Mason Cole could make history...
If reports are correct Mason Cole would be just the 4th true freshman to ever start a game on the OLine for Michigan.
As far as I can tell ...Tom Dixon (one game, 1980), Dean Dingman (three games, 1987) , Bubba Paris (two games, 1978) and gasp Justin Boren, are the only U-M true freshmen to make a start on the offensive line.
August 14th, 2014 at 6:38 PM ^
on my left hand, I count Cole as the 5th true freshman, if the predictions hold out.
:)
August 14th, 2014 at 6:46 PM ^
Which finger did you use to count Boren?
August 14th, 2014 at 6:55 PM ^
My d***. Seriously can't stand hearing that guy's name.
August 14th, 2014 at 7:01 PM ^
I don't know no stinkin' Boren neithers (Woo triple negatives!)
But this guy I know:
August 14th, 2014 at 6:38 PM ^
Bosch was a starter at one point last year, was he not?
August 14th, 2014 at 6:48 PM ^
He came in when Burzynksi went out with an ankle sprain...Minnesota I believe and then started the next week.
Edit to add: Checked MGOBLUE, Bosch made three starts, his first was @MSU.
August 14th, 2014 at 6:38 PM ^
I'm not sure who could. How good is Cole?
Also, Boren surprises me as he wasn't good at OSU and didn't do anything in the NFL.
August 14th, 2014 at 6:41 PM ^
Well, the o-line has never come off of a worse year. I think that plays into it as well.
August 14th, 2014 at 6:47 PM ^
The team depth is a big factor. I saw all those guys above play and it's all about talent. I like the message too. It doesn't matter how long you've been here. If you play the best, you'll start.
August 14th, 2014 at 10:00 PM ^
I think it's better than most realize on the o-line. I think our top eight would find a starting role on many of the Big Ten teams this year. Cole is college ready size already and clearly gets the mental part of the game. We have a special player in him.
August 14th, 2014 at 6:57 PM ^
Lewan wasn't big enough when he came in, so he just wasn't ready. Long had Tony Pape ahead of him, who was a very good LT at the time, so he just wasn't needed.
Two things have to happen for a true FR OL to play - he has to be really good (and college ready) and there have to not be good upperclassmen OL ahead of him. Perfect storm type of thing. That might be now.
August 14th, 2014 at 7:04 PM ^
Had only 1 yr in HS at O-line so there was a learning curve too. -- I may be confusing him with Roh though.
August 14th, 2014 at 7:29 PM ^
That's correct - he was a DE. That's the big reason he was a late riser as a recruit.
August 14th, 2014 at 8:21 PM ^
A I recall Lewan was a DT in high school before moving to the OL
August 14th, 2014 at 10:55 PM ^
And I'm pretty sure he only had two years of HS football.
August 14th, 2014 at 7:36 PM ^
He played DL until his senior season when he flipped to OL. Short clip I did see had him at LT.
August 14th, 2014 at 8:27 PM ^
Which year was Jake injured? Maybe he was a RS Freshman or Sophomore, but he was planning to start when he went down in practice before the opener.
August 14th, 2014 at 9:29 PM ^
Lewan was not quite there?
August 15th, 2014 at 1:46 PM ^
Can we blame it on poor coaching/player development?
August 15th, 2014 at 3:09 PM ^
In Boren's case, you can, because he was coached by the guy who is widely regarded as a shmuck by the Buckeye faithful and probably Tressel's worst assistant -- Bollman, who put lots of mediocre, poorly developed 5* linemen on the field.
August 16th, 2014 at 5:04 AM ^
Yet it was the addition of Bollman that got MSU over the hump and beat OSU onto win the BIG and rose
August 14th, 2014 at 6:42 PM ^
Would he make history as the first true freshman to start the first game of the season?
August 14th, 2014 at 6:49 PM ^
Rick Leach (see my userpic) did it.
So have others.
(or are you asking that question pertaining only to offensive linemen? In that case, I defer to others.)
August 14th, 2014 at 7:33 PM ^
I was only asking about freshman OL but that wasn't at all clear from my post.
August 14th, 2014 at 6:57 PM ^
Possibly the first freshman OL to start the first game of the season.
There haven't been any since the NCAA allowed freshmen to play in 1973. Perhaps during WWII when freshmen were allowed to play and players were going in and out, sometimes in the middle of the season to go to war.
For the 1943-1944 seasons, the entire roster lists their military status in the class field. C- civlian, M- Marine, N- Navy, R- Reserves.
August 14th, 2014 at 10:57 PM ^
Nice factoid, that's incredible to think about.
August 14th, 2014 at 11:15 PM ^
At LT, the most important position on the line, no less.
August 15th, 2014 at 4:29 AM ^
The Cliff Clavin of MGoBlog . . . Always delivering the factoids.
Just hope he doesn't wager all his earnings on the Final Jeopardy category.
August 14th, 2014 at 7:30 PM ^
Chad Henne is a big one. My guess is there have been special teams players as well, but tough to think of many position players.
August 14th, 2014 at 9:13 PM ^
That was my first game at the Big House.
August 14th, 2014 at 6:45 PM ^
I know a great story where Bubba Paris plowed a pro terrorism against the USA individual through a wall.
August 14th, 2014 at 8:58 PM ^
please go on.
August 14th, 2014 at 9:19 PM ^
still confused.
August 14th, 2014 at 9:28 PM ^
yet I don't understand the sentence.
August 14th, 2014 at 11:30 PM ^
There was a student at Uofm who was very outspoken about how he hated the USA and it's people. So after some months of this, Bubba Paris got so angry he grabbed him and shoved him through a wall, and into the next room.
August 14th, 2014 at 6:45 PM ^
Didn't Schilling start as a freshman or did he take a RS? My memory is a little hazy these days.
August 14th, 2014 at 6:51 PM ^
He reported to camp with Mono and then had shoulder surgery.
August 14th, 2014 at 6:55 PM ^
I thought that Schilling actually battled mono through a portion of 2006 which unfortunately coincided with fall camp and he ended up redshirting sometime during the season. In 2007, he started at RT over Perry Dorrestein and Mark Ortmann, although I think he also moved to RG for a few games in that season.
August 14th, 2014 at 6:46 PM ^
Bosch started last year I'm pretty sure.
August 14th, 2014 at 6:55 PM ^
You named four. How can he be the fourth?
August 14th, 2014 at 6:59 PM ^
Per a few sources (link), Alabama also might end up starting a true freshman left tackle (Cam Robinson). I don't think it's too far off to think that Cole is that good.
August 14th, 2014 at 7:01 PM ^
So he's (at least) the 6th to do it. Is that really "making history?"
Being the first to do something is making history. Maybe the second or third as well, depending on what it is. But at some point, you're not really making history anymore, right?
August 14th, 2014 at 7:14 PM ^
It's all history. The staring line from 1997 is part of Michigan football history.
August 14th, 2014 at 7:28 PM ^
Tell me more about the staring line...
August 14th, 2014 at 7:31 PM ^
I believe it's on a cliff overlooking some type of abyss.
August 14th, 2014 at 7:41 PM ^
I've sometimes seen staring lines at bus stops when an attractive female walks by.
August 14th, 2014 at 7:42 PM ^
that history starts the day that you're born. Everything before that is abstract.
August 14th, 2014 at 10:03 PM ^
thats what my Sparty brother-in-law tells me anyway.
August 15th, 2014 at 4:41 AM ^
FAKING History
.