The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/835590
THE WOLVERINE 2017 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 85 than you think you can go." The sophomore should have plenty in the tank one week before the Wolverines take on the Buckeyes this year. In the regular season's penultimate contest, Bredeson gets to travel back home with his team- mates to battle it out with his boy- hood favorite team in Camp Randall Stadium. In his early years, Bredeson went along for the ride like everyone else in the state of Wisconsin. "Everybody grows up a Badger fan," he said. "The Badgers are a huge presence there. Everybody loves them, and I was no different. "I grew up a Badger fan, went to the games every year and gave them a lot of looks." That all changed when he arrived in Ann Arbor. "Eventually," he said, "I came out here and loved this place even more. When the op- portunity came, I had to make my decision. I made the right one and came out here." The changing of the guard in Schem- bechler Hall represented no small part in this guard knowing he was making a decision for future success. "Michigan was always really high for me, but when Coach Harbaugh and his staff all came, and I came out to meet them, I knew this is who I wanted to play for," Bredeson explained. Soon it will be time to head back home for a showdown likely to produce shakeups in both the East and West Divisions of the Big Ten Conference. The texting has already begun with Bredeson's high school buddies. They universally note they'll be rooting for him — but ultimately, for the Badgers. "My high school is a feeding ground for UW Madison," he said. "A third of my graduating class is all at Madison right now. They've all been texting me, letting me know they'll all be at the game when we go there. Nobody is letting me forget it." Bredeson's parents, Mike and Debra, will be on hand for the game as well. Mike Brede- son sells commercial building products, and Debra enjoys eclectic work interests, includ- ing dog training. Their loyalties will be on full display, Bredeson noted. "My dad always loved Michigan growing up," the U-M sophomore mentioned. "He was a big influence. "Once my brother committed here, they switched immediately to Michigan fans. When I came here, too, they became die- hards." They'll witness a more mature, more hard- ened version of their son when the Wolver- ines invade Madison. He found out quickly how difficult and demand- ing life in the Big Ten happens to be, especially for a true freshman. "As soon as you step onto the field and see the size difference be- tween high school and college, you know you're in a different league," he said. One other unmistakable observa- tion occurred in Bredeson's rookie season, one about which he laughs and enjoys perhaps as much as he does Har- baugh's feistiness. "Nobody really likes us," he said. "That's one thing I noticed. Everywhere we go, ev- erybody is cheering against us. "I always enjoyed that, though. I fed off it, especially when we went to Ohio State and you run out to a bunch of boos. That was fun." His predecessors are hoping the Wolver- ines will increase the dislike among oppo- nents, expressed through brutally enforced tears. Bredeson noted he knows how to play with an edge and insist he's growing in his all-around game. "It's controlled anger," he said. "You want to play aggressive and hard. You also don't want to be out of control. There's a fine line. You have to find where you fit on it. "It's just the experience of knowing what you're getting into. You know the speed of the game, what to expect from everybody and what you need to do to beat them. Hav- ing gone through that, it's that much easier." With all the skill position talent around and behind a remastered offensive line, Bredeson seeks the sort of big plays that will eliminate the "almost" references in any postseason reflections. "We've got a lot of speed out there, a lot of talent and a lot of guys that can make you miss," he observed. "That makes it fun. When you can hit your block and then have them make a guy miss, they can make those 70-yard touchdown runs. "It makes the game a lot of fun when you've got speed backs like that." So does winning. Some will insist it's a tall order, given the amount of talent the Wolver- ines saw move out of the building and into the NFL after last season. That's not how it works around Schem- bechler Hall these days, Bredeson assured. "Here at Michigan, they don't really allow you to back down from anything," he said. "You've got to attack everything. That's what we'll do." ❏ Bredeson played in all 13 contests and made eight starts at left guard as a rookie. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN "Whenever we're at workouts, you're working hard and getting tired. But you look up, and there's no Big Ten championship banner. We were three plays away. We're working really hard to not have that feeling again." BREDESON