LOS ANGELES — Michigan wide receiver Cornelius Johnson has seen it all during his time for the Maize and Blue from the lowest of the lows to the highest of the highs.
The veteran receiver wasn’t the most highly-decorated prospect coming out of high school from the state of Connecticut, but he’s proven a lot of doubters wrong and looks to end this final season with a championship.
“When we first met (Sam), it was way back into recruitment back in like 2017, 2018 when the journey first started,” Johnson told The Michigan Insider. “Coming down to this, it’s almost crazy how that played out to come down to the two winningest teams in college football history and playing in the Rose Bowl both fighting for survival. It’s a great story.”
With this semifinal college football playoff game, there’s been plenty talked about regarding the Crimson Tide’s secondary and for good reason as they have multiple future draft picks back there.
However, Johnson is aware of what’s being said and looks to once again prove the doubters wrong.
They are just like Saban’s guys,” Johnson said. “He’s a defensive back and he works with those guys. Those are his guys, so we are ready to go head to head.
“There’s definitely ways to use motivation here and there and find any bulletin board material they can give us, but ultimately it’s going to come down to once the ball is snapped, how you read and react from that point. All the talk leading up to it eventually dies down around 2 pacific time.”
Having been to the playoffs the previous two years, it’s familiar territory and unlike the last couple of trips, he along with the team have tweaked their preparation heading into this contest this year.
“It’s really the whole month of December is like that prep month for that last game in December,” Johnson said. “It’s a great question because you’re trying to learn from the past because those last two games didn’t go our way with the Orange Bowl and Fiesta Bowl, so there’s some things I’ve switched up. I know some other guys have switched up stuff. The coaching staff has switched up that preparation, but we will see.”
As for the future, Johnson’s message is simple to the younger receivers in the program, but knows ultimately the foundation they built will help carry on this winning tradition in the years to come.
You see these younger guys come in and these early enrollees starting to show up and they can just fit right in,” Johnson said. “It’s a good culture here and I just tell those guys to just remember what the end goal is and start with that goal in mind at the beginning. Just stay consistent everyday and never give up with that treatment and take care of your body, eat healthy, stay and get some extra catches on the machine, watch extra film and all that stuff we tell a young guy to get their mind right. Ultimately do what you do when the ball is snapped and that’s what matters most.”
