“Mike brings about magic when it’s needed.”
The MVP of the game was spoken about by Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh after his team won the Big Ten Championship for the third time in a row. In the 26-0 whitewash of Iowa, cornerback Mike Sainristil ended with two tackles, one pass deflection, and two crucial fumbles. Throughout his five years in Ann Arbor, Sainristil’s performance served as a microcosm of his development. Sainristil provided the squad with all the necessary plays, including interceptions, forced fumbles, sure-tackling, pass-break-ups, highlight-reel catches, touchdowns, and inspirational speeches.
Sainristil, a former Massachusetts three-star recruit, was never predicted to be a star at the next level. In the fall of 2018, Allen Trieu of 247Sports, who excels in assessing high school talent, dissected Sainristil’s collegiate prospects:
Despite being shorter than normal for the role, she possesses a powerful lower body. had a strong senior year offensively, showcasing his ball abilities and using his speed to create space. plays the zone with awareness and intelligence and is usually in an excellent position to make plays. is dangerous once he uses his open-field skills to grab interceptions. displays strong closing and burst speed.
He still has room to grow in terms of footwork and agility with his direction changes and transitions. Projected as a man-to-man slot corner, he needs to demonstrate his ability to tackle larger outside receivers. Reliable and intelligent football player who should carve out a space for himself in college.
Sainristil swiftly identified his specialty, but it wasn’t wildcat packages like Alex Orji or high-usage end-arounds like Eddie McDoom; rather, it was making appearances in crucial situations, but in a different role. Sainristil joined a packed room upon enrolling in the winter, but he quickly moved to wide receiver. In 2019 versus Notre Dame, Sainristil made his debut as a world-class wide receiver during “opportunity” practice times.
The majority of fans properly recall the 45-14 victory as Michigan’s best win of the season because of the game’s prolonged downpour and running back Hassan Haskins’s 20 touches for 149 yards. However, only a small percentage of people recall that the top receiver wasn’t Nico Collins, the current NFL sensation, Ronnie Bell, or Donovan Peoples-Jones. Mike Sainristil was the one.
Sainristil caught three passes for 73 yards, which is more than Bell, DPJ, and Collins put together. He also scored his first touchdown of the season. A future celebrity gave an unexpected supporting role akin to Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s amusing Twister character Dustin. However, similar to Hoffman, who was not meant for comic success,.
Though it started to seem that way in 2021, Sainristil was not meant for offensive glory, despite the fact that he blasts in Along Came Polly.
Sainristil had 22 catches for 312 yards and two touchdowns to complete the season as the WR3, but that doesn’t even come close to describing the incredible receptions he had that year. Like the curious kid neighbor in The Incredibles, spectators seemed to be waiting for something extraordinary to happen during every game.
That year, Sainristil made several circus catches that would top most career highlight reels. Against Nebraska, it was the deep lay-out, and against Maryland, it was the one-handed snag on a corner route. However, Sainristil made the most appearances in the game, exactly as he had done as a freshman.
