The Michigan football team is getting ready for a huge matchup this weekend against Oklahoma. The Wolverines are hitting the road to take on the Sooners, and ESPN’s College GameDay will be in Norman for the matchup. One player who can help Michigan with some insight is Alabama transfer defensive lineman Damon Payne. Payne was with the Crimson Tide last year, and they played Oklahoma on the road.
Damon Payne is hoping for a different result this year as he lost 24-3 when he went to Norman with Alabama last year. Michigan defensive line coach Lou Esposito has been watching some tape from that game, and he noticed that Payne looks a lot different now than he did then. Why? Because Michigan does things differently than Alabama.
“He's done a great job of getting himself in shape,” Esposito said of Payne, according to an article from 247Sports. “It's funny. We talked this week because we're playing Oklahoma. They played him last year when he was at Alabama, and there's a couple of clips of him on tape. And I said, ‘Man, you look different.' And he goes, ‘Coach, we run a lot more here. We work out differently. I feel way better.'”
Payne looked good in his first game with Michigan as he racked up three total tackles. The Wolverines are expected to have one of the best DL groups in the country this year, and experienced guys like Payne are a big reason why.
“The last week of practice, he was really on, played really well,” Esposito added.
Michigan missed out on Payne as a recruit. He attended high school just outside of Ann Arbor in Belleville, but now, he is a Wolverine. Payne is glad to be with Michigan.
“He said it four or five times during the game: ‘There's really 110,000 people here, Coach!' Playing in a home crowd for the first time in a while was big for him,” Esposito said.
The Wolverines will play in front of a big crowd again this weekend, but it won’t be at home. Going on the road to Oklahoma is going to be a difficult challenge, and we will find out a lot about this Michigan football team.
Michigan and Oklahoma will kick off at 6:30 CT on Saturday night from Memorial Stadium in Norman, OK, and the game will be airing on ABC. The Sooners are currently favored by 4.5 points.
