What Michael Penix said about Michigan pre-national championship

MICHAEL PENIX JR.: I want to say I can't really use anything from my past playing them because obviously I played them with a totally different team, so it was a totally different time. That was the year of COVID, as well.

Nothing that happened before will carry over to what we have to prepare for come Monday.

But I'm just super excited for the opportunity, and I know my guys will be ready.

Q. Michael, in your early studies of Michigan's defense and what Jesse Minter has done as a coordinator, what are some challenges that unit will present based on what you've seen so far?

MICHAEL PENIX JR.: That's a good team over there. They're coached up very well. But we're going to be ready for the challenge. They mix up the picture quite a bit. They try to get the quarterback off his mark. But we'll be ready for it. We know that.

Obviously it's the biggest game right now mainly because it's our next one but obviously because it's the championship, as well, for the National Championship.

But I'm super excited for the opportunity, but we're just going to continue to prepare the same way that we do each and every week.

We know that we have what it takes to be able to come out with a W. We've just got to go out there, execute and do it.

Q. Just wanted to get your thoughts on what you remember most from the win over Michigan in 2020 and whether you derive any sort of irony or get a sense of irony that in many ways your performance in that game kind of forced Michigan to change its defense to what it is now.

MICHAEL PENIX JR.: I don't really remember much. I just remember winning really. That was during the COVID year and it's a totally different ballgame.

But I'm always confident in myself and this team and the preparation that our coaches give is going into each game. I feel pretty excited for the opportunity.

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