Michigan tight end vows resilience after USC setback: ‘We will persist until we succeed’

ANN ARBOR – The Michigan Wolverines had a setback last weekend at USC, but now must quickly get back on track with a tough game on deck this weekend vs. Washington.

The tone gets set in practice, and junior tight end Zack Marshall said that the Tuesday afternoon practice went a long way in getting back on track.

“We had a great practice today,” Marshall told the media on Tuesday night. “No. 19 [freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood] is really good at football, and we executed things pretty well, so I can’t complain. But we know it’s a bounce-back week, so that’s what we’re going to do.”

Marshall made sure to give props for what USC did to them in the 31-13 win, but the message has more or less stayed the same.

“The message in the building is the same,” Marshall said. “We work hard, we’re going to outwork you. Sometimes they’re in better coverage against our plays. At the end of the day, you have a play sheet, and sometimes your play sheet loses to theirs. It’s not from a lack of preparation or effort. I can talk to an analyst who’s going to leave here at 2 a.m. tonight. Everyone’s working hard to fix things. So yeah, you attack every week with the same emphasis, but sometimes you lose. That’s how it works.”

Marshall believes in the passing game, led by Underwood and offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey. He says it would be wise to buy stock in it, headlined by the tight ends having a more significant role than they have had of late.

“The passing game is like the stock market,” Marshall said. “You never know what you’re going to get, but at the end of the day, it’s going to go up 10% every single year. You know it’s going to come and go. Marlin had an amazing first game, and when it ramps up, you feed the hot hand. Last week, the hot hand was Andrew Marsh — he played a phenomenal game. The week before, it was Donovan McCulley. The week before that, probably Donovan again. He’s really good at football. You feed the hot hand, and that’s what we’re going to do. The hot hand will be us one of these next couple of weeks.”

Ultimately, the key to all of it is the continued development of Underwood within the Michigan offense. They see the progress inside the building.

“You can see it on tape,” Marshall said. “He’s feeling more comfortable, playing in and out of rhythm. He’s legit — you see the arm angles, the different slots he throws from, the ways he escapes the pocket and extends plays.

“Once we go from being a unit to being truly cohesive, we’ll be really, really good… I think it’s one drive where we start on our side of the field, go all the way down, and don’t have a negative play. Once you do it once, it becomes a habit. I

“If we can make it a habit on offense to score, we’ll crush other teams.”

Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore made some headlines Monday for wearing a work jacket to symbolize the blue-collar approach they needed to get back to. It resonated with him.

“It’s a down-to-business kind of thing,” Marshall. “The message was, ‘We will persist until we succeed.’ That’s our team message. We will persist until we succeed.”