Strong Words: Brandon Peters has the perfect mindset heading into Outback Bowl

You can tell a lot about a man when he’s faced with adversity.

When a change of course occurs, one can embrace the rockier road and march forward with confidence they can overcome what the path may bring.

Or one can give up and go back home feeling defeated.

Brandon Peters has shown his character features lots of toughness in recent weeks.

With the emergence of Ole Miss transfer quarterback Shea Patterson now in the fold at Michigan, the quarterback competition will be wide open heading into 2018, with Patterson, Peters, and Dylan McCaffrey all vying to be the starter.

Peters initially said he didn’t really care about the addition of Patterson, he realizes that this type of thing happens in high school, in college, and in the NFL. And this week he shed more light into his current mindset.

"It's like someone coming into your house and taking something from you. You're not going to let that happen. I'm not going to let someone come into my house and take something from me.” Peters said.

I wrote a column a few weeks back saying that the time is now for Peters, and it appears he realizes this. Jim Harbaugh has said he’s been improving in practice, his mechanics are getting better.

Combine Harbaugh’s comments and the strong yet competitively healthy words Peters has towards Patterson equals a situation the team and fans should both love. Peters could’ve given some politically correct answers saying he’s looking forward to competing with Patterson, he’s happy Patterson is at Michigan now, but those words would have been disingenuous.

What Michigan has in Peters, at the very least, is a player who isn’t entertaining the notion that another player will be the starting quarterback for Michigan next season. To paraphrase Peters comments in two words, “HELL NO”.

Peters mindset alone will not win him any job, but maybe just maybe the mindset will go hand in hand with an ever improving ceiling that will make it hard for Jim Harbaugh to roll with any other quarterback.

The most important part of any talk is walking the walk, otherwise the words vanish like dust in the wind, the substance is lost. Peters should be applauded for his train of thought, but now he has to play at a high level Monday against South Carolina, treating the game as a job interview. The only option is to go out and ace it. Widen the gap between he and the other interviewees.

This story-line is the only one a Michigan fan needs to be excited for the Outback Bowl. In some ways, it’ll feel like the 2018 season has already arrived.