Michigan Football: Ohio Native Mike McCray Expects Saturday To Be 'Surreal'
Fifth-year senior linebacker Mike McCray has a very unique story.
His father — Mike Sr. — was a captain at Ohio State in 1988, and before this past season, the younger McCray was likewise named a captain at Michigan.
The fifth-year senior admitted the Ohio State game means a bit more to the kids on the Wolverines’ roster who hail from the state of Ohio.
“I think it does,” he said. “We were talking during our lift earlier how we want to get this win so badly, especially being from Ohio. I’m getting tired of going home and people talking about how we always lose to them. For me, it’s my last shot, and I want to go out with a win.”
It will also be McCray’s final chance to touch the famous MClub banner prior to the game.
“It’ll be surreal — hopefully I don’t tear up,” he laughed. “It will mean a little bit more than usual though — it’s my last game in the Big House. I’ll soak it all in, and hopefully we’re able to come out with the win. I don’t want to go back home with a loss.”
Neither does a fellow Ohioan and one of McCray’s best friends on the team, junior safety Tyree Kinnel. The fifth-year senior spoke about the Huber Heights native.
“Tyree is a great player,” McCray said. “I’ve gotten very close with him off the field — we hang out all the time. He competes at a high level, and I have no doubt he’ll go out there and play hard on Saturday.
“People sometimes give him a hard time if he gets beat on a play, but one of the things I love about him is that he doesn’t care what people say. He just keeps playing and goes out every week and competes hard.”
McCray briefly touched on another of his defensive brethren.
“I told you guys before the season that [sophomore viper] Khaleke [Hudson] was going to have a great year,” he laughed. “He’s kind of backed me up on that. The viper is like a SAM ‘backer — both he and Jabrill [Peppers, who played the position last year] are really good athletes, and you have to be to play the position.”
The viper will play an important role in Saturday’s game, just as it did in last year’s version. Defensive coordinator Don Brown’s defensive game plan shut down the OSU offense for much of last year’s contest, and McCray explained what makes the veteran coordinator so special.
“We have a great relationship,” the linebacker exclaimed. “He came in and had so much confidence in me. His passion is crazy — he’s very enthusiastic and he cares about his players. He puts his players before anything, and cares about us on and off the field. Coach Brown is a great guy and a great coach.”
It’ll be interesting to see whether or not Brown comes up with another outstanding defensive game plan like he did last year in Columbus.
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