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Should it take place without a hitch — or few relatively few hitches — the 2020 football season for the maize and blue somewhat resembles the 2018 season.
A tough road game against a Power Five team to open up the season (in 2018 it was Notre Dame, this year it’s Washington), a gauntlet in the middle of the season against Wisconsin, Penn State and Michigan State — with a road game against Minnesota thrown on the end for good measure this time around. Then, as always, the regular season finale against Ohio State — with this year’s edition being at The Horseshoe in Columbus.
Sounds daunting, right? Not if you ask Kwity Paye, as Jon Jansen did on the In the Trenches podcast.
The senior defensive end didn’t flat come out and call it a revenge tour or anything inflammatory as to rile up his future opponents as Chase Winovich had in 2018. However, he did intimate that he’s looking for one thing: payback.
“I’m excited for them!” Paye said. “I’m really excited for them, because those are considered our biggest competition this year – them and that game at the end of the season. I’m just excited for us to go out and play those guys, be able to get back Wisconsin and Penn State for my last year. It’s gone back and forth with those schools, Penn State and Wisconsin since I’ve been here. Hopefully we’ll end up on a good note my senior year against those teams.
“And we got Minnesota as well. They played extremely well last year. That’s a really good team. I’m excited to play those guys as well.”
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While that’s a tough stretch, there’s one game that matters above all else — Ohio State.
After another brutal loss at the hands of the Buckeyes last year, OSU quarterback Justin Fields said he didn’t feel like the Wolverines wanted the win enough, that it meant more to the school in Columbus. He may have been right, Paye says, given the disparity in preparation between the two institutions for one another.
Ohio State ingrains its hatred of Michigan in ‘team up north drills‘ a series of fanatical drills after practice that make sure that, like Manchurian Candidates, those who don’t get the rivalry early, come to hate all things maize and blue by the time the regular season finale comes around.
While Michigan doesn’t have countdown clocks or other artificial psych-up material within Schembechler Hall, Paye says it’s time that the true freshmen learn much earlier to hate the team to the south, that it doesn’t matter if you have friends in scarlet and grey — that’s over. Additionally, he’s ready to put his money where his mouth is and work to be über-prepared for the Nov. 28 matchup once it comes along.
“That’s something that we’ve talked about,” Paye said. “Some of the team leaders on the defense – just enforcing that hate a lot more. Every time I turn on that game, I feel like at times – we hate them, but I feel like we have to enforce – we have to install it like freshmen coming in, we have to install it. ‘We hate those guys.’ There can’t (be) no, ‘Oh, my boy goes to that school so I’m –’ No – hate off of that. So just enforcing that to go into their brain. Watching game tape every single day on them. Making sure that we know all of their plays. Making sure we watch past games. Just making sure we’re (prepared).
“After every Saturday when we’re done with our game, I’m turning on a TV to watch Ohio State to make sure to see what they’re doing every single Saturday.”
Regardless, it’s a step in the right direction, especially coming from a senior leader on the team.
It all starts Sept. 5 at Washington.
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