In the Trenches: Wilson on Wisconsin Win, Receivers' Rise, Road-Game Mindset

On this week's episode of the "In the Trenches" podcast, Jon Jansen chats with wide receiver Roman Wilson about the celebration after last weekend's win at Wisconsin, his overall approach to the game, the evolution of the Wolverines' receiver group and offense, and the team's mindset when playing on the road.

By Brian Boesch

The Wolverines delivered a comprehensive victory last Saturday in Madison. Head coach Jim Harbaugh called it a "thorough performance by the offense, the defense, [and] the special teams" that propelled Michigan a to 38-17 victory and its first 5-0 start since 2016.

Michigan's wide-reaching success was encouraging for many reasons, with one of the most impressive performances coming from its evolving and improving wide receiver group. The Wolverines' offensive attack took a huge hit in week one when senior wideout Ronnie Bell suffered a season-ending injury.

Throughout September, the offense leaned on the ground game, with a sturdy offensive line and a dynamic duo of Blake Corum and Hassan Haskins leading the way. The Wolverines have not needed to throw nearly as much as most teams in college football, especially considering they have not trailed in a game yet this season. However, Michigan's passing attack, and its stable of talented pass catchers, shined in Madison last Saturday.

"In practice, you see it a lot ... everyone's just waiting for their chance when it comes out on gameday," second-year wide receiver Roman Wilson told Jon Jansen on this week's edition of the "In the Trenches" podcast. "That's all that matters—what happens on a gameday, not at practice. We're just slowly making that transition from practice to games."

Michigan tallied 253 passing yards against the Badgers, with eight different Wolverines recording at least one catch. Cornelius Johnson caught a pair of touchdowns, and Daylen Baldwin added another, but it was Wilson who had the biggest breakout game. The Hawaii native set new career highs in both catches (six) and yards (81).

"I feel like the more Cade (McNamara) throws to a target, I feel like the more comfortable he's going to get, the more he trusts them," Wilson said. "I knew it was in me, and I was just waiting for a chance to go out there and do it."

Once again this week, the Wolverines will head west for a road matchup in a raucous environment. Nebraska may be only a 3-3 team, but the Huskers suffered back-to-back heartbreaking losses on the road to nationally-ranked teams (Oklahoma and Nebraska) before mustering their best performance of the season last week. Nebraska routed Northwestern, the reigning West Division champions in the Big Ten, by 49 points.

"We're going into hostile territory, but we gotta go in there like it's our place, and we're about to take it over," Wilson said.

That is exactly what the Wolverines did at Camp Randall Stadium, so much so that Michigan's sideline enjoyed the Badgers' "Jump Around" tradition more than anyone wearing Badgers gear. Wilson loves the team's new approach to road trips.

"Our team is just completely different from last year," he said. "You would've never seen something like that, and I'm just so glad to be a part of it."

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