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Patterson, Gentry, Evans, and more talk about the challenge Florida presents for Michigan

Michigan has respect for Florida

NCAA Football: Western Michigan at Michigan Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

It’s bowl week! The anticipation is starting to mount and Michigan players are amped and ready for their matchup against Florida in the Peach Bowl, a game they consider a must-win.

A handful of players have spoke to the media about the game the past 24 hours, and here are a collection of their thoughts on the Florida team:

  • Tight End Zach Gentry: “They’re an extremely athletic defense. They have got playmakers, linebacker position, safety, corner. So it’s going to be a challenge for us. But we’ve been working our tails off, and I think we’ve got a good scheme for this game coming up. And I think we’re just going to have to attack it and just do what we need to do, do what we know we’ve been able to do when we’ve been successful in our wins.”
  • Receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones: Whole defensive is athletic. Like coach Pep (Hamilton) said, they’re an SEC team. They’ll be physical. Also, just like Zach (Gentry) said, we’ll have to just carry out our plan, carry out our scheme and just stick to that and play our football.”
  • Quarterback Shea Patterson: “They can cover ground quickly. Even if they do get out of position, they have a lot of guys that can recover quickly. That front seven they have is no joke and I think it’s one of the best, if not the best, we’ve played all year. We just have to come ready.”
  • Linebacker Josh Ross: “At the end of the day, we’re going for something that Michigan football hasn’t done in a pretty long time, in a lot of years, and that’s win 11 games.”
  • Defensive tackle Carlo Kemp: “This game is how you send your seniors out. Some of the guys are fifth years and have been on the team for five years, and this is how you send them out right.”
  • Running back Chris Evans: “They’re good. They’re rowdy. They talk a lot. They go hard to the whistle. They have a high motor and they’re going to make you pay every chance they get, so you’ve got to take advantage of it.”
  • Receiver Grant Perry: “They’re athletic. They fly around. Their corners are good; safeties are good. They have a good linebacker, their D-line is good, as well. It’s going to be a good game.”