Michigan Football: Last Year's Loss To OSU Has Motivated Karan Higdon
Junior running back Karan Higdon was well on his way to a 1,000-yard campaign in 2017, but those plans were derailed a bit when he hurt his ankle in the first half of the Maryland game on Nov. 4.
Higdon tried to gut it out and wound up playing this past Saturday against Wisconsin, but admitted it wasn’t easy.
“It was tough,” he said. “As long as I can walk, though, I’m going to give it my all. I’m still working through some things, but I’ll be out there this weekend.”
There probably isn’t much that could prevent Higdon from playing this Saturday against Ohio State, Michigan’s arch nemesis.
The junior explained why this game is so vastly different than all the others.
“Your heart is pumping,” he exclaimed. “In most games after the first snap, your heart dies down a little bit, but it doesn’t in this one.
“They’ll [OSU] be jumping around and talking trash out there — we need to match it and surpass it.”
Higdon admitted that last year’s controversial 30-27 double-overtime loss in Columbus has motivated him tremendously.
“Oh, it does a lot,” he said. “We know going into this year’s game that we can’t leave it up to the refs. We have to do our job and make sure we do it by a big margin, not a small one.”
The Wolverines have lost 12 of their last 13 games to the Buckeyes, and the junior running back said the streak needs to end immediately.
“Hearing that stat just means we have to change it,” he confirmed. “It has to change sometime, and we need to be the ones to do it. Coach [Greg] Mattison talked to us about writing our own chapter here, and this is the year to do it.”
The departing U-M seniors could cap their chapters on a high note if they’re able to win the game this weekend.
“They’ve given everything they have to this program,” Higdon said of the seniors. “It would be so big to send them out with a win over Ohio State.”
Seeing as how it’s far and away the biggest game on Michigan’s schedule, ticket requests are at an all-time high (just as they always are for The Game).
Higdon said that he’s received his fair share of requests.
“I always do,” he laughed. “I’ve gotten too many to even count. You can’t really expect to have any extra tickets, and those who asked for them understand that.”
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