Blake Corum discusses how Michigan is avoiding overconfidence

Michigan is chomping at the bit to return the favor to Michigan State this weekend. The Spartans were ranked eighth last season when they hosted and beat No. 6 Michigan 37-33 in East Lansing. Now, the No. 4 Wolverines are ready to welcome Mel Tucker’s 3-4 team to Ann Arbor this time around. Blake Corum is just hoping he and his teammates aren’t too ready, though.

Corum spoke about the Wolverine’s level of confidence during media earlier this week. He says they enter every game thinking they can dominate but he knows any team can win any game. That’s where he believes the level-headed nature of his team will help them prevail.

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“Football is a game anyone can lose. Anyone can lose on any given day. I think we’re confident with ourselves and confident in what we can do. I don’t think we’re overconfident just because of the type of team we are,” said Corum. “We treat every game like it’s a championship game. There’s no such thing as going into a game like, ‘Oh, we’re about to dominate them.’ Obviously we think that right? We want to dominate them, but it’s not overconfidence. It’s just being confident.”

Michigan likely felt just as confident heading into last season’s matchup where they blew a 16-point lead thanks to a five-touchdown, 197-yard effort from Kenneth Walker III. That’s proof enough that they have to show a certain level of respect to their in-state rival.

Corum is convinced the Wolverines are entering this game with the correct level of confidence. Regardless of their record this year, Michigan State is going to give Michigan their best on Saturday, which is why Corum is dying for kickoff to come already.

“I feel like that’s how we’re going into this game. Just confident,” Corum said. “We understand their record isn’t the same as last year when we met, right? But we’re confident. We know they’re coming to play, they’re gonna give us their best game. Saturday can’t come fast enough.”

This game has enough juice already because of the battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy. However, it being under the lights in The Big House, a revenge game for the Wolverines, and a chance to remain in the College Football Playoff field only makes it that much more important to Michigan. They owe one to Michigan State after their loss a year ago but they’ll still enter this game with the right level of humility so they can win it in 2022.