Semaj Morgan hears pundits saying Michigan will take a step back, using it as fuel

DETROIT — Usually when a team wins big, the expectations go through the roof. It doesn’t take a team winning a national championship for pundits and plaudits across college football to suddenly crown a new media darling.

Take Penn State in 2016. After winning the Big Ten — despite losing 49-10 to Michigan earlier in the year — the Nittany Lions became perennially ‘on the verge’ according to many in the media. Yet, they haven’t won the Big Ten again since and have yet to make it to the College Football Playoff.

So, when Michigan football won the national championship this past year, the media jumped on board and started to expect the Wolverines to repeat, right?

Wrong.

The excuse is that Michigan has to replace a lot, but Georgia lost the bulk of its team after winning back-to-back championships, and the Bulldogs were the favorites last year and will likely be the favorite again this year. Ohio State hasn’t won the conference since 2020, but it’s the favorite to win this year — much like it’s been the past three years.

Yes, Michigan has a new head coach in Sherrone Moore, but the expectation is that he’ll run the team like Jim Harbaugh and make the same decisions. However, the Wolverines have not gotten that same respect entering 2024, as many put them on the same level as the aforementioned Penn State Nittany Lions.

And if you think that has gone unnoticed within Schembechler Hall, think again.

“We feel it, but I don’t care for it. I ain’t never care what nobody says,” sophomore wide receiver Semaj Morgan told WolverinesWire. “But I really feel that we use it as fuel because we know everything that’s happening on the outside really don’t matter. Everything we do, everything we do every day, everything we put in, is what we gonna get out of it. So whatever they saying, they can keep…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/semaj-morgan-hears-pundits-saying-015328661.html

Author : Wolverines Wire

Publish date : 2024-06-03 01:53:28

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