'The target is on us': Jaylen Harrell believes unsatisfied Michigan Wolverines have 'something special brewing'
Michigan Wolverines football is nearing the end of fall camp ahead of the Sept. 2 season-opener against East Carolina. After what seems like a never-ending amount of reps going against each other, the Wolverines are excited to hit somebody else.
“Camp is going good,” senior EDGE Jaylen Harrell said on the ‘In The Trenches’ podcast with host Jon Jansen. “We’re still battling, competing each and every day. We’re champing at the bit. Next week, we get to face another color. So we just keep going on the small details and continue to stack days.
“After this week, we’re going into game prep, so now it’s time to start breaking down personnel, looking at their tackles, their tendencies, looking at their scouting report, just honing in and dialing in on key indicators I can get for myself and for us as a defense. Just breaking them down and studying them each and every day, and just ready to roll.”
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Michigan has been the underdog the past two seasons. The Wolverines began the 2021 campaign unranked before winning the Big Ten and making the CFP. Last year, Ohio State was still favored to win the conference, but Michigan dominated in a 45-23 win in Columbus and went on to take the league title the following week in Indianapolis.
Now, the Maize and Blue are the Big Ten favorite according to the media, and they understand that, but they’re not satisfied with how the past has transpired.
“The target is on us,” Harrell said. “We did some good things, but we haven’t finished yet, and that’s the biggest thing — we have not finished. We want the Big Ten, but we want that natty. We just gotta take everything day by day. We haven’t reached our full … that ring. So we just gotta keep going. What we did the past few years wasn’t good enough right there.”
Michigan has made the CFP each of the past two seasons but failed to win in the semifinals, losing to Georgia and TCU, respectively. The Wolverines are focusing on closing that gap on a daily basis.
“Winning that first playoff game, it’s kinda what [Michigan defensive coordinator] Coach [Jesse] Minter said today in that defensive room. He was like, ‘[If] we’re gonna win national championships, the playoff games are right now in practice. The stuff we do right now in camp are going to have an impact and translate to when we get down in December and early January.’ So just keep going, win the day — that’s what we’ve been focused on, winning the day, and the rest is going to take care of itself.”
Every day matters, Michigan strength coach Ben Herbert says, but only 12 count (in the regular season). That first one that counts is coming up, and Harrell can’t wait for his team to make a strong first impression.
“I’m really excited, man,” he said. “It’s been a lot of work put in, and I think we’ve got something really special brewing for this team.”
Jaylen Harrell breaks down huge play against Ohio State
In last year’s win over Ohio State, Harrell made one of the biggest plays of the game, early in the second quarter. He covered tight end Cade Stover on 4th and 2, deflecting the pass and allowing the Michigan offense to take over. He went inside the play and revealed that guarding Stover wasn’t even his responsibility.
“On that play there, that wasn’t even my man, but I kinda felt it, because the way he blocked out on me, it wasn’t like a normal base block,” Harrell said. “I know when he blocks me, the safety is going to trigger. So after he blocked me, I was like, ‘Oh, I just gotta go with him,’ so I just stayed on him and covered him. But yeah, that wasn’t even my man.”
Harrell had a very similar play his sophomore year in a Michigan win over Washington.
“I remembered that play,” Harrell said. “So I was like, ‘Nah, I gotta stay on him.’ That was the same exact play. They were in the red zone. I remember the tight end blocked on me.”
That one resulted in a sack for Aidan Hutchinson.
Later that 2021 season, Harrell had a huge tackle for loss — the first of his career — in a 42-27 Michigan win over the Buckeyes. He said that game was his first big moment in The Big House.
“It was my first time playing ‘em,” Harrell said. “I didn’t get a chance to play against them my freshman year because of COVID. We hadn’t beaten them in a long time. Just finally beating them, man, that just felt good. Never losing to them, that just felt really good. I had my first TFL. That was a fun game.”
