Michigan OL Giovanni El-Hadi ready for first road trip: 'Let them boo us'
ANN ARBOR – The Michigan Wolverines have found their needed next gear in the first road trip of the year the last three seasons, which makes Saturday’s game at Washington a big-time test for a group that still hasn’t played a complete game to this point.
Michigan has done what it has needed to do to win games, but it wants to start imposing its will a little more consistently. Senior offensive lineman Giovanni El-Hadi knows he is among the guys at the forefront of those efforts, and reflected on the win against Minnesota leading into this week’s challenge.
“It was a win. That day we won. That’s what’s important,” El-Hadi said. “Was it the way we wanted it? No, it’s not. We still have to be dominant throughout the whole game, and we gotta fix that, and we will fix that. But, keep working on that, keep training, keep getting through every game dominant.”
One of the biggest keys to Michigan’s success moving forward is the development of the passing game with Alex Orji at quarterback. Saturday will be his third start, and first on the road. No matter the quarterback that is in the game, the lineman feels at ease with whoever is leading the huddle.
“As we said since the beginning, we’re comfortable with whoever’s back there, and people are scared of Alex running the ball,” El-Hadi said. “They’re gonna have an extra person in the box and they’re gonna free more things open. So, we’re ready for whatever the team has to put out against us. And we’re confident in Alex to do all of that. It just feels natural with all of us back there.”
Husky Stadium is known as one of the most rabid venues in college sports, and Michigan has made a living in recent years of repurposing that energy and making it their own. El-Hadi wants to see the same on Saturday night.
“It’s kind of exciting, actually, being in different scenery,” he said. “Even though it’s going to be loud, we know it’s going to be loud. We know it’s going to be wild. It’s the rematch of the national championship. I’m ready to make their field our home field. That’s what it’s about. Have fun. Let them boo us. Let them talk all the crap they want.”
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Despite the game being a rematch of the two squads that played for the national title last year, where Michigan grabbed a 34-13 victory, perhaps the only thing that is the same is the name on each of the programs. Both have new head coaches, and now they are Big Ten foes. It’s a single-game mentality for El-Hadi and company.
“It’s a new week, we’re 0-0,” he said. “That’s how we do it. We have to be 1-0 after this week. We don’t look too far into the season. We don’t look at the past. We just worry about the now. Yes, it is Washington. Yes, it is a rematch of the national championship, but we treat every game the same. Every game is important, no matter who we’re going against.
“Beating a team at their own home and taking that spirit out of the fans, they’re all loud…and then they’re all quiet, that’s probably the best feeling.”
So what does a great week of practice look like for Michigan?
“Everyone has to be focused, we all have to execute with strength until the whistle blows,” El-Hadi said. “And no matter what, the other team is going to have good plays. Refocus and keep executing what we have to do. And, just have a great week of practice. Take care of our bodies and just be ready for whatever the team throws at us.”
Saturday’s game in Seattle kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT on NBC.
