Wolverine TV podcast: How Michigan has adjusted bowl prep, awards and more
The Michigan Wolverines are into their second week of bowl prep as they ready themselves to play the Alabama Crimson Tide on New Year’s Day in the Rose Bowl. Tough lessons have been learned from the first two trips to the College Football Playoff that now have to be applied to their goals in front of them.
And it sounds like Michigan is doing just that, adjusting its approach to a less physical, more mental few weeks leading up to the Rose Bowl. That’s all fine and good as long as they stay in football shape, our Chris Balas said on Monday night’s live show.
“As long as they stay in good shape,” Balas said. “And I think that’s something that Ben Herbert’s been responsible for and does a great job with these guys. He’s one of the best in the business strength coaches. We’ve had teams in the past that have gone into bowl games that were fat and happy and my podcast partner, Doug Skene talks about that all the time. They went into the 1992 Rose Bowl and got hammered. They were all 10 pounds heavier after eating for a month and tried to get back in shape a month before the game. It didn’t quite work out. I don’t think that will be an issue.
“To me, this is more about the mental prep and stuff like that. But it’s all about matchups in these games. Alabama is a good football team. I understand that people are going to say they barely beat Auburn and they barely did this and they barely did that. But they can play with anybody.
“These guys at tackle are going to have to be mentally prepared to see the best edges that they’ve probably seen all year with the exception of Penn State. Chop Robinson was a nightmare for those guys and they had to change their game plan because of it. So you’re hoping that they are preparing for that.
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“To me, that’s the biggest part of this is how the coaches are getting these guys prepared to deal with the matchups that might not be in their favor.”
Balas and Anthony Broome also discussed quotes from anonymous Big Ten coaches, football awards, the path ahead for Michigan basketball and more. Watch using the player above, on our YouTube channel or wherever you get your podcasts.
Thanks to our sponsors in this edition of our Michigan Monday show
Homefield: Use code WOLVERINE23 for 15% off your first order from Homefield. https://www.homefieldapparel.com/
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