It was announced on Sunday afternoon that Michigan would be facing South Carolina in the Outback Bowl on Jan. 1, and several Wolverines shared their thoughts on the matchup.
Redshirt sophomore tight end Zach Gentry admitted the Gamecocks are a bit of a mystery to him.
“I actually don’t know a whole lot about them yet,” he said. “Coach [Will] Muschamp is a defensive-minded guy, though, so I’m sure they’ll be flying around. I’m looking forward to seeing them on film this week.
“These extra bowl practices help so much. Spring ball is 15 practices, but here we’ve got a whole month to prepare and get guys up to speed. It’s so important — I know it’s helped me a lot the last couple of years.
“It gives you an extra four weeks to get in the pads, and it allows the younger guys to focus on the things they need to focus on.”
Although the Wolverines will spend the holidays in sunny Florida for a third straight year, Jim Harbaugh has insisted these trips are all business. In fact, he has given the bowl practices their own name — Christmas Camp.
Gentry said he expects this year’s trip to be much of the same.
“Oh, yes,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of things to fix up and there’s a lot of time to improve on those things. We’ll put our noses to the grindstone and keep working.”
The media has grown fond of hyping up Big Ten/SEC bowl games over the last 10 years or so, playing on the notion that there’s a perceived rivalry between the two conferences.
“They’re two great conferences,” Gentry explained. “I don’t know if I’d put a whole lot of stock into a rivalry, though, because there’s great teams in every conference. The national media will probably talk about it a lot.”
Michigan’s starting quarterback for the matchup is still a bit of a mystery at this point, as redshirt freshman Brandon Peters missed last weekend's OSU game with injury.
However, it’s likely that either he or fifth-year senior John O’Korn will get the start.
“The competition for the starting job will keep those guys on edge, and will make them compete a little harder,” Gentry explained. “It’ll be a great thing for them.”
The redshirt sophomore tight end also gave his take redshirt junior quarterback Wilton Speight’s transfer.
“Yeah, I was a little surprised, because I hadn’t really talked to him about it,” he said. “I found out right around the same time you guys did — I saw his Instagram post.
“I think he kept it pretty close to the vest, so it was surprising to see. A lot of guys left that I didn’t know would be departing.”
As Harbaugh would say — onward.
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