Michigan Players Revving Up For Wisconsin

There's a lot of uncertainty around Michigan has they head to Madison for a big road tilt with the Badgers. Ask the players though, and they feel ready.

As Michigan prepares to take on Wisconsin this weekend, there’s been some questions raised about the teams. The 4-0 Wolverines are coming off a less than resounding win against Rutgers in which they punted on all but one of their second half drives and the offense was not humming as it did the past three games. From the outside it appears there could be trouble in paradise.

Ask the offense, though, and they don’t seem worried.

“It's loud but it's just going out and executing,” senior tight end Luke Schoonmaker said. “Coach Harbaugh has been stressing just going out and playing the game that we play every day. It's 11-on-11. The noise is one thing, the crowd is one thing but it's what we do at the end of the day. We’ll continue to get ready for that this week.”

After four straight home games, the contest in Madison will be Michigan’s first road test this season — and it's a tough one. The Wolverines have not won at Wisconsin since 2001.

This year, Michigan is trying to hold onto that renewed energy that has had the team buzzing since the offseason. They know their team isn’t devoid of weaknesses, but they believe they’re up for the challenge.

“[Wisconsin] is precise and physical. Their coaches have been there for a while, so they know what they’re doing,” Schoonmaker said. “But there’s always stuff that we can expose them on too. I think just honing in on our execution. Going into their place is obviously going to be a crazy environment. I’m definitely looking forward to it but it's all about doing what we need to do and executing.”

The environment at Camp Randall will be raucous. Schoonmaker even likened it to Penn State’s "White Out" game. In practice Michigan has been blasting music and simulating crowd noise and trying out different cadences to try to prepare for playing on the road.

While the Wolverines can only do so much to simulate the environment, they can create a game plan to take down the Badgers. The big matchup to watch is Michigan’s rushing attack against Wisconsin’s No. 1 ranked run defense — which has allowed just 68 rushing yards total through three games.

But again, the running backs do not seem to be concerned.

“We do what we do,” senior running back Hassan Haskins said. “Whatever it is, running, passing. We don’t think about it too much. Whatever [Wisconsin] did, it was against other teams. When we come in it's going to be a different story.”

Time will tell whether it will be a different story. The last two years have been similar. In 2019, the Wolverines entered Madison as the No. 11 team in the country but left with an embarrassing 35-14 defeat. In 2020, they suffered a 49-11 loss on their home turf.

About three and a half hours after kickoff on Saturday, fans will know if Michigan has officially turned a corner. A win over Wisconsin would prove the Wolverines can win big games on the road and put them in the Big Ten Championship hunt.

Until then, it's up to the players to put the team in a position to win. Schoonmaker thinks they will be, and he said it with a smile:

“We’ll be ready.”