Veteran Wolverine On OSU: 'We Won That Game for Coach Harbaugh'

“Starting in January in winter workouts, me, Aidan Hutchinson, Josh Ross, Cade McNamara, all the leaders on the team, the captains, we came together and we got this leadership group going on, something that we didn’t do the other years I was there,” Hawkins said on PFF’s Tailgate podcast. “We got a leadership group and met every week, and the younger guys bought in, they listened to us. When we wanted something done, we let it be known, and they did it. There was no fussing, and everybody was on the same page.”

With the right type of leadership finally in place, the Wolverines turned their focus to Ohio State - committing to get the job done in 2021.

“Going into Ohio State, I feel like we had our best preparation week that we had all year,” Hawkins said. “Everybody was bought in. Everybody was focused; there were no distractions all year. We went into that game so confident that we knew we were going to win that game."

The confidence that Michigan was feeling inside of the locker room clearly translated to the field that day, as the Wolverines pummeled the Buckeyes en route to a convincing 42-27 victory.

“It was an amazing feeling, I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” Hawkins said. "We all played for each other, and we played for our head coach, because everybody doubted us going into the game, nobody thought we were going to win the game, nobody thought Coach Harbaugh could get it done. He’s an amazing coach. We all love him as a coach, we all love him as a person. We won that game for Coach Harbaugh, and of course we got it done for ourselves.

"Beating Ohio State and set the standard for the younger guys and the guys coming in. When they get older and they’re ready to lead, they know how we ran it, they know how it’s going to be run and that standard for Michigan is going to be set.”