Michigan football is about toughness and sacrifice. It’s about the willingness to step up and do whatever needs to be done for the good of the team.
Michigan’s star players exemplify this mindset in the largest way. Corum charging into the fray time after time, Roman Wilson and Cornelius Johnson stepping aside the the run game takes over, the defensive line putting stats aside for balanced reps. All of those individual sacrifices gives Michigan’s team a special chemistry that focuses on one thing: Winning.
So, this weeks turning point will be a little different. Usually, I highlight a specific play from the game, but against Ohio State another side of Michigan’s brotherhood was on display. Right guard Zak Zinter was voted a captain of the team after opting to come back to Michigan instead of declaring for the draft.
If you want to see how beloved Zinter is by his teammates, look no further than how the Wolverines responded after his injury.
With the third quarter closing out, Michigan was deadlocked with Ohio State at 17. Ohio State had established the run and was looking to take the lead for the first time. U-M needed a drive. Bad.
Michigan was moving the ball well, but needed to punch it in. That’s when Zinter went down with a nast leg injury that required a cart to get him off the field. Michigan’s sideline cleared. Every player and coach came off the bench to wish their captain good health.
The play on the field followed suit. Blake Corum scored a touchdown on the very next snap, holding up the number 65 in the end zone to honor his fallen brother. The defense locked in as well. They gave up one more touchdown but also snagged a game-winning pick, the first sack, and a good job of keeping Ohio State limited in the fourth quarter.
Is a player injury a strange turning point to pick? Yes, undoubtedly. But I maintain that Michigan’s culture has trained them to react positively to adversity as opposed to negatively. Zinter going down was in no way positive for the team, but it did remind the tight-knit group of players that they are willing to make sacrifices for the man next to them as opposed to themselves.