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The time for sulking is over. There is still a ton to play for this season for the Michigan Wolverines, after checking in at No.7 in Tuesday’s first College Football Playoff rankings. It’s obviously a tall task, but the Wolverines still have everything on the table.
“We’re moving on,” offensive lineman Zak Zinter told the media on Tuesday. “It didn’t ruin our season, we’ve still got everything we want in front of us, we’re going to win out. Let it be the past. Tough loss, we’re moving on, can’t do anything about it.”
Michigan has responded to some in-game adversity well this season, but coming off a loss will tell us if this team is really different.
“We’ve been saying since the beginning that this team is special,” Zinter said. “It’s been all sunshine and rainbows since the beginning, and I think everyone will see what makes this team special is, something didn’t go right, we had a tough loss, the ability for us to turn around and finish out the season strong.”
Zinter admitted things haven’t been like this in the past. He gives credit to the team’s leaders when explaining why this team is different.
“I think last year, we took a loss, and it kind of affected us going into the next week,” Zinter said. “I this year it’s different, and the ability that the leadership on the team has been able to help everyone just move on and get ready for this week.
The Michigan State game is over. It’s time to turn our eyes to Michigan’s next opponent: the Indiana Hoosiers.
Indiana had high expectations coming into the season after a promising 2020 campaign, but the 2021 season has been disastrous for head coach Tom Allen’s squad. The Hoosiers sit at 2-6, but Michigan isn’t overlooking them since four of those losses are to ranked teams. Michigan will also be the fourth team Indiana has played this year currently ranked in the top 10.
“We don’t look at any team differently,” defensive back RJ Moten said Tuesday. “We look at every team the same, no matter their record, it’s Big Ten football, anything can happen. Any team can beat any team.”
It’s certainly a tall order for Michigan to run the table and get into the College Football Playoff, but it is possible. The first step towards that starts this Saturday, under the lights in the Big House.