Wolverine TV: Drake Nugent, Will Johnson preview Nebraska
The Michigan Wolverines are off to a 4-0 start this season and get a chance to grab their first road victory of the season on Saturday at Nebraska. On Tuesday night, a contingent of Michigan players spoke to the media to preview this weekend’s trip, headlined by senior center Drake Nugent and sophomore cornerback Will Johnson.
For Nugent, he is still adjusting to his role on the offensive line and the high expectations in Ann Arbor. Michigan has championship aspirations and is still searching for ways to hit its stride as a team heading into the meat and potatoes of the season.
“I mean, obviously, I’ve always felt like I’ve had a winning mentality,” Nugent said. “I feel like in the past, I haven’t let that get to me. But obviously, I’d be lying to see if it didn’t feel different. I mean, this is probably already the equivalent to the most games I’ve won in a year and a half at Stanford. But at the same time, I can’t be satisfied with that, obviously. It’s a different program, it’s a different community, with a different team. It’s a new week, every week, gotta keep stacking wins and it’ll just keep going up.”
“We’re not here to beat the Bowling Greens of the world. Those games, you have to win those. You got to be perfect and like, you’ve got to be perfect in every game. Obviously, that’s not going to happen, but you’ve got to strive to be perfect in every aspect you can.”
Will Johnson addresses decision to sit out early part of Michigan season
Michigan was without starting sophomore cornerback Will Johnson for all but eight snaps of the early part of the 2023 campaign. But Johnson returned to action in a full capacity with 43 of 46 snaps played against Rutgers.
During his session with the media on Tuesday night, he discussed what went into the decision to take things light to start the year.
“I had an injury this off-season and wanted to be cautious and make sure I was ready to go,” Johnson said. “That’s all. [In terms of making that decision], it was everybody as a whole. It was for my safety and the team’s safety, you know. I wanted to be there for them in the long run. I think now just slowly working my way into the season was the best way for me.”
Watch the snippets of the media sessions using the players above.
Michigan and Nebraska kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday afternoon from Memorial Stadium in Lincoln.
