The Joe Moore Award has been dominated by Michigan in recent seasons. However, the Wolverines will not capture the award this season with a field of four finalists released Wednesday afternoon.

That group includes Oregon, Georgia, Washington and LSU as the finalists for the Joe Moore Award. Michigan was 1 of 12 semifinalists for the honor but will not win it after back-to-back wins.

Sherrone Moore made the move to be Jim Harbaugh’s offensive line coach for the 2021 season and the Wolverines have flourished ever since. Michigan captured the Joe Moore Award as the top offensive line in the country the past two seasons under Moore’s guidance.

While Michigan is 13-0 and once again in the Playoff, there has been a drop off in the rushing attack. The Wolverines are averaging just 4.3 yards per carry, the lowest mark for the program in the past 3 seasons. The 6.1 average yards per offensive play this year is also the lowest in that stretch.

“Each season seems to have a theme when it comes to O-line play, and each of this year’s finalists embody the toughness, physicality, effort, and strain that historically defines our position,” said Cole Cubelic, lead SEC Network sideline analyst, and Chairman of the Voting Committee. “These dudes are a bunch of cavemen that consistently “look for work”, enforce instead of watch, strain to finish, and work to eliminate their man on every play.”

“Like in year’s past, in addition to the extensive film review and voting committee conference calls, we also solicited the opinions of more than 90 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.”