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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — While this will certainly upset the ‘do more, say less’ crowd, Michigan football has the right attitude if it wants to turn things around in 2021.
After a moribund 2020 campaign, the players are determined to get back to the high standards that the Wolverines are held to — inside and outside of Schembechler Hall. On Monday, starting QB Cade McNamara spoke about the importance of homefield advantage, and just after he spoke, junior wide receiver Mike Sainristil stressed the importance of the team getting back to its winning ways.
Not much is expected of the maize and blue — they’re projected to come in fourth place in the Big Ten East. Yet, Michigan has arguably more talent than any other team in the conference, save for Ohio State.
With that in mind, the players are putting in the work en route to the Sept. 4 season opener. Asked which players are going to surprise in 2021, Sainristil started to say DJ Turner before ultimately noting that the Wolverines expect to outpace expectations by both the media and the fanbase.
“Honestly, not so much guys, but we’re gonna be a surprise – not us on the team, we’re not gonna be surprised,” Sainristil said. “But people watching are gonna be very – I guess I’m gonna say surprised with the way we come out this year. Offense, defense, special teams – all around.”
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Before you get up in arms about this being more of Michigan talking without producing, saying that the team is going to surprise is a far cry from guaranteeing actual wins. This is the mentality you want a team to have rather than hoping for unearned success.
As Sainristil points out, it’s not just talking as the team has been putting in the work. He’s seen the progress made in the offseason, bolstered by not wanting to repeat the mistakes of 2020.
“I’ve just been here. I’ve seen the way everyone’s been working. I’ve seen the daily grind,” Sainristil said. “Guys just really want it.
“Every year teams have different – you know. But this team this year, we’re really hungry, especially coming off the season we had last year. That wasn’t really Michigan football. Of course, I’m not happy we had a losing season, but it was a reality check for us. That’s definitely playing a big part of it for us.”
We’ll see on Saturday how much progress the team has made compared to a year ago.
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