College Football
Since the beginning of the Harbaugh Era in 2015, Michigan’s football team is 28-11. That’s a pretty impressive record, considering the previous 3 seasons they were 20-18 under Brady Hoke. The issue fans seem to have with Harbaugh is that he has struggled to win a rivalry game. Only 1 of those 28 wins in 3 seasons is against a major rival. They beat Michigan State in 2016 on a broken up 2-pt conversion, returned by viper Jabrill Peppers. They have yet to beat Ohio State. But, they have new, blue end zones at the Big House and went to Paris this year for their team-building trip. So all is right with the world.
Harbaugh vs Hoke
Listen, I know how petty this all sounds. Michigan fans are complaining about a winning record? About having a coach that doesn’t allow players accused of sexual assault to play football? About a coach that knows when his QB is done and replaces him? I’m not saying Harbaugh isn’t better than Hoke, because he is. Michigan under Hoke was painful to watch. Devin Gardner couldn’t complete a pass to save his life, and Devin Funchess basically carried the team. Harbaugh is way better than Hoke. But this is about the best rivalry in college sports. So yes, I want to beat Ohio State. I want it so bad I can taste it. And so far, Harbaugh hasn’t delivered that. So yes, I’m annoyed about the Paris trip and the new end zones because WHO CARES?! Let’s beat OSU, and THEN talk about the rest of it. Remember that horrible play in 2015 where Michigan State intercepted the ball and ran it back to win the game? Remember Harbaugh’s face? I want to see that expression on Urban Meyer’s face during the greatest rivalry game of the college football season. That’s what I want.
Team Building vs Wins
Team building is important. I get that. But Rashan Gary, whom Harbaugh called the “best player on the team” and Don Brown considers the defensive line’s leader, didn’t even go to Paris. He stayed home to work on his game. So the D-line just hung out in Paris without their leader? I guess that’s fine. But listen. I’ve been to Ann Arbor, and I know they live there, but it’s one of my favourite places on Earth. So skip the Paris trip and stay home and do team building at Schembechler Hall. It’s not as glamorous as Paris, true. But it’s about the basics here. Rashan Gary gets it.
Crunching the Numbers
So, can Michigan win a rivalry game in 2018? Honestly, I don’t know. Shea Patterson transferred over, Brandon Peters looked good mostly last year. The McCaffrey kid hasn’t seen ANY playing time, but I hear he’s as good as his brothers and dad. If he doesn’t get playing time this year I won’t be surprised if he transfers, like Alex Malzone did. With guys like Chris Evans, Karan Higdon, Tyrone Wheatley and Sean McKeon on offense, we stand a chance. The defense was third in the country last year. Rashan Gary had a career game against Ohio State, but one good player does not a team make.
I had low expectations last season. The Team lost 11 of their top players to the NFL draft in 2016, and the core last year was young. This year, they have no excuses. Rashan Gary and Chase Winovich want to be part of the top defensive line in the country. They want the Big Ten title, which Michigan hasn’t won since 2004. But to do that, they’re going to have to go through some impressive teams. Penn State and Ohio State have stand-out teams this year, as they’ve had in the past few years. And I know the losses I’m talking about were not blow-outs. But they were losses, and last year’s team out of MSU was not impressive. They still beat us, so maybe The Team needs to settle in. Maybe they’re putting too much pressure on themselves in these games. Who knows? All I know is that Harbaugh’s face in the 2015 MSU game haunts me. I’d like to get a win in a rivalry game.
Written by Susannah Schmidt
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