The Michigan Wolverines have had far from a normal college football season as the program faces an NCAA investigation into an alleged illegal sign-stealing scheme, and Michigan running back Blake Corum is praising his team for overcoming that “adversity.”
This season, Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh has been suspended for six games in total – three at the beginning of the season as a self-imposed penalty from the school following an NCAA investigation into alleged recruiting violations and three at the end of the season from the Big Ten following the sign-stealing allegations. In addition, Michigan linebackers coach Chris Partridge was fired as a result of the sign-stealing investigation.
When asked his reaction to Michigan earning the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff, Blake Corum brought up all of this “adversity” the team faced.
“It meant a lot,” Corum told Fox News. “Just fighting through adversity all year, not having our head coach for six games and our linebacker coach fired and getting slayed by the media, but we stood together as a team and as a unit, and we were able to overcome the adversity and staying solid through it all.”
Corum said the team didn’t necessarily even need more motivation, saying the Wolverines “already have a chip on our shoulder.”
“The team we have right here, I don’t believe we need any extra (motivation). We already have a chip on our shoulder. It didn’t need to come from the media calling us all types of names or coach getting suspended or anything like that,” he explained. “I feel like we’ve always felt like, it’s always been Michigan versus everybody and I think that’s the way we train. That’s our motto. That’s our mindset.
“Obviously, with everything going on, it definitely has brought more attention to us, more hatred, but we love it.”
We’ll have to see how motivated Michigan is to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide in the College Football Playoff.
[Fox News]
