Michigan captain Giovanni El-Hadi on MSU: 'Worried about winning the game and playing our best'

ANN ARBOR – Michigan Wolverines offensive line captain Giovanni El-Hadi returned to the field two weeks ago against USC, admitting he was knocking off the rust in his first game back before getting back on track against Washington.

Now, the Michigan State Spartans are on deck in what is a historically chippy rivalry game. El-Hadi knows they need to be ready for it.

 ”Being sharp, being ready,” El-Hadi said of the message this week. “There’s gonna be chirps, and there is going to be stuff after plays. We know that, we know how this goes, but just worry about winning the game and playing our best.”

El-Hadi and the Michigan offensive line have been hit hard by injuries this year, though it did get some positive news on left tackle Evan Link on Monday. The captain says that everyone in the position group has to be ready to go when their number is called.

“ I talked about this before and I always talk to them about it,” El-Hadi said. “No matter who goes down, me or anybody else, you gotta be ready, and they’re ready. … This is football. You’re going to get hurt, somebody’s going to get hurt. And the whole line, you need at least 10 guys to be ready. And I think that’s what we have.”

The USC loss was a bitter pill to swallow for the Wolverines, but El-Hadi was happy with the response program-wide.

 ”We ate it,” El-Hadi said. “We didn’t feel good. No loss ever feels good, but that one really didn’t feel good. We talked about it, talked through all the issues, and forgot about it and worried about Washington. So I felt like the boys responded really good.

“We all threw it in the trash and got ready for that week. So just being urgent and everything that we do, not panicking, but being urgent. Being ready for practice on time, doing all the little things the right way, that makes a big difference.”

Asked to share his thoughts on the Michigan State rivalry, El-Hadi had to censor himself a bit. But the Michigan native had perspective to add on what it means for both programs.

 ”Some things I can’t say,” he laughed. “But it’s like the Ohio State rivalry, same type of thing. This is a little different because it’s our home [state of] Michigan. So it’s like a state championship, and that’s how I look at it, and just like the state champion in high school, same type of thing, this is for the title.”

With plenty of young contributors on the roster, there is a little more education that might be needed heading into the week. They have “teach the game” sessions each week where the history of the program is covered.

 ”We talk about the history of the rival and we teach them how important these type of games are,” El-Hadi said. “Obviously every game is important, some mean a little bit more than others, so they understand how much this one means.”

Freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood, another Michigan native, could get a little more attention from the Spartans and their fans this week. El-Hadi and the offensive line are taking it on themselves to make sure he gets through it.

 ”First off, we have to protect him,” El-Hadi said. “That’s number one. Second, I think he knows just as much as us how big this is. We know how Michigan State is and they are going to come at him, but we have to just protect him and don’t let him touch him.”

U-M and MSU kick off at 7:45 p.m. ET on Saturday from Spartan Stadium in East Lansing with NBC carrying the national broadcast.