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Michigan players on attitude moving forward: ‘We’re just going to keep fighting’
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Michigan was supposed to be the favorite in the Big Ten this year. The Wolverines has a head coach that has been there for a while, Shea Patterson at quarterback and plenty of talented players littered across the roster.
Again, expectations were high. However, through seven games, Michigan is 5-2. It has lost to Wisconsin and Penn State, two teams that were both ranked in the top 10 at the time.
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The Wolverines haven’t been able to get over the hump with Harbaugh, and that’s continued on to this season. After the 28-21 heartbreaking loss at Penn State, Michigan players have come out with a never say die type of attitude:
“What’s left to play, we’ve got our whole season left,” defensive tackle and co-captain Carlo Kemp said Monday. “We’re at the midway point. We’ve got five games coming up and they’re good teams. We have three of the most important rivalries in college football coming up — you’ve got Notre Dame, you’ve got Michigan State and then you’ve got the game at the end of the year. Those are the games that you play for.“We’re not going to sit here and be like, ‘All right, we’re done’ and go out there and
just coast the rest of the season. Our whole mentality during that Penn State game is, ‘All right, what’s the response?’ One play at a time, one series at a time, speaking defensively, get the ball back to our offense, let them get a chance to score. It didn’t matter if they scored, if they punted, if we kicked a field goal, let’s go, get the ball to the offense, get a stop, next play.”And that’s where our mind’s at right now. We’re not worried about, ‘OK, what’s our national championship hopes? What are our Big Ten hopes?’ Those are all outcomes. They will happen if they happen. But we’ve got to focus on what’s coming up and what’s guaranteed is that Notre Dame game, and that game is coming Saturday and we have an opportunity to play in front of our home fans and play under the lights.”
Defensive end Kwity Paye:
“We’re still going to ball, you know, because you never know what’s going to happen later in the season. A team may get those two losses and we’re right back into the fight. We’re just going to keep fighting and keep playing.”
Offensive lineman Ben Bredeson:
“At times, especially with the younger guys, people tend to look farther ahead than they can control, worrying about Big Ten championship, national championships, when really the only thing you can control is the next game. Just help them see that and see that there’s still a lot of good things we can attain this season. It all starts this Saturday.”
Michigan hosts Notre Dame for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff on Saturday, Oct. 26 with the game being televised on ABC.
Kevin covers Big Ten football for Saturday Tradition.