Published Sep 5, 2022
Notebook: Roman Wilson talks playing Hawaii, Colorado State win
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Josh Henschke  •  Maize&BlueReview
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Michigan wide receiver Roman Wilson met with the media on Monday to preview the week ahead. This week is a little more special than most, as he gets to face his hometown team of Hawaii.

The emotions will be high for Wilson heading into Saturday.

"My emotions, honestly, I just feel so blessed," Wilson said. "Growing up, I wouldn't have expected to be, first of all, at Michigan and then be able to play my hometown. It feels like such a surreal moment. Just so honored, to be honest."

Here's everything else Wilson had to say.

On his parents being from Michigan

My mom is from St. Ignace and my dad is from Kalamazoo. They moved to Hawaii before I was born. That's where I'm from.

On what it means to kids from Hawaii when the program is doing well

I feel like it means a whole lot. I know their head coach, Timmy Chang, was a big inspiration for a lot of people growing up. Colt Brennan, there were a couple of receivers that I knew and kind of watched throughout the years. I feel like when people go to their hometown and they live there, it means so much to their community. You look up and look at these role models in your life and realize you can be like them too.

On his recruitment to Michigan

I kind of didn't have too many Power Five schools heading into my senior year. I ended up going to The Opening and won MVP or something like that. I just remember waking up the next day and Oregon called me and offered me, Michigan was the third or fourth school and then, after that, my recruitment took off. I kind of had most of the PAC-12 schools, Michigan really stood out because of how well they treated me.

On whether he grew up a Hawaii fan

Actually, I grew up an Oregon fan. I always thought I could play at Hawaii. Kind of sucks it didn't turn out that way, they were always the cool school to look up to, I'd go to their games and things like that.

On how game preparation changes with a different quarterback

For the receivers, nothing changes. It's always the same. We work as hard as we can, put in as much work as we can. I don't think the quarterback room should change that.

On whether Hawaii recruited him

They were my very first offer. I remember I was flying back home and I was walking off the airplane and one of the coaches called me up and offered me and I just remember standing there just smiling uncontrollably. It was really funny.

On whether scramble drills come into play with JJ as the starter

Scramble drill, we always practice that. Cade can scramble pretty well, too. Nothing really changes.

On what sort of leader is McCarthy

I feel like, JJ, for me, personally, I feel like he's the type of guy that brings a positive attitude, kind of cheers people up and leads by example. Kind of just the person you want to be like. Always ready for the game, always wants to put in the work. Things like that.

On how he would evaluate the offensive performance

I thought it was really good. There's always going to be room for improvement. I thought we played really well. Receivers blocked really well and ran good routes. Took advantage of most of our opportunities but there's always room for improvement.

On how much more there is to show in the passing game

We're going to find out this week.

On whether he suspected that his first touchdown catch would be easy

I wouldn't say it was easy but I prepared myself pretty well. I knew the ball was coming and I knew how to take advantage of it.

On whether the quarterback battle is talked about inside the locker room

It's not really talked about. You guys talk about it enough, that's enough for us (laughs).