Michigan football without starting left tackle LaDarius Henderson at Maryland
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Michigan football, already without suspended head coach Jim Harbaugh and fired linebackers coach Chris Partridge, will also be down its starting left tackle Saturday against Maryland (Fox, 12:10 p.m.).
Offensive lineman LaDairus Henderson was listed "out" in U-M's pregame availability report. The only other player listed on the report is Danny Hughes, a senior special teams player and reserve running back. Henderson's loss is more notable for the No. 2 Wolverines (10-0, 7-0 Big Ten), who've been largely healthy this season.
The Arizona State transfer began the season as a depth piece on the left side behind Karsen Barnhart, however offensive line coach/offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore — who will again serve as acting head coach in Harbaugh's absence as he serves the second game of a three-game suspension handed down by the Big Ten for violating the league's sportsmanship policy — moved Barnhart to the right side of the formation and opted to have Stanford transfer tackle Myles Hinton serve as depth on the right side.
U-M's offensive line had appeared to be hitting its stride, too. The Wolverines ran 44 times for 241 yards (5.5 yards per carry) and three touchdowns last week against Penn State, which entered the game as the No. 1 unit in the country.
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While the ground dominance came as a surprise to some on the outside, Henderson (6 feet 4, 315 pounds) expected as much.
“All week, that’s (what) we wanted to do, and as offensive linemen, actually doing it and seeing it work and just seeing the fruition of it, it’s amazing,” Henderson said when he spoke with reporters Tuesday. “That’s what we want to do. We want to smash the ball and that’s exactly what we did. The plan was to smash, and we indeed smashed.”
Much of the Wolverines' success came running behind the left side, too. Blake Corum ran 26 times for 145 yards and two scores. Of that production, he had 15 total carries around the left end and off the left tackle which went for a combined 111 yards, four of his six first downs and both scores.
It's not yet clear if U-M will go back to its original starting lineup, which seems the most likely route, or perhaps try someone like senior tackle Trente Jones who has largely repped at right tackle or as the extra body in U-M's heavy packages. Senior Jeff Persi is also a backup option to protect quarterback J.J. McCarthy's blind side.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football availability report at Maryland
