The sweat-soaked, cranium-challenging, at times bloodstained prep work is almost finished. The 2018 season stands dead ahead, a monster to slay or bow before.
The work didn’t begin back in spring practice, either. It didn’t start when Jim Harbaugh’s Wolverines ambled back into winter workouts, following a disappointing bowl loss.
It originated months earlier, germinating in a monsoon-saturated loss against Michigan State. It grew in an embarrassing second-half capitulation at Penn State, and began to boil through late losses to Wisconsin, Ohio State and South Carolina.
Michigan football certainly stands disinclined to credit its scandal-scorched brethren to the northwest for anything. But this one time, borrowing a bit from the little green playbook might be understandable.
“I’m a big chip-on-my-shoulder guy,” fifth-year senior defensive end Chase Winovich said. “There are programs — and I’m sure you can deduce who they are — in the Big Ten who have built the last 10, 15 years off of that chip-on-the-shoulder mentality that they’re devalued.
“It’s all about harnessing whatever energy you can and maintaining that peak performance.”
