With shot at Rose Bowl, U-M where it wants to be
From week to week, the ultimate prize remained unchanged, chased after by a determined collection of wills intent on keeping their title hopes within reach.
Now, 10 weeks after enduring back-to-back season-altering losses, the golden ring that Jake Long said he and his University of Michigan teammates would be in position to grab is still there for the taking.
Just as the No. 23-ranked Wolverines prepare to face archrival Ohio State with a much-anticipated trip to Pasadena awaiting the victor.
"We wanted to be in this spot, we wanted to be playing for a Big Ten championship,'' Long said Monday. "We just got there a different way.
"Nothing needs to be said, no one needs to be picked up. We're ready to go.''
But the road Michigan (8-3, 6-1 Big Ten) will travel this week is one the Wolverines have become accustomed to this season.
Michigan watched its national championship aspirations vanish after starting the season with losses to Appalachian State and Oregon.
The Wolverines now must bounce back again if they hope to keep their conference title hopes alive after suffering their first Big Ten setback in a 37-21 loss at Wisconsin.
And as was required in the past, Michigan will fall back on its survival skills, built around the leadership of its seniors and a resilient character that was carved out after starting the season 0-2.
Players credited much of the turnaround to Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, who said Monday he fell back on his own experience with a playground bully at age 11 when it came to getting his team to maintain its belief in itself.
"You've got a choice when you're down: You can lay down and stay there, or you can get back on your feet and fight,'' Carr said. "And that, to me, is really the essence of competition. There's going to be days out there where you get beat up. And they're no fun. But you've got to fight.''
Michigan moved past its disappointing start and pieced eight consecutive wins together to remain in championship contention.
Now, against the No. 7 Buckeyes, who fell out of the nation's top spot after a 28-21 loss to Illinois, Carr's players again focus on what's at stake, building off of the lessons learned over its bumpy season-long ride.
"This is for all the marbles in the Big Ten,'' senior safety Jamar Adams said. "We played hard and we fought back and we put ourselves in a position to be here.''
It's a spot that Carr is familiar with, especially with a spot at stake in a New Year's Day bowl game he considers to be the greatest postseason destination his team could reach.
"They've put themselves into a position where they're not only playing for the greatest rivalry in sport, they're playing for a championship,'' Carr said. "They're playing for the Rose Bowl. Those are things that you come here to do.''
How to get Rose Bowl Tickets
The Rose Bowl Game is a contractual sell-out each year with the majority of the tickets distributed by the participating teams and conferences. Every person, including children (no child lap passes), must have a ticket to gain entrance to the Rose Bowl Stadium.
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A limited allocation of tickets will be available to the general public through Ticketmaster on a date to be determined in December.
There will also be a selected number of tickets on sale for Pasadena residents at the Pasadena Civic Center Box Office on a Saturday in December to be announced.
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