do so as the season comes to a close.

The award announced on Tuesday that the Wolverines were one of nine semifinalists for the award. The award is given to the nation's best offensive line, with U-M being the winner last season.

“This group may be better than the group that won it last year by the time it’s all said and done," the committee said in a statement. "They work so well together. Hip to hip, shoulder to shoulder, and always on same page despite heavy pressure and movement. They sort stuff out so well. That offense, and maybe the entire team, runs thru that O-line room. They are the heartbeat of Michigan’s entire program. Strong and physical group that has added some ‘finishing sauce’ to their menu and are getting better by the week. Going to be fun to see them lead the way to showdown with OSU.”

From the full release:

NEW YORK, New York – November 15, 2022 — The Foundation for Teamwork today revealed the nine semifinalists for the 2022 Joe Moore Award presented to college football's Most Outstanding Offensive Line Unit. The Joe Moore Award has annually presented this unique award since 2015.

The nine semifinalists include (in alphabetical order): Air Force, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Mississippi, Oregon, Tennessee, UCLA, and USC.

For games played through November 12th, the 2022 Joe Moore Award semifinalists have a combined record of 76-14 and represent four FBS conferences: BIG TEN (2), MOUNTAIN WEST (1), PAC-12 (3), and SEC (3). Combined, these teams average 483.2 total yards per game (compared to national average of 394.2) and 231.1 rushing yards per game (compared to national average 159.8), and represent four of the Top 10 and seven of the Top 25 in the latest AP poll.*

“There is a noticeable improvement in O-line play this season as compared to what we saw last year,” said Cole Cubelic, lead sideline analyst for the SEC Network and the Chairman of the Joe Moore Award voting committee. “It’s been a pleasure to watch the effort and resilience of these O-lines over the course of the season, especially since many of them have really risen to the challenge over the last couple of weeks.”

The Joe Moore Award finalists will be named on Tuesday, December 6th. The eventual winner will be recognized in the ensuing weeks during a surprise, on campus visit to the winning unit’s school (TBD as per the winning school’s schedule).

“Like in years past, and in addition to the extensive film review and voting committee conference calls, we solicited the opinions of dozens of FBS head coaches that had personally faced many of the O-line units under consideration,” said Phil Steele, analyst and founder of the popular preseason magazine Phil Steele's College Football Preview. “It’s been an honor to be a part of an award that matters so much to the O-line community, and we take that responsibility seriously.”

“Once again the cream is rising to the top, and the committee strongly feels that the common thread with this year’s semifinalists is that their level of play has directly translated into the success of their teams,” said Aaron Taylor, CBS college football analyst and co-founder of the Joe Moore Award. Taylor played guard at the University of Notre Dame for the award’s namesake, the legendary offensive line coach Joe Moore. “The exciting thing this year is that it’s still wide open, and these last few weeks will prove to be extremely important, and we can’t wait to see which units will be at their best when their best is needed down the stretch.”

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