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Newsstand: ESPN analyst shares lesson learned from Michigan's 2021 season

Anthony Broomeby:Anthony Broome•08/21/22•

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Michigan football broke through last season with a 12-2 season, win over hated rival Ohio State and Big Ten Championship. ESPN’s Greg McElroy grabbed a lesson from the Wolverine campaign.

McElroy recently said that he will not doubt teams with a chip on their shoulder and back against the wall moving forward.

“Michigan, last year, I thought was such a breath of fresh air,” McElroy said. “They made me so happy. Not because I’m a Michigan fan. Because I think it was fun as a fan of college football to see Jim Harbaugh answer the critics. Remember last year going into the season? Everyone said ‘he just took a huge pay cut. He’s got a one-year, prove-it deal.’ He said ‘alright, I’m going to bet on myself. Let’s just go see what we can do. Let’s get it done.’ Everyone was saying ‘oh man, maybe they’ll finish third, fourth in the (Big Ten) East.’

“Well, clearly, that wasn’t the case. ‘Jim Harbaugh is never going to win the Big Ten running the ball like that. That archaic offense.’ Well, what did he do? I thought last year was really exciting because it taught yes yet again. You cannot write off good coaches and you cannot write off hungry teams that have a chip on their shoulder or something to prove. If there’s one thing we learned about last year, that’s exactly what it was.”

Harbaugh and the Wolverines grabbed their first win over Ohio State since 2011 and first conference title since the 2004 season during 2021. They fell to Georgia in the Orange Bowl and will look to get back and surpass the bar that was set last year.

Tweets of the day

Michigan quote of the day

“It really wasn’t the idea [to bulk up for this season]. It was literally just putting in work, honestly — eating right, hydrating better. That’s what it led to. I really wasn’t trying to, it kind of just happened, so I feel good. I feel good right now. If anything, I feel faster. It didn’t change my game at all. Maybe bring a little more power with a little more weight with it. But nothing really [changed].”

– Michigan junior running back Blake Corum on his fitness this offseason

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