ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Now that Indiana has been vanquished, Michigan football can officially turn its focus to a rivalry game, one it’s certainly been looking forward to for nearly a year.
The Wolverines beat in-state rival Michigan State, 29-7, last year, but the postgame felt like a loss after two players were accosted in the stadium tunnel following the game. While that will certainly be a storyline all week for both sides, along with the sudden firing of MSU head coach Mel Tucker a few weeks ago, the current Wolverines are worried about just one thing: winning the game and retaining the Paul Bunyan Trophy.
“Just treat it like any other game, honestly,” sixth-year linebacker Michael Barrett said. “Prepare the same way we prepare every week. It’s that week now so we can finally start looking into them. But we kind of treat everybody the same — nameless, faceless opponents. We just prepare the same way each week prepare as hard as we can just go from there.
“But like just showing, telling all the younger guys, just gonna prepare because like it’s a rivalry game, right? These games always gonna be tough, always gonna be gritty. Probably going to end up raining, be like a tsunami or something like that. You never know with this kind of game. So just kind of get to prepare for anything, just getting ready.”
Has Michigan been particularly champing at the bit to play the Spartans to avenge what happened in the aftermath of last year’s game?
Senior wide receiver Roman Wilson says no, that the team isn’t thinking about last year, it’s focused solely on perfection this year. If the maize and blue prepare as they have all year long and play similarly, they’ll get the win, which is what matters most.
“Me personally, I don’t think so,” Wilson said. ” They’re always going to come in here, no matter where we’re at. They’re going to try to kick our (expletive deleted), you gotta have that same energy every time. It doesn’t matter what happens after the game, before the game. All that matters is what happens when we step on that field. So no, it doesn’t bother me at all.”
Entering the game, Michigan is undefeated at 7-0 while Michigan State is 2-4 after losing to Rutgers in dramatic fashion in Week 7. The game will take place at Spartan Stadium where Jim Harbaugh is 2-1, and kickoff will be at 7:30 p.m. EDT. The game will be broadcast on NBC.