How Much The Michigan Would Suffer With Their…

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan players, as they prepare to face archrival Ohio State in what is sizing up to be a winner-takes-all game on Saturday, have embraced a “championship-or-bust” approach that many began talking about way back in July, as camp was about to begin. Fast forward to now, and the Wolverines are 11-0 and No. 3 in the College Football Playoff rankings, while Ohio State, also 11-0, is No. 2 heading into the 119th series meeting in what is known as “The Game,” on Saturday at Michigan Stadium. Michigan has won two straight against Ohio State, which had won eight straight and 15 of 16 heading into the 2021 game, and is the two-time defending Big Ten champion and CFP participant. Last year, Michigan and Ohio State both made the CFP Final Four, but the path for both to make it this season is much narrower. Winner takes all. Championship or bust.

“We think about that every day,” left guard Trevor Keegan said this week. “This is a game we prepare for. If we don’t win this game, the season doesn’t matter. All of our goals are right there in front of us. We want to go to the national championship, we want to win the Big Ten championship, and we’ve got to beat the team down south in order to do that.” There already was the normal stress of the season that begins with setting goals and preparing each and every day to reach them. For the Michigan players, entering this year was about still feeling the sting from losing in the national semifinal against TCU and falling short of playing for a national title for the second year in a row. The Wolverines used that, at least early on, to fuel their winter conditioning that took them into spring practice. But now they’ve had other motivation, and their “Michigan vs. Everybody” apparel has taken on new meaning in the last five weeks, since it was confirmed the NCAA is investigating the program for an alleged signal-stealing scheme. And since then, the Big Ten suspended head coach Jim Harbaugh for the final three regular-season games for violating the league’s Sportsmanship Policy. The suspension includes Ohio State. And last Friday, hours before the team departed for Maryland, linebackers coach Chris Partridge was fired for reasons relating to the investigation.

Keegan, who said recently he deleted social media so he wouldn’t have to see everything being written about the team, and the Wolverines have dealt with the outside noise, they’ve said, by maintaining a one-track mindset. “The thing we say, we don’t care what anybody thinks about us,” Keegan said. “We only care about the people in this building. Our opinions and what we think of this program is all that matters. We’re really blocking out the noise. Obviously, there’s been a lot the past month or so, and we get that, but we’re doing everything in our power to complete our goals and do everything we wanted to do. “It’s right there in front of us. We know that and we’re doing everything we can.” The Wolverines have won 23 straight Big Ten games, including wins against the Buckeyes the last two seasons. Michigan was reeling coming off the COVID-19-shortened season that yielded a 2-4 record. The Wolverines did not play at Ohio State that season because of pandemic-related illness within the team.