Colston Loveland, Michigan Wolverines Tight End

The listening you love is on the free Odyssey app. Your trusted local radio stations, coverage of your favorite teams, live news from your hometown, and millions of podcasts on demand. Best of all, you can completely customize your listening experience. Follow topics you care about, like leagues and teams, pause or rewind your local sports and news, and add shows to your queue to catch up later.

There's a lot to listen to, so get started and download the free Odyssey app today. So my biggest fear is there's going to be sneaks in the toilet. We're all afraid of that one strange thing. I'm Larry Mullins, the host of a new short 10 minute podcast called Your Weirdest Fears. We unpack where these fears come from, a rat climbed into my toilet and learn how to manage them.

Listen and subscribe to Your Weirdest Fears on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Colston, first off, congratulations on the touchdown, congratulations on the victory. Appreciate the time. How you been? Hey, how's it going? I appreciate you guys for having me off.

I've been good. Well, thanks so much and how can it be great right now with the way that you guys are playing and you just crush your rival in Ohio State? Take me through your first career touchdown and just the emotions that were running through your body. Yeah, I mean, crazy experience. Just super blessed to be put in that position and be surrounded by just great guys that was able to celebrate that with me. It was a pretty special moment. And the game wasn't won there, but I thought that set the tone really for just the dominance that you guys displayed in the second half because as well as you guys played in the first half, you were trailing by three to set the tone like that coming out of halftime and getting that touch that I thought was massive. Yeah, yeah, for sure. I mean, it's always good.

Momentum swinging, coming out of half and scoring on a drive like that is pretty important to the game and then being able to maintain that lead the rest of the game and just keep growing it. That's pretty awesome. Did you have a lot of family? Did you have a lot of loved ones? Were there some important people in the stands for that one for you?

My dad and my stepmom, they were there, but everyone back home was watching. They show endless support and love them for that. What were the conversations like with your family after the game when on a big moment like that, everyone's watching that game. It's being built up all throughout the year to see you get that touchdown.

Just what did your family say to you afterwards? They were just super happy for me. They know that's what we've been working for and beating Ohio State there. They knew that that was one of our goals and there's endless support.

Like I said, it was just super awesome to have them there. Did you keep the ball? Do you save that ball after your first touchdown?

No, I didn't get to keep it, but I did get a little game ball after it later. Well that works. Colston Loveland here with us from the Michigan Wolverines. They're 12-0. They just beat Ohio State 45-23.

How do you kind of put that one into perspective? Because the whole year, we were assuming both those teams would be undefeated going into that game, but we were always wondering if one team was just going to stumble and maybe get ahead of themselves before taking care of business. So to finally walk out of there with the victory in dominant fashion, how do you put it into perspective?

Yeah, that's what we've been working for since January, end of last season. We have our goals and that was one of them. Being able to play there is a tough environment to play at, but coaches, players, we were all prepared.

They had us prepared and went in there to handle business like we should have and on to the next. Did you guys feel disrespected heading into that game? I don't know how much you're even allowed to pay attention and how much has built up in terms of the gambling world, but you guys were 7.5 point underdogs. I thought that was a tad disrespectful and a lot of people thought, eh, we don't know if Corbin's going to be able to play.

You don't know if Donovan Edwards is going to be able to play that. A lot of people were saying Ohio State was going to win that one. Did you guys sense that? Yeah, you know, we're used to being doubted and no one wants to see Michigan win, but we like to block out the noise and just focus on our team and that's what we did. We went out and played fast, hard physical football and came out on top. And I know you weren't there last year, but you know what that team accomplished and heading into this year people said Michigan can't repeat that success. I know Blake Corum early on in the season, he even said it on this show, he thought this team was better than the team a year ago. Just what's that vibe like in that Michigan locker room, you being there your first year with the program?

Yeah, I mean, just a great vibe. Just carried on from last season, just working every day to get better and better. You can see it in the building, everyone just focused on getting better at what they're doing and being the best version of themselves.

I think that's what really is helping us get this far. Why did you pick Michigan? What was it that made you say, okay, this is the school that I want to go play my college football at?

So, there are a couple of reasons. One of the reasons is obviously academics is great and I've always thought, okay, I'm going to go to a school where I get a good degree out of and obviously Michigan is one of the best. And then inside football, like I was telling you, I can just feel in the building, the culture, everything everyone stood for and their values.

Everyone's mind is in the same place and they're all headed towards one goal and I can just see that and it felt right. Have you been to Zingerman's yet, just wondering? Because I know that's a big selling point on the recruiting pitch. The deli, right? Yes. Yeah, I've been there. That's tremendous.

When I visited there, my two best friends went to Michigan. They're like, you got to go to the deli. The deli is unbelievable and then obviously you go to the big house. And when you walk into the big house for the first time, they just had to blow you away, really, right? Yeah, it's an amazing stadium and not big a stage, you know what I'm saying?

Can't get bigger than that. Colston Loveland here with us. Michigan in the Big Ten championship game off to the college football playoff expected as well in a few weeks. Coach Jim Harbaugh, how do you describe playing for coach?

I mean, I don't know. I wouldn't want to play for anyone else. He's an amazing coach and he's always going to keep it 100.

He's always working for us to get better and he's always putting the players first and doing what's in our best interest and the team's best interest. I think that's what makes him such a great coach. You've got a lot of playing time this year. Has that surprised you being a freshman and getting this much playing time and being asked to do things in these bigger games? Yeah, at first it was definitely surprising, but I'm just super blessed to be surrounded by such great people and coaches and teammates to really get me ready for playing.

You know what I'm saying? They really got me ready for moments like that and I couldn't be more blessed. How much more comfortable are you from where you were the first week to where you are now as you pretty much have a season under your belt now as a Michigan Wolverine? Oh, yeah.

Way more comfortable, that's for sure. First game, you know, nerves are running high, but I think, yeah, I've definitely got more comfortable with the guys for sure. And to get that monkey off your back, get the first touchdown in such a big game like that, it kind of feels like now, okay, this is reality, right? You're a Michigan Wolverine now and you're starting to leave your mark on this program.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, said it a couple times, but with team success comes individual success, so we're all just working from one team goal and, you know, everything else will come after that. I thought you and J.J. McCarthy were really close to connecting on a few big plays up against Illinois and it seemed like the timing was just off slightly. When you look back at this past week, did you guys put a little extra work in to fine-tune those details a little bit?

I wouldn't even say that. I'd say we just kept doing our thing and doing what we do. You know, stuff happens, but in the moment, you know, J.J. played like J.J. and he did an amazing job and the team together did an amazing job and that's about all we could ask for. How do you describe J.J. McCarthy's performance? Because whether it was the deep balls making big plays and then that rushing touchdown, that was a game that a lot of people were waiting to see from J.J. McCarthy and it was impressive.

Yeah, no doubt. He's always been in him. That's who he is.

He's a dog. He's got that mentality. He showed that last Saturday.

Been showing it all season. When you start to prepare for Purdue, coming up this weekend when you play the Big Ten championship game, what's the point of emphasis really this week from the coaching staff? We're just going to keep doing what we're doing this past 12 weeks. Just keep playing how we play, that fast physical football and just really fine-tune everything and go in there, play fast and hard and do our best, be our best version of ourselves and come out with a good team win.

Is it tough? I know it's later on in the season so it gets easier because the games mean so much more, but throughout this season, was it tough to just keep it week by week when everyone was talking about the game at the end of the year up against Ohio State? I don't think it was tough for anyone in this building really because we all knew and we've been trained mentally to just go from the strength staff and the coaching staff to just lock in every week, recommit ourselves every week to what we have that week and then on to the next, just keep stacking bricks by bricks.

That was really all. Wrapping up with Colston Loveland who had the touchdown up against Ohio State coming out of the halftime. Michigan Spanx, Ohio State 45-23. Who's been some of the players on this team that have really taken you under your wing and have given you some good advice here in your freshman year? Yeah, we start in the tight end room. Eric Hall, Luke Schoonmaker, Jill Honeyford, Carter Shelzer, really everyone in the tight end room just brought me in with open arms and even on the team.

The list goes on. Really everyone in this program kind of took me under a wing and took all the freshmen under the wing and kind of showed us the ropes and helped us get ready and same with the coaching staff. How about Cornelius Johnson and Ronnie Bell because they've been there for a while and we know what they were able to do in the game this past weekend. Yeah, those guys as well. Their football IQ is just out of the roof. They've been playing ball for so long and they know the ins and outs and learning from them is a super cool experience.

Soak it all in. The health of Blake Corum. Do you have any idea where that's at? Because now everyone's wondering when we're going to see Blake Corum back in action.

Yeah, I'm not going to speak on that because I don't know about that. Was it surprising to you that you guys were able to have that such of a dominant victory against Ohio State with Blake basically unfortunately not being able to play much of the game? No, I don't think that was surprising at all. I think we got weapons and losing Blake, that's tough. I mean Blake, he's an animal.

He's a crazy good athlete and running back. But we got guys on the team obviously that can make plays and that showed. Yeah, super confident going in. I know you take it week by week, but with only being three wins away from winning a national championship, do you let your brain go there and start to envision what it would be like to win a national championship at Michigan with everything right in front of you? I think it's okay to look and kind of see like, okay, we're close, but like I said, we've just got to be focused on this week because this is the most important game in the world this week.

You know what I'm saying? What did Coach Harbaugh say to you guys after the game, after the win in the locker room? You know, he was super stoked for us. It was just, the environment in that locker room after the game, I can't even explain it. It was just amazing.

Everyone was just super happy, seeing the smiles on everyone's faces. And then to come back in Monday, it was just awesome seeing like, alright, dial it in. We got Purdue this week, let's go.

And the last thing I'll ask you, Colston Loveland, I really appreciate the time today. The lasting memory for you in that game and how you'll remember this victory against Ohio State is what? I mean, I don't think I'll forget the touchdown, that's for sure, but just the game in general, that was just such a dominant win and just a great team win and I think I'll remember that for the rest of my life. I know it was a blowout, but did it hit you in the moment, what you guys accomplished, or did it really just take a day to sink in to say, wow, we just won that game and only won that game, we blew them out? Yeah, I'd say it hit right in the moment.

We all kind of knew, like, okay, we just played dominant football. Well, good luck. We appreciate the time today. Congratulations once again and we'll see how the next few games play on out. Thank you. Yes, sir. I appreciate you guys.

Thank you so much. The listening you love is on the free Odyssey app, your trusted local radio stations, coverage of your favorite teams, live news from your hometown and millions of podcasts on demand. Best of all, you can completely customize your listening experience, follow topics you care about, like leagues and teams, pause or rewind your local sports and news and add shows to your queue to catch up later. There's a lot to listen to, so get started and download the free Odyssey app today.