HOUSTON — Drake Nugent remembers almost feeling guilty when he arrived in Ann Arbor last spring.
Michigan football had won back-to-back Big Ten championships and reached the the College Football Playoff twice, yet here he was, injured and trying to join the mix after winning just three games at Stanford the year before.
“I was kind of reaping the benefits of their last season almost, I felt bad in a way,” Nugent explained Monday night as he removed tape in front of his locker at NRG Stadium. “I was going on trips, meeting alumni and stuff like that, really reaping the rewards that they fought for. I missed spring ball (with an injury) so I still wasn’t able to help the team.
“I just wanted to live up to the expectations of Michigan football. … Do my job on every play and be someone they can rely on and just kick ass.”
Michigan running back Donovan Edwards celebrates with Michigan offensive lineman Drake Nugent after a touchdown in the first quarter during the College Football Playoff national championship game against Washington at NRG Stadium in Houston on Monday, Jan. 8, 2024.
RAINER SABIN: Michigan football is the last team standing – it feels like their destiny
Nugent, like so many of the transfers brought into the fold over the 2022-23 offseason, proved entirely reliable as he helped propel the Wolverines to a 34-13 victory over Washington in the national championship game to put the finishing touches on a program-record 15-0 season, 15-0.
Fitting in and dominating was on the minds of many members of U-M’s transfer class. When the secondary took UMass transfer Josh Wallace out to dinner at The Chop House in Ann Arbor, they told him he could be one of the keys to putting the Wolverines over the top.
Tight end A.J. Barner, coming from Indiana, got that same speech, too. On Monday night, the former Hoosier said…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/more-300-yards-rushing-michigan-111004478.html
Author : Detroit Free Press
Publish date : 2024-01-09 11:10:04
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