Blake Corum, Michigan not focused on last year's MSU game: 'We're treating the game like the rivalry it is'
The Michigan Wolverines renew their rivalry with Michigan State this weekend in East Lansing to battle it out for the Paul Bunyan Trophy, currently owned by U-M. The second-ranked Wolverines are 7-0, while MSU limps into the matchup with a 2-4 record and a four-game losing streak after the dismissal of head coach Mel Tucker.
Of course, the elephant in the room is what happened the last time these two teams met. A handful of Spartan players were disciplined for postgame attacks on Gemon Green and Ja’Den McBurrows in the Michigan Stadium tunnel, which led to high emotions from both sides of the rivalry in the hours, days, weeks and months since.
For Michigan, there’s no message of revenge or holding grudges. Jim Harbaugh wants the team to have a “goldfish mentality” of leaving the past in the past, and senior running back Blake Corum said Monday the plan is to treat the rivalry with the importance and composure it warrants.
“We’re treating the game like the rivalry it is,” Corum said. “We’re not really focused on what happened last year. We’re going to handle business during the week. So we’re going to watch a lot of film. Saturday we’ll go in there and just handle business like always like we have the past couple of games. We’re not going to hold a grudge on what happened last year. Always keep it in the back of the mind, but we’re not going there [saying] we’re going to rough them up or anything like that. We’re not going to fight or anything like that. That’s part of the past. We’ll go in there and handle business and come out victorious.”
Michigan sets four goals for itself each season. Beat Michigan State. Beat Ohio State. Win the Big Ten. Win the national title. This is the first time this year it has a chance to achieve any of those goals, and Corum sees it just as important, if not more, than handling the game against Ohio State.
“When you talk about rivalries, you talk about Ohio State and Michigan, Michigan State versus us. And they’re kind of like… Which one’s more of a rivalry? It’s hard to say,” Corum said. “Sometimes I think it’s the [Michigan State] one because that’s the bragging rights in the state that you live in and the state that you go to school in for the rest of the year. So does Michigan State or Ohio State mean more?
“I don’t know, man, I really don’t know. But I can tell you that, today we’re going to attack film. We’re going to break it down. We’re going to know what they do. We’re going to have a heck of a game plan. We’re going to put in a great week of work, especially going into the bye week. We’re going to leave it all out there.”
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Regardless of the names on the front of the jersey, or the colors, or the venue, Michigan says it will take things one day at a time as it continues to build toward its ultimate goal.
Michigan State just happens to be the next opponent on the schedule. But there is certainly a little more juice in the building this week.
“With blood, sweat, and tears, we’re going to leave it all out there in East Lansing on Saturday,” Corum said. “I’m really excited. We’re going to keep Paul. Day by day, man. But this is a heck of a rivalry and I’m excited to be in it once again.”
Saturday’s game in East Lansing kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET and will be broadcast nationally via NBC. The Wolverines opened as 24-point favorites over the the rival Spartans.
