Michigan players go in-depth on ‘Beat Georgia’ drill at Big Ten Media Days

The Michigan Wolverines are doing everything they can to ascend to the same level of the Georgia Bulldogs.

While Jim Harbaugh’s squad has made it to the College Football Playoff the last two seasons, they’ve watched as the Bulldogs have taken home the championship. Evidently, that’s the level of play Michigan has their eyes set upon.

Earlier in the summer, The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman revealed a tidbit regarding Michigan having a ‘Beat Georgia’ period during their practices, which caught some headlines for the Wolverines. At Big Ten Media Days, their players were asked about it, and they simply didn’t shy away.

“Yessir, there was indeed,” Michigan defensive lineman Kris Jenkins responded, asked to confirm whether Michigan implemented the drill into practice. “It was really just you know, pushing ourselves as a team. You know, getting gritty. Getting in the trenches. Working on, really working on our run game. You know, every aspect. Like not just necessarily being you know, ‘Beat Georgia Drill,’ but how can we take our minds to the next level, how can we be a better football team, and how can we really be what everybody’s talked about.

“You know, being the next team that’s up. So you know, just taking that aspect of our game and taking it to the next level, and eliminating all of that complacency.”

Continuing, Wolverines linebacker Mike Sainristil elaborated on what the drill means to him, and it’s going to fire up Michigan fans when they hear it.

“Yeah, I would just say getting in there again. Getting in them trenches. Not being scared to get your hands dirty. Get your feet dirty. Work on the run game, work on the play-action game, work on big personnels,” Sainristil said. “Just go in there and battle it out, win the line of scrimmage.”

Moreover, the aforementioned Feldman originally noted that the “Beat Georgia” period is a derivation from the “Beat Ohio” period that many Wolverines credit for helping them beat Ohio State in back-to-back seasons.

In essence, it gives the defense a 9-on-7 advantage, where the defense has all but cornerbacks and the offense has just the line, a quarterback and the running back. If the offense can churn out yards and win blocks when out-manned, then they believe they make it work almost any time — a belief hardened in this drill.

That period, dubbed the “Beat Ohio” period, has evidently morphed into an additional bit of time dedicated to catching up the top dogs and two-time national champions.

Time will tell if it works out, but Michigan is pulling out all the stops in an attempt to get to the top of the college football world.

On3’s Andrew Graham contributed to this article.