Despite the fact that Michigan’s Big Ten title hopes took a major hit after Saturday’s loss to Penn State, redshirt junior right tackle Juwann Bushell-Beatty said the team’s goals haven’t necessarily been altered.
“No, I don’t think the goals have changed,” he said. “We don’t want it to be this way, but things aren’t necessarily in our hands anymore. We’ll continue to reach for every goal we have though.”
Bushell-Beatty made his second consecutive start on Saturday night, and he touched on the progress he’s made.
“I feel like I’ve made some big steps, but there’s still a lot of things I need to work on,” he explained. “Those things come with experience. Playing with more confidence is one of the things I’ve improved on, but is something I still need to work at. When it comes to run and pass blocking, I think I’ve gotten a lot better using my hands and being more physical.”
Bushell-Beatty expanded a bit more on the confidence issue he touched on.
“For me personally, I don’t think it’s something that happens overnight,” he revealed. “It comes over the course of the season.”
The redshirt junior explained that two veterans along the offensive line have served as role models for the unit, and have helped keep everyone’s confidence level high.
“[Senior left tackle] Mason Cole and [fifth-year senior center] Pat Kugler,” he said. “They’ve done a great job of continuing to push us all in the right direction. Mason, having the most experience on the line, has taught us so much and we know we can still learn a lot from him.”
Hailing from Paramus, N.J., Bushell-Beatty admitted this Saturday’s game against Rutgers means a bit more to him than some.
“Yeah, it does,” he said. “There are bragging rights at stake back home, and some of my friends go to Rutgers. But I want to win every game, and they all have the same level of importance to me.”
Michigan’s special teams and linebackers coach, Chris Partridge, used to be the head coach at Paramus Catholic High School in New Jersey, and is a large reason why the Wolverines have had so much success recruiting the Garden State in recent years.
Bushell-Beatty gave his take as to why he feels so many of the state’s elite prospects often head elsewhere to play football.
“Football in New Jersey is important to a lot of kids, just as it is in any big state, like Texas or California,” he explained. “But I don’t think they’re at the same level collegiately that states like Texas or Ohio, for example, are at.
“A lot of guys growing up watching college ball in New Jersey want to play some of these other places and experience life somewhere else.”
That mindset has paid dividends for the Wolverines in recent years.
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