The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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102 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2023 FOOTBALL PREVIEW How so? Well, ask him if his play against Ohio State might have been the biggest of the year for Michigan. He'll wind up pointing to an effort in an im- portant contest but one largely overshad- owed by U-M's Buckeye beatdown and subsequent Big Ten championship rout over Purdue. If the Wolverines hadn't taken down Il- linois, 19-17, the week before Ohio State, those doors might never have opened. And if a non-scholarship running back hadn't stepped up in the wake of junior tailback Blake Corum's injury-forced de- parture in that one, Michigan might not have won, Sainristil insisted. The Wolverines were losing to the Il- lini, 17-16, in the final two minutes at Michigan Stadium, after Corum went down. They faced fourth-and-3 at the Illini 45, and sophomore quarterback J.J. McCarthy found Isaiah Gash for an 8-yard completion to keep the drive alive and set up a game-winning field goal. Gash caught 3 passes all year long, for 24 yards. One helped win a Big Ten cham- pionship, and Sainristil won't let it be overlooked. "In my opinion, and a lot of our opin- ions on the team — staff included — that was a key moment, a season-defining moment," Sainristil said. "We potentially could have been knocked out of the top 10 if we had lost that game. He was ready. Walk-on guy. No one would have ever thought he'd be in position to make a play like that, and he did what he did. "That's just a shout out to our coaches, making sure we're always ready, guys un- derstanding that your opportunity could come in any way, shape or form, and you have to be ready to capitalize." The attention redirect appears pure Sainristil. He recently went back home to Everett, Mass., to conduct a football clinic for local youth. Instead of big-tim- ing it and soaking up the understand- able adoration as the hometown hero elevated to the big stage, Sainristil used the opportunity to make potentially life- changing points to the campers hanging on his every word. "Just always do the little things right," Sainristil stressed. "You never know who is watching, who is paying attention. Be nice, be kind to the people around you. That goes a long way in itself. Say hi to the janitor. Say hi to the people that don't always get seen. Those people are impor- tant as well. "Sit up in class, be in the front of the class. Don't be like, 'Oh, I'm the football player.' No, you're more than that. Foot- ball is just what you do. Football is just the vehicle to take you to many different avenues of life. "Every opportunity that comes your way, take it as if it's the last one you'll ever get. Make the most of it." Last season, Sainristil earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors after finishing fourth on the team in tackles, with 58, and posting 6.5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, an interception, 3 quarterback hurries and 7 pass breakups. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL