ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Last spring, Michigan football was all about renewing the energy and finding a sense of urgency after a moribund 2020 campaign. And it worked — the Wolverines beat Ohio State for the first time since 2011, won the Big Ten for the first time since 2004, and advanced to the College Football Playoff for the first time, period.
So, how will the maize and blue get motivated in a similar vein? It’s one thing to play with a chip on your shoulder, it’s another thing entirely when everyone’s coming for you.
Senior wide receiver Cornelius Johnson has an interesting approach — or rather, a series of interesting approaches. When it comes to spring ball, he has two mindsets: focus on the ‘state schools,’ as well as another which has him preparing as if it’s the season.
“Really just focusing on State – that’s what motivates me, whether it’s Penn State, Michigan State, or Ohio State,” Johnson said. “Either way, it’s State. So, those three, like they say, at Michigan, it’s a requirement.”
Of those three, Michigan was 2-1 a year ago, and while the Wolverines would like to take back the Paul Bunyan Trophy, a second-consecutive win over the arch-rival Buckeyes would go perhaps further in cementing the maize and blue as here to stay as a national power. However, if U-M is going to have a chance to go back-to-back beating OSU as well as winning the Big Ten, it all starts with a successful spring campaign.
For Johnson, the grind in March is a bit different than what happens in the fall. So, he’s come up with an interesting strategy to help him prepare for the slate that’s coming months down the road.
“Just try to find motivation because for spring ball, it’s weird because you’re not preparing for a game,” Johnson said. “I find it interesting because there’s 15 practices, so how I think about it in my head is each practice is like a game, for example. After the 12 games, you have the 13th, which is Indy, 14th practice would be the semifinals, 15th practice is the national championship. So it’s stuff in my head. Right now, we’re going into our seventh practice which would be our seventh game – I just make up stuff in my head to find motivation.
“That 12th practice, I don’t know what we’re doing that 12th practice, but make sure it’s something crazy.”
The Wolverines will continue spring practice through the month, with the sessions culminating on April 2 with the return of the annual spring game at The Big House.
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