CHICAGO — Michigan’s struggles against its rivals has been well documented. Coach Jim Harbaugh is 0-3 against Ohio State and 1-2 against Michigan State, but the season opener against the team’s third rival, Notre Dame, presents an opportunity for the Wolverines to get off on the right track in 2018.
Harbaugh has never coached against the Fighting Irish as Michigan’s coach, but U-M has lost its last two games in South Bend.
It will be the first meeting between the two teams since 2014 — when fifth-year senior defensive end Chase Winovich was just a true freshman.
“I’m happy [the rivalry] got renewed,” Winovich said. “It’s a great opportunity. It’s cool for me too … one of my first experiences at Michigan was getting beat pretty bad by Notre Dame, and I don’t intend for that to be one of my last experiences at Michigan.”
Notre Dame will present a number of challenges for the Michigan defense, but Winovich said the team isn’t worrying about the game yet, and is still focused on self-improvement.
“Obviously Notre Dame presents a lot of exciting stuff for us as a team and as a defense,” WInovich said. “Honestly though, our priority as focus as a team isn’t even on Notre Dame right now. We knew coming back after last year that there was stuff we wanted to adjust and fix, and how do you turn around an 8-5 team and make it a championship contending program? The same way you eat an elephant. One bite at a time.”
He added that the team has taken care of winter conditioning, spring ball, summer conditioning and now is on to camp. Notre Dame won’t be a major focus until later in August. However, that doesn’t mean he and his teammates don’t think about the impending showdown.
“Our level of excitement for that game is off the charts,” Winovich said. “We’re eager to play that game and get a shot at redemption against those guys. For me, when I was a freshman, I didn’t go to Notre Dame, I was on the scout team and helped prepare those guys, and we got smoked by those guys. It wasn’t a great day at the office for the Wolverines.”
The game has a little extra meaning for Winovich personally. He said the first college camp he ever attended was at Notre Dame.
“I didn’t think their campus was very fun at all. It seemed boring to me,” Winovich said. “The best part of the whole trip was at 2 a.m. when someone pulled the fire alarm. We all went outside and had fun.”
His trip this time around will admittedly be much more fun if Michigan walks away with a victory. Nabbing a win against a top 25 opponent, as Notre Dame is sure to be, on the road has been something that has eluded the Wolverines. It hasn’t been done since 2006 — but came against the Fighting Irish.
“[Notre Dame redshirt junior quarterback Brandon Wimbush] looked really good in the spring game, I think he’s going to provide a lot of challenges, just being a little more mobile,” Winovich said. “They’re a great football team. They want to win just as bad as we do. Playing at their place, and I’m not saying anything people don’t already know, but Michigan just hasn’t been very good on the road in recent years.”
Kickoff is set for Saturday, Sept. 1 at 7:30p.m. — just 37 days away.
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