Michigan seniors ready to erase some dubious zeros
The Wolverines have finished each of the last three seasons with consecutive losses, and ending that dubious streak is why Long returned to Michigan for the 2007 season, rather than entering the NFL draft.
“That’s one of the reasons I came back,” Long said. “We haven’t finished a season strong as a group. We haven’t beaten Ohio State. We haven’t won a bowl game. We want to come out on top as seniors.”
Thanks to Long’s surprising decision, the Wolverines enter this season as favorites to win the Big Ten championship, something that has elluded them since Long’s redshirt freshman season in 2004.
When Long, a 6-foot-7, 313-pound native of Lapeer, Mich., decided to return to school for his senior season, tailback Mike Hart and quarterback Chad Henne soon followed. That trio, along with receivers Mario Manningham and Adrian Arrington, gives Michigan what could potentially be one of the most explosive offenses in college football.
And it was Long who started Michigan’s domino effect.
“When you give up $12 or $15 million, you have to be a Michigan man,” Hart said. “You have to love the school.”
Or you must really want to beat Ohio State, which knocked the Wolverines out of the BCS National Championship Game with a 42-39 win in what was one of the most anticipated games in recent history.