Michigan football is used to being counted out. Even before most of the players on this roster got here, very few had belief that the Wolverines would make any noise in the season.
In 2021, 247Sports said that the maize and blue were a dark-horse College Football Playoff candidate (and that was when it was a four-team playoff), and there were laughs all across social media. Despite having just one loss leading up to the Ohio State game, the Wolverines were a big underdog, and then they won, 42-27, in Ann Arbor. The next year, Ohio State was the conference favorite again, and Michigan ran through the schedule unblemished. Finally, Michigan was expected to win the conference in 2023, but even that year, there were detractors, with some analysts
even picking Iowa to upset the Wolverines in the Big Ten championship game.
And yet, Michigan emerged as the national champion.
In 2024, the maize and blue gave very few reasons for optimism. Yet, they upset eventual national champion, Ohio State, in Columbus, but were then paired with Alabama in the ReliaQuest Bowl. Despite one upset, next to no one thought there would be another, especially considering any player of note was sitting for the Wolverines, while Alabama was putting out most of its starters.
And now, a 19-13 upset later, that's a moment that Michigan defensive tackle Enow Etta looks back upon and says, yeah, that was the moment I started to believe in myself and this team.
"Definitely that Bama game. I think that was two years ago, the ReliaQuest Bowl," Etta said. "Because, man, we would just hop on Twitter. And I know they say you're not supposed to read. I'm like, man, let me just read. They're talking about, 'Oh, man, all these guys in Michigan about to get destroyed. Their starter's not playing.' And it's like, you know, all right, all right. When we went out there, the whole world was waiting for us to get smashed. And we go out there and do what we do. Whoever they had, first rounders -- I mean, two first rounders, right, on that line, I think. You know, do what we do. Go out there and shock the world.
"And that's when, like, I look at Trey, I'm like, 'Man, you know what I mean? Like, they counted us out. Look what we did.' So I know we can do whatever we do. Because we were the only ones who believed in us. I think that was Tampa. We were in Tampa. We were the only ones in Tampa who believed. I know Michigan fans walking in the stadium, like, 'Oh, it's going to be a rough day.' And look what we did.
"So I think that was definitely the moment. Because I think that's the most we've ever been counted out. Of course, we've been in Ohio, underdogs. But I think at that moment, the season's over. (And then) we win. And, like, it's Bama, big bad Bama, whatever. Look how it turned out. So I think that was definitely the moment, for sure."
Now the Wolverines have something of a reset. 2025 didn't go as hoped, but with Kyle Whittingham leading the charge, the maize and blue have a newfound lease on life. The schedule is perhaps the most difficult in the nation, but even so, Etta says that this team could make some noise -- even if pundits, like in previous years, don't believe.
"We can be as good as anybody," Etta said. "I mean, obviously, we can be as good as anybody. We got all the guys we need. I mean, I've never been down like, man, I wish we had this guy back, or this guy came one more year. Like we have everything. We have everyone that we need."
The new season starts on September 5 with a home game against Western Michigan. Week 2 will tell a lot, with Oklahoma coming to town for a noon EDT kickoff.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Why Enow Etta believes Michigan can shock the world
