Michigan Football: Patrick Kugler Says Michigan Is Taking On Villain Role
Michigan is staring at a huge opportunity to turn its season around this weekend when it faces Wisconsin on the road.
The No. 5 Badgers are 10-0 and 7-0 in the Big Ten, and are on track to reach the College Football Playoff if it can finish the season unbeaten.
Fifth-year senior center Patrick Kugler is hoping that the Wolverines can put an end to the Badgers winning streak, and kept their own going.
“I think we’ve taken the role of a villain a little bit,” Kugler said. “People have been doubting us, we haven’t beaten a team with a winning record this year. That’s the big one going around right now. Next two games are two big ones. If we can come out on top in both games, the villain wins. That’s a fun role to play.”
Michigan finally entered the College Football Playoff rankings this week at No. 24, but was slotted behind a number of three-loss teams — presumably due to Michigan’s lack of wins against teams with winning records.
“People are doubting us, we see that pretty much everywhere,” Kugler said. “We’re a very tight knit group and we know what we’re capable of.”
To quiet the haters, Michigan will need to score points on the nation’s top ranked defense and shut down a Badgers team that converts on third down more than any other team in the country.
“It’s fun to ruin people’s seasons,” Kugler said. “We could still be 10-2 too and make the Big Ten championship. It’s just kind of fun, especially to go into a hostile environment like Wisconsin, and if we can come away with a victory, there’s nothing better than that.”
The last time Wisconsin lost at home was on Oct. 15, 2016 when Ohio State took home a 30-23 overtime win.
“I’ve heard it’s awesome, one of the best environments in the country,” Kugler said. “They got the ‘Jump Around’ at the end of the third. I’m excited about it. I’ve never played there and I’ve been here five years. I was excited when I found out we were playing at Wisconsin. You want to play in every stadium, and I haven’t had the opportunity to do that unfortunately, even in five years.”
Kugler said it will be important for Michigan to continue running the ball well. Both junior running back Karan Higdon and sophomore running back Chris Evans will be leaned on, especially with redshirt freshman quarterback Brandon Peters starting just his third game.
Starting at quarterback on the road at Wisconsin is a whole different story compared to playing at Maryland.
“I think, especially on the o-line, we took it upon ourselves to give us the identity of a running team,” Kugler said. “I think we’ve done a great job of that, we’ve established ourselves in the run game and it’s really opened up our passing game.”
It’s expected that Saturday’s game will be a defensive battle where points come at a premium. The weather could also play a factor. That could favor the Badgers, who have the third leading rusher in the nation in freshman running back Jonathan Taylor, who has 1,525 yards this season.
“Everyone always talks about Wisconsin’s o-line and how they’re one of the best in the country and we’re trying to throw our name in there too,” Kugler said. “I think we’re very capable and it’s going to be a great battle on Saturday.”
When “Jump Around” blares through the speakers at Camp Randall Stadium, Kugler has ideas of his own for who it’ll pump up.
“Hopefully we can turn that music into our music a little bit,” he said.
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