Ben Bredeson could have moved on from Michigan after last season. The two-time All-Big Ten guard surely would have found an opportunity in the NFL.
But Bredeson chose to return, in part for the chance to finally beat Ohio State.
"Absolutely," Michigan's co-captain told the Jamie and Stoney Show on 97.1 The Ticket.
Bredeson's first experience in The Game came in 2016 when Michigan lost in double overtime. The next year brought another close at home. And then there was last year, when the Wolverines traveled to Columbus as the favorite for the first time in years and promptly got their doors blown off.
Bredeson said the first loss hurt the most.
"That game was a heartbreaker. And I think personally for me, as I get older and look back at that game, it hurts even more," he said. "I thought I knew the rivalry, but you really don't know it until you're playing in it. Baptism by fire, I guess, for me. I was 18 years old running in there, No. 2 versus No. 3, in Columbus, double overtime, and you lose on a (questionable) call. The next play's a touchdown and the game's over.
"Before you know it, you were supposed to go to Indianapolis, and now you're sitting on the couch watching Wisconsin play Penn State for the Big Ten. It was eye opening. My freshman year I didn't really understand fully what had just happened. As I get older, looking back, you were so close to it. That one really hurt. Last year, with the wheels just falling off there in the third quarter, that hurts. I would still say my freshman year was the toughest game I've been in."
A couple months from now, Bredeson will get another chance to avenge it. He'll also get a chance to finish 3-1 against Michigan State, but it's the Ohio State rivalry he's really worried about.
"If I were to rank them, it would be Ohio State one, Michigan State two," Bredeson said. "I'm not from the state of Michigan, so some guys get that in-state rivalry and value that a little bit more. That didn't resonate with me as much. They're two different, distinct rivalries. The Ohio State one is just so tradition-filled. It's just two programs that have been so dominant in the sport for so long, just two very storied programs going at it every single year.
"The Michigan State game, we just frankly hate each other. Those games are often a lot more emotionally filled. There's a little more scrappiness that goes on in those games, whereas the Ohio State one, it's very professional. The emotion part is obviously evident in both of those games, there's just a different feel to them. It's hard to put into words as a player, but there's definitely a different feel. But, no, Ohio State for me is No. 1, and that's never going to end."
Before the Wolverines get a crack at their rivals, they have to handle the business in front of them. Four of their next six games come against ranked opponents, starting with Saturday's trip to No. 13 Wisconsin. It will be a homecoming for Bredeson, who grew up about an hour east of Madison.
"I grew up a fan of Wisconsin. I think every kid from the state does," he said. "It's always a fun game for me, just an intense bragging rights for the entire state for the year, whether I can go home in peace or not with all my buddies that go there. I love playing the Badgers. I love the way our two systems go up against each other, both kind of that smash mouth, control-the-line-of-scrimmage mentality. Even with this new offense that everyone thinks is so spread out, the speed in space thing, it really still comes down to controlling the box and controlling the line of scrimmage.
"The games when Wisconsin and Michigan have lined up against each other, personally, for me, those are some of the most enjoyable, just because it's so offensive- and defensive-line focused. It's really about who's controlling the box, who's moving the line of scrimmage."
The Badgers, who opened as three-point favorites, tout a defense that posted a shutout in their first two games.
"It's exciting for us as an offense going up against the No. 1 defense in the country right now, as they've been dubbed, not letting up a point," Bredeson said. "It's exciting and really looking forward to what we're going to bring in there."
It will be a crucial test for Michigan's offense, which hasn't yet delivered on the hype generated by the hire of Josh Gattis. While 'speed in space' was promised, the product thus far has been sloppy. It's become a concern within the fanbase, but Bredeson said not to worry.
"We love Michigan fans. It seems like there's always something that we're missing. There's things in this offense that we're not hitting, there seems to be one thing wrong with the big plays that we're missing," he said. "But with the bye week there were a lot of things that we corrected. Going into Big Ten season I think it was perfectly timed.
"But, no, I have no concern. I think that speaks to more than what the fans have seen. We're the ones running the offense and the ones seeing it every single day, and we have complete faith in this. I love this offense that Coach Gates brought here. We're doing some really outstanding things in practice and some of them just need to get transferred over to the field."
Other highlights from Bredeson's interview on 97.1 The Ticket.
On the transition to a new offense: "It's a completely different system than what we were doing my first three years here. We tried to carry over as much language in the offensive line room as we possibly could, but quite frankly, plays are just run a little bit differently in this new RPO system that Coach Gattis brought. In my four years here, this is my favorite offense. I think it's the most explosive that I've seen, just the way that these plays can work. The intricacy and the nuances that go in in it, the defense can't be right in some of these plays that he draws up, so I'm all for that. I'm absolutely loving it, I think I speak for the entire OL room in that realm.
"But it is a little different and there's going to be some learning curves that go on with it. In practice you can script some looks and maybe prep the quarterback for some keys that are going to happen, but in a live game nobody runs that defense better than the defense actually running it. They're able to hide some things and it's trickier running the plays in live speed than it is in practice, so those first two games were critical for us. And we came out of both with wins. We're 2-0 going to the Big Ten season, and we had a bye week to correct some of the small issues that we had. I think it's just going to be full speed ahead going forward"
On his first impressions of running back Zach Charbonnet: "As an offensive line, we love him. He's a very mature kid for 18. You sit down and talk to him and you would not guess that he's a true freshman that was in high school just a couple months ago. Carries himself very well and plays very hard. Very emotional player, but he can keep himself in control during the game, doesn't let his emotions get the best of him. He runs hard, blocks hard and he's a competitor. As an offensive lineman, that's all you can really ask for, is just have a guy back there that if you're going to do all the work and try to open a hole for him, just be a competitor and fight for us, too. We absolutely love him and he's doing a heck of a job for us so far, and hopefully he can carry that forward into Saturday."
