The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1506222
SEPTEMBER 2023 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 17 ❱ INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS "The biggest thing for us right now, the competition is needed, it's wanted. We mix guys up in practice. But how they study together, how they hang out off the field together is just as important as how they play together. Those guys are super close. I feel like the transfers have been here so long already that those guys have built a niche and have really bonded together." — Offensive coordinator SHERRONE MOORE on position battles along the offensive line PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER "The coolest thing here is that the guys in competition are the ones helping each other the most. Some places I've been, two guys are in a competition and they're not even sitting next to each other in the cafeteria, be- cause they're in a heated competition. Here, these guys are great in the meet- ing room. They're always trying to give each other tips, advice." — Defensive coordinator Jesse Minter on "com- petitive, but not combative" position battles "The sky's the limit. We can go all the way this year. You look around this team, and you're like, 'These guys are good.' Every position is so good." — Senior wide receiver Roman Wilson on the "In The Trenches" podcast 2nd Is where Michigan checks in on the preseason polls from both the coaches and Associated Press. That marked the Wolverines' highest ever ranking in the preseason coaches poll and best placement in the AP poll to begin a season since 1991, when they also ranked second. That 1991 U-M squad won the Big Ten with an 8-0 mark and finished No. 6 with a 10-2 overall record. Their only losses came to No. 1 Florida State in September and co-national champion Washington in the Rose Bowl. We basically said, 'To be the man, you've gotta beat the man.' Georgia is at the top right now, and if we want to be able to be at the top, we've gotta beat 'em." — Senior running back Blake Corum on U-M's "Beat Georgia" practice period "I will go down as one of the greatest running backs to ever play the game. I'll be up there with [former Chi- cago Bears running back] Walter Payton, [former De- troit Lions running back] Barry Sanders. I believe I will revolutionize the game and the position at run- ning back, for how I run my routes, for how I play as a running back and how I can play at receiver, too." — Junior running back Donovan Edwards in an interview with Pro Football Focus 6 Michigan football players were named to ESPN.com's ranking of the top 100 players in college football — senior running back Blake Corum (No. 7), junior running back Donovan Edwards (No. 17), senior right guard Zak Zinter (No. 19), junior quarterback J.J. McCarthy (No. 30), sophomore cornerback Will Johnson (No. 55) and junior linebacker Junior Colson (No. 56). Whatever the team needs me to do, I'm there for them, whether that be 10 carries, whether that be 40 carries. It doesn't mat- ter to me. I'm there to play the game that I love, and that's what I love doing, man, going out there every Saturday." — Senior running back BLAKE CORUM PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY