Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Michigan program ‘speaks for itself ’
Michigan probably hopes that how well it does recruiting in South Florida will not be determined by its result on the field against Florida State in the Capital One Orange Bowl.
In its wild 33-32 loss to No. 11 Florida State on Friday night, No. 6 Michigan played in South Florida for the first time this millennium, an event magnified by coach Jim Harbaugh’s expressed interest in recruiting South Florida high schools.
The Wolverines sputtered early but erased a twotouchdown halftime deficit to take a lead in the last two minutes of the game before the Seminoles scored with 36 seconds remaining to give Florida State the win.
In the loss, a pair of locals played for Michigan, with freshman safety Josh Metellus making six tackles in his first start and freshman linebacker Devin Bush making a tackle. Both players graduated from Flanagan and were part of a recruiting class that featured five players from Dade, Broward or Palm Beach counties.
Linebackers Devin Gil (Flanagan) and Josh Uche (Columbus) and tight end Nick Eubanks (American Heritage-Plantation) also joined the Wolverines.
Despite the loss, Bush said, Michigan showed South Florida recruits all about the Wolverines throughout the course of the season.
“It speaks for itself,” Bush said. “We made the Orange Bowl. We’re in the top four the majority of the season. We’ve been talked about a lot, our defense, in the nation. It just speaks for itself.”
Metellus added: “Most kids think up north, football’s different. It’s not. It’s the same thing, just go out there. We play hard. We practice hard. We work hard. That’s what I think we showed out there.”
Metellus started in place of Michigan star Jabrill Peppers, who was ruled out of the Orange Bowl with a hamstring injury suffered during practice Thursday. If Peppers decides to jump to the NFL, Metellus could step into the Heisman Trophy finalist’s shoes.
Metellus said he had more than 30 people at Hard Rock Stadium for the game and could see the smiles on their faces during the game.
“I’ve been here my whole life,” Metellus said. “Just the atmosphere alone, all my friends and family got to come to the game, it was a good experience for me, especially going out there and starting for the first time. It just felt good.”
Michigan has one verbal commitment from South Florida: American HeritagePlantation’s Kai-Leon Herbert. It is also pursuing Herbert’s teammate and fellow offensive lineman T.J. Slaton.
Harbaugh invaded South Florida in 2016 for a pair of satellite camps, designed as a chance to work with and evaluate local talent away from Ann Arbor. He held one camp at University School and the other at St. Thomas Aquinas.
“You know, I’ve always had great respect for the state of Florida in terms of how the youngsters play football,” Harbaugh said in the run-up to the Orange Bowl.
“Everybody that I know that knows football has a great respect for Florida football.”
In the past 20 years, Michigan is now 6-4 in the state, with all 10 games coming in bowls. Since 2010, the Wolverines have lost three of four in Florida, the lone win coming over the Florida Gators last season in the Citrus Bowl.
None of the 11 Florida players on Michigan’s roster are seniors.
“I feel very confident [about next year],” Metellus said. “We’ve all been working very hard throughout camp, the whole season and next year’s our time. I feel like we’ll step up.”