Bruce Feldman's account of Sainristil's OSU sideline speech
In the immediate aftermath of the November victory in Columbus, The Athletic's Bruce Feldman tweeted that he had a first-hand account of Mike Sainristil's fiery sideline speech in the intermission before the 4th quarter. He has finally published it, in the context of a deeper look on how Michigan has turned things around since 2020:
“I want all you guys to take a look at their sideline. Look at them!” Mike Sainristil, Michigan’s wiry nickelback and team captain, yelled to his teammates gathered around him, as he pointed across the field to the Buckeyes sideline. “They have their heads down. We know who the f— they are! They are exactly who we thought they are! Let’s keep our foot on the gas. Keep executing. Don’t give them anything. Keep taking everything.
“Y’all wanna win the natty? It starts right now!”
Sainristil’s impromptu speech had his teammates riveted, heads nodding vigorously in agreement. Then linebacker Michael Barrett took his turn to ratchet up the intensity.
“We control our own destiny,” said Barrett as he looked in the eyes of his teammates and pointed at his chest. “We’ve been talking about this s— since January. What the f— we wanna do? Man, this s— is right in our f— hands. Go out there and keep playing and finish that s—!”
Sainristil, still standing above all his teammates with his left hand gripping Barrett’s shoulder pad, brought the entire defense together one last time before he would walk into the Michigan offensive huddle as the players went back onto the field.
“Let’s go! Let’s go! Hey! Hey! D on Me. D on THREE. WUUUUUUN! TWO! THREE!”...
“Sharks can always smell blood in the water,” Sainristil told The Athletic of his speech, “and in that moment, the Buckeyes were vulnerable.”
December 28th, 2022 at 9:13 PM ^
This is such pathetic horseshit. Their whole strategy was unsound in an attempt to prevent Michigan from grinding out the game 3-5 yards at a time. This made them susceptible to precisely what happened. The drives that they didn't overload the box they were precisely who we thought they were and Michigan marched down the field. The second half was a thorough beating in which their initial adjustment was to try to mitigate the big play and Michigan efficiently marched twice while Michigan's defense played out of their gourd and shut the Buckeye attack down. They're a pathetic, pedantic, whining, paper tiger ass team. Even what passes for legit media in Columbus just bleat on about "starz" and blame Ryan Day for not utilizing their immense "talent advantage." As always, fuck 'em.
December 28th, 2022 at 1:31 PM ^
J,
If Edwards doesn’t find the hole created by Michigan’s OL, against a stuffed box - Edwards wouldn’t have scored and - in fact, been tackled for a loss.
December 28th, 2022 at 1:52 PM ^
LOL this is performance art right? Buckeye fan cosplay at its finest?
Yes, if Edwards gets tacked on ... wait to clarify are we talking about his 75 yard TD run or his 85 yard TD run? Well, it doesn't matter. I agree. If he is tackled on either of those plays then he doesn't score. Additionally, if Corn is tackled on either of his 70yd TD plays, he won't score. If any of the TD plays that actually did happen, don't happen.... then, well...
I'll do you one better, if Ransom intercepts the pass and takes it back to the house. That's basically a touchdown there for OSU! And then Craig Krenzel comes back from the dead and throws a pass to 7 foot Archie Griffin riding a flying unicorn named Tuff Borland Junior and he scores too!
In this world of hypothetical plays that didn't happen, OSU fans can dream up a score 100-0! Ryan Day hangs 100 on Michigan. Everyone had the flu! We did it during the Buffalo Blizzard Christmas 22!
As for me... I'm content to just settle for what actually happened.
December 28th, 2022 at 2:07 PM ^
JMo,
Exactly! As for Edwards TD runs.. the answer is.. both of them. If the Buckeyes get off the blocks effectively and Michigan doesn’t open a hole for Edwards .. AND.. the Buckeyes fill any opened hole.. AND the Buckeyes learned how to tackle.. oh, and JJ / Donovan don’t execute the exchange effectively.. AND .. the ball is fumbled.. AND.. the Buckeyes recover in stride.. AND take it in untouched for a TD, then it would be a 14 point swing, AND Edwards doesn’t score.
Oh, I have another point. If the B1G passed a rule about uniforms and prohibited Michigan from wearing any “Jumpman” logos - then, Michigan would have been in violation of the rule and probably forfeited the game.
December 28th, 2022 at 4:54 PM ^
If grandma had handles, she’d a been a wheelbarrow
December 28th, 2022 at 8:48 PM ^
“The rumors of my death, have been greatly exaggerated!”
- Craig Krenzel, probably.
December 28th, 2022 at 11:58 AM ^
And if it wasn’t for the 1 play, (crossing route) that Day called a gazillion times that Don Brown had no answer for, we would have won in 2018.
December 28th, 2022 at 1:32 PM ^
Or 2 plays, both interceptions, that lost us the game in 2016.
December 28th, 2022 at 12:00 PM ^
Preparing for the Peach Bowl, they're still at it. This from Cade Stover, the tight end who had that end zone pass knocked from his hands by Sainristil:
When asked if injuries factored into his effort in The Game, Stover didn’t deny it, but said he won’t reveal exactly how limited he was against Michigan.
In fairness, he went on to more or less say that injuries are what you sign up for when you play football, but it sounds like an OSU reporter lobbed that question his way because OSU fans still want to believe they wouldn't ever get beaten by U-M if there weren't some kind of underlying reason.
December 28th, 2022 at 12:05 PM ^
and we were missing two all-americans, and had a third playing with a cast. oh yeah, he ran for over 200 yds.
some people might not know, but we won that game 45-23. you should tell people in case they may not have heard.
December 28th, 2022 at 3:28 PM ^
Maybe the real narrative is that we pummeled them with our Heisman candidate RB on the bench and his backup playing with one arm tied behind his back. Donnie One Thumb?
December 28th, 2022 at 1:04 PM ^
Blue, Let’s be honest and objective. I’ll concede that the Buckeyes had a more talented roster - really for over a decade. And, I’ll use this comment to “cast some light” for Michigan fans about why the Buckeyes didn’t lose either of their last two games against Michigan.
it was too cold
it was snowy
we had a cold or flu
it was too warm
Michigan was stealing our signs
it was too sunny
if you take away all of Michigan’s big plays, the score is a lot closer
if you take away all of Michigan’s scoring plays, the Buckeyes D would have shut them out twice
we didn’t recognize who we were playing, because they had the letter “M” all over their uniforms. We don’t use that letter in Ohio.
You must not listen to or understand the media, we (OSU) are the better team
It wasn’t snowing
Our offensive scheme is sexier
Line play is overrated
Our lines have improved a lot more than theirs have
They can’t keep up with a high powered fast team like ours
We’ll hang a hundred on ‘em
December 28th, 2022 at 8:51 PM ^
Been a tough year for Cades everywhere. Poor damn Stover.
December 28th, 2022 at 12:06 PM ^
Call me confused, but wasn’t Michigan WINNING at the start of the 4th quarter, 24-20?!!!! And, we were inside their 10 to start the 4th quarter?!!!
“you keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means” (re: handled)
December 28th, 2022 at 1:14 PM ^
you guys were handled until the 4th quarter"
And yet we led 24-20 after three quarters and had the ball deep in OSU territory.
December 28th, 2022 at 2:41 PM ^
If this cooler was really a toilet . . .
December 28th, 2022 at 10:07 AM ^
then he goes out there and makes literally one of the best defensive plays in the history of UM football. incredible.
December 28th, 2022 at 10:56 AM ^
Michigan, as a team, has made great plays over the years on both O and D. But, the timing and impact of this play by Sainristil cannot be overstated. Incredible play. Critical time of the game. PERFECT execution.
In fact, one aspect that I really like about this was - there’s no question of an infraction - the technique and effort were exact and perfect.
Remember - “practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.” Vince Lombardi.
Can you think of a more impactful defensive play?
December 28th, 2022 at 11:08 AM ^
Wish I could agree with 100 thumbs up instead of just one!
I have witnessed M football for nearly 60 years and seen many amazing defensive plays. The most memorable was Woodson's incredible interception vs MSU but there are many more. It seems that each generation of M football has the privilege of another. This one certainly equals any others that I remember thru the years, including Woodson's, especially considering the circumstance and the impact on the game. Historic!
December 28th, 2022 at 10:56 AM ^
exactly. the speech means 100x more because he then went out and walked the walk.
December 28th, 2022 at 10:09 AM ^
Giggidy
December 28th, 2022 at 10:13 AM ^
Pretty baller that this speech came before Sainristil's iconic PBU
December 28th, 2022 at 10:26 AM ^
So glad he's coming back next year. I know he played defense in high school, but the fact that he's been able to make this transition after being on offense since he got here, and with minimal to no transition costs, is astounding.
He's going to hear his name called in the draft next year. I don't know when or what round, but he's going to get picked by someone. He made himself a lot of money with that pass breakup on Stover.
Probably the play of the game, and may have saved Michigan's season. Had Stover caught that, it could've brought OSU to within a field goal, given them the adrenaline boost they needed, and who knows how both teams react from there.
December 28th, 2022 at 11:05 AM ^
I'm still surprised that he isn't gong pro this year. (Not disappointed! Just surprised.)
December 28th, 2022 at 11:35 AM ^
That was the play that broke the Buckeyes back, killed their momentum, and let us take over the game.
It's the single most important play by a Michigan Football player since Braylonfest back in 2004.
December 28th, 2022 at 1:17 PM ^
All's catch and run for the winning TD in the 2021 PSU game is in that conversation. The way he left the program is disappointing, but that play was massive.
December 28th, 2022 at 10:30 AM ^
Awesome! Thanks for sharing #GoBlue Win the natty, starts with TCU!
December 28th, 2022 at 10:33 AM ^
put THAT on a shirt.
December 28th, 2022 at 10:40 AM ^
Hopefully they have footage of it and can include it in next year's hype video
December 28th, 2022 at 10:58 AM ^
Happy to give you a 40% points boost--in the article's comments, Feldman says he was there behind the bench for the speech and stepped aside to let a cameraman get closer to capture it, so it is extant.
December 28th, 2022 at 10:42 AM ^
I love everything about this except for the "word" natty. Ughhh. They keep using that word, but I do not think it means what they think it means.
Get off my lawn! :)
December 28th, 2022 at 10:49 AM ^
you can say the word 'natty' if you're under 23 and/or on a college team. that's it.
December 28th, 2022 at 10:58 AM ^
Also, if you win the Fiesta or Peach Bowls this year, you are allowed to claim a "natty lite"
December 28th, 2022 at 10:47 AM ^
If you haven't seen it already, here's a link to Feldman discussing the Sainristil speech on Rich Eisen's show:
December 28th, 2022 at 10:50 AM ^
“We control our own destiny,” said Barrett as he looked in the eyes of his teammates and pointed at his chest. “We’ve been talking about this s— since January. What the f— we wanna do? Man, this s— is right in our f— hands. Go out there and keep playing and finish that s—!”
Way better than Tebow's pussy ass speech
December 28th, 2022 at 11:00 AM ^
As much as I love MMA, there is something about football that propels it above all other sports, even MMA for me. This is an example of what makes football special and different from everything else.
December 28th, 2022 at 11:32 AM ^
Who can forget Ray Longo’s motivational cornering against Anderson Silva: “I want you to punch a hole in his fucking chest”
December 28th, 2022 at 12:24 PM ^
Football is the ultimate team game. Coaches preach it starting in little league - if just one guy doesn't do their job, it will ruin the play. This Michigan team is a great example of a complete football team. They do everything well, play sound football, and do it unselfishly.
December 28th, 2022 at 11:06 AM ^
I was in Columbus for the Game. The OSU nation wanted to win but they seemed to be of the belief that victory was inevitable and that the Game was more of a coronation ceremony than a contest. Their first drive down the field reinforced this.
I thought we could win but I knew we would have to perform on the field or it wasn't going to happen.
The first quarter did not look good but you could tell our defense was starting to make plays and that was keeping us in it. In the second quarter the offense started picking up and the feeling was the game was up for grabs. It wasn't until the third quarter when the Bucks realized that they had to earn the victory and by then it was too late for them to start their engines. The energy in the crowd started to evaporate to the point where it was lifeless in the crowd except the few thousand of us Michigan fans.
The scene outside was surreal. It was if we were leaving a memorial service. The fans in red were in shock.
I didn't think it was over until we up 38-23 because I've seen their explosive offense before. But it was a glorious day for those of us wearing blue.
December 28th, 2022 at 11:10 AM ^
Bless you for braving that fanbase. Respect.
December 28th, 2022 at 11:12 AM ^
I am not convinced that CJ Stroud is hungry enough to want to play another football game for tOSU. In the presser on 11/26 he looked to me to be a guy who is ready to move on to the draft and collect a paycheck.
December 28th, 2022 at 12:26 PM ^
I'd take JT Barrett all day long over Stroud. Barrett is a gamer and a leader.
December 28th, 2022 at 11:13 AM ^
Meh. He’s not a 5* and our locker room culture is broken.
December 28th, 2022 at 11:25 AM ^
Thanks for the post. Just one small request: When posting a link, maybe a quick note that the linked article requires a subscription so that we don't waste time if we don't have said subscription.
December 28th, 2022 at 1:09 PM ^
Currently the Athletic is running a special for $1 a month for 12 months if you are interested.
December 28th, 2022 at 11:34 AM ^
"The Buckeyes were ready to break, and they did." That team has a ton of talent but no heart and no grit. Fold like a cheap suit when they are pressured. Day has made them a finesse team and I love it. Hope he stays a while.
December 28th, 2022 at 11:47 AM ^
Fish, I hope for 1) raises, and 2) life time contracts with huge buyouts so - they’ll stay forever.
Included in this wish .. are:
Day and Knowles,
Tucker,
Franklin..
Add as you wish…
December 28th, 2022 at 2:14 PM ^
Moore, Weiss and Minter!
December 28th, 2022 at 11:46 AM ^
24-20 pre-speech.
21-3 post-speech.
I don't even care if there's a causal link. There's a causal link.
December 28th, 2022 at 11:48 AM ^
Who would have thought that little recruited small slot receiver wearing #19 from Massachusetts would be the heart and soul of a team on the cusp of playing for a national championship.
Mikey is the embodiment of what every Michigan man should strive to be. Always hungry, always humble, and always selfless. He owns the #0 for long, long time