Michigan has the “Beat Ohio” drill and added the “Beat Georgia” drill earlier this year as added incentive, given that the Bulldogs were two-time defending national champions and annihilated the Wolverines in the national semifinals en route to the 2021 title. The Wolverines renamed a 9-on-7 physical, run, and run-stopping drill “Beat Ohio” before the 2021 season. Their goal was simple: keep the Buckeyes in mind throughout the season. Michigan is 3-0 against Ohio State since the renaming. During spring practice, the “Beat Georgia” period began.
During Big Ten media days last July, defensive back Mike Sainristil, who leads the team with five interceptions, stated that “Beat Georgia” is a “heavy, 12- and 13-personnel” drill geared toward run-heavy groupings with emphasis on the trenches.
Perhaps the No. 1 seed Wolverines (13-0) will change it to the “Beat Alabama” drill as they prepare to face No. 4 Alabama (12-1), a three-time national champion since the inception of the four-team College Football Playoff in 2014, in the Rose Bowl national semifinal on New Year’s Day.
“We have a Beat Ohio, Beat Georgia deal that comes into play when we have those teams who really bring it up front,” linebacker Michael Barrett explained on Sunday. “You’re gonna have a dogfight in the trenches and to prepare us for a time like this, we put that period in practice to get us ready, get our minds right for when that time comes.”
Michigan is taking a week off after winning its third Big Ten championship in a row before returning to practice and preparing to face Alabama, which defeated Georgia in the Southeastern Conference championship game on Saturday. The Crimson Tide are ranked 18th in total defense (313.3 yards per game) and 17th in scoring (18.4) in the country.
During a Rose Bowl conference call on Sunday, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh was asked about the Beat Georgia drill and mentioned the difficult defenses the Wolverines have faced in the last month.
“What is it, the last, maybe, five weeks, probably the last four, I think we’ve played some of the top defenses in the country in Penn State, Iowa, Ohio State, all top-five defenses,” Harbaugh said at the time. “Alabama is as good as or better than all of them.” It’ll be a big task, a big challenge.”
Defensive tackle Kris Jenkins said he got “goosebumps” when the Wolverines’ opponent, Alabama, was announced on Sunday.
The Wolverines ate breakfast together on Sunday morning while watching the College Football Playoff selection show, which named Michigan the No. 1 seed in the four-team playoff. They are 0-2 in their third consecutive appearance in the semifinals. The other semifinal will feature Washington and Texas.
“You can’t just focus on the big prize, you’ve got to focus on the journey,” said Jenkins. “We’re very excited, and seeing their name on TV gave me goosebumps.” A big-time team with a rich history.”
Michigan’s leading rusher, Blake Corum, said he is looking forward to the challenge of facing Alabama, which represents what Sainristil refers to as “big-boy football.”
“You don’t want the easy road,” Corum pointed out. “Just playing Alabama, a team, a university that it is known for winning, it feels great.
Preparing for the national semifinals is a difficult task. Michigan suffered defeats to Georgia in 2021 and TCU last season. There is a significant time difference between the championship weekend and the semifinals, and Alabama coach Nick Saban has stated that they have learned to pace themselves in this playoff format.
During the Rose Bowl conference call on Sunday, Saban discussed how he learned to adjust his national semifinal preparations after losing to Ohio State in 2014.
“I think early on in preparation for these games when you have this long span of time, we probably practiced too much, and by the time we got to the game, our players were probably mentally and physically maybe not in peak performance,” he said. “As we’ve progressed through the years, we’ve learned how much practice is required and how to psychologically get them in the right place at the right time.”
“But some of the teams you play in the playoffs, none of them aren’t going to be really good teams, and I think the way you prepare and compete for games like this, as well as your psychological attitude about how difficult it’s going to be, is very important to every team.” So hopefully our team has the right attitude because they’ll be playing a great Michigan team.”
Harbaugh wants his players to rest this week, in part to heal injuries before turning their full attention to Alabama.
“It’s what we dreamed about, what we hoped for, what we worked for, what our guys prepared for,” Harbaughs was quoted as saying. “Put yourself in the best possible position to win it all.” We’ve met a lot of our objectives. We’d also put “winning it all” on the goal sheet. That’s what we’ll focus on when we face Alabama in the final four. We’ll do what we’ve always done: plan, prepare, practice, and be ready to give it our all.”
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