Cornelius Johnson feels no moment too big for Michigan football
Michigan football has seen everything under Jim Harbaugh. It has been through nearly everything as a program. Wins, losses and adversity have built a callous around the team, or “steel in their spine,” as the head coach would put it.
A calm and poised approach defined the 2021 Wolverines, who won the Big Ten Championship and booked their first trip to the College Football Playoff. Michigan takes on Georgia on New Year’s Eve and is preparing as it has for any other game this year.
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“We’re just keeping it level-headed, not trying to change or do anything different, necessarily,” sophomore wide receiver Cornelius Johnson said on Tuesday night. “Just play our brand of football. Just because we’ve won a few games, that’s good, but we’ve got another opponent on the line. We’ve just gotta focus on that opponent, which is the Georgia Bulldogs.”
Michigan’s brand of football has included mindfulness and making sure to stay in the moment. Johnson channeled rapper Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” when talking about what awaits on Dec. 31.
“It’s got to the point where you’ve gotta put yourself in that dark place and it’s almost in a sense where you can’t be thinking about the future,” Johnson said. “Because it’s all just comes down to one day. You have got one shot, one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted.”
More than a regular game for Michigan’s program
Johnson, who has 38 catches for 609 yards and three touchdowns for Michigan, said he tries to boil the game down to what happens between the lines.
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“You know it’s not just any other regular game,” he said. “It’s a bowl game in a legendary stadium with legendary everything around you. It’s important to not get caught up in that hype, because at the end of the day, you’re just on the football field. It could be any field, [like] on Glick, a high school field, it’s still just 100 yards, 100 yards long. That’s how I try to think about it to calm things down for me. Not to overthink it.”
Michigan has not overthought much of anything this year, nor did it ever expect to not be in contention. The Wolverines are not surprised to be where they are at because the team’s success is the fruits of their labor.
“All the work we’ve done in the summer, all the work we’ve done throughout the season,” Johnson said. “It finds its way to shine. It’s no surprise, some of the awards and some of the victories and the place we’re in right now. It’s a result of all the effort and the whole process that’s been going on.”
Michigan’s College Football Playoff showdown with Georgia kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET from Miami Gardens, Florida on Dec. 31. The game will be televised via ESPN.
