Wolverines Get Back To Work Woodson, Teammates Settle Into Rose Bowl Training Camp
Having packed away his fancy duds and his shining new trophies, Charles Woodson was delighted to be back in his work clothes - pads and a helmet.
The Heisman Trophy winner and the rest of the top-ranked Michigan Wolverines held their first Southern California workout Saturday, preparing for their Rose Bowl meeting with No. 8 Washington State on New Year’s Day.
“I’m happy to get back to football,” Woodson said as he headed out to the field, with bright sunshine and temperatures in the 70s. “There have been a lot of things going on to get you away from football.
“It’s been pretty crazy, but you have to learn to handle those things,” he added, talking about the attention that goes with being named college football’s premier player.
“Just because I got the Heisman and the other awards, it doesn’t mean I’m not going to keep working hard. That’s what got me here.”
Coach Lloyd Carr, who has been to the Rose Bowl seven times before as an assistant, said he reminded his team in a morning meeting that the hoopla, the awards and the No. 1 ranking, “are fun, great to enjoy.”
“But all those things don’t help us win. From here on out, our focus has to be on Washington State. We’ve got enough problems with Washington State’s offense.”
The main “problem” for Michigan figures to be Washington State quarterback Ryan Leaf, an outstanding passer who finished third behind Peyton Manning in the Heisman voting.
Woodson said he got to know Leaf when they were in New York for the Heisman ceremony.
“We hung out a little bit; he’s a real good person. But on Jan. 1, all that won’t matter,” said Woodson, who figures to play defense, some offense and return punts against the Cougars (10-1).
The Wolverines (11-0) will remain in the Mission Viejo area, some 60 miles down the coast from Los Angeles, until moving to Pasadena on Wednesday. The Michigan coaching staff obviously wants to keep the players out of the limelight as long as possible.
“We’re going to have some time to get acclimated, get over the novelty of the situation, get down to business,” quarterback Brian Griese said. “We haven’t come out here because we want to come in second place.
“We came out here to win a championship.”
Griese called playing in the Rose Bowl with a national championship on the line “the opportunity of a lifetime.”
“When you get that chance, you have to take advantage of the opportunity,” he said.
The quarterback added that the Wolverines shouldn’t be awed by the pressure of playing in the Rose Bowl game.
“The last three games we played this year were all huge games, getting bigger as we went along,” he said, referring to the Wolverines’ victories over Penn State, Wisconsin and Ohio State that put them in the Rose Bowl.
“So we’re used to big games.”
Fullback Chris Floyd had another reason to be happy the Wolverines were in Southern California.
“I’m just glad to get out of the cold,” he said, smiling.