The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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JANUARY 2020 THE WOLVERINE 27 BY CHRIS BALAS J im Harbaugh said what many Michigan fans wanted to hear during Big Ten Media Days in Chicago when asked about his team's chances to win the league. "I'd pick us," U-M's head coach said … at which point the hordes of Ohio State beat writers started pounding their keyboards and tak- ing to Twitter as though the Michi- gan head coach had challenged their manhood. Though the Wolverines fell short of that goal, there was reason for such optimism in August. The Wol- verines returned a veteran offensive line, four out of five starters who had earned at least some form of All-Big Ten honors in 2018 in left tackle Jon Runyan Jr., left guard Ben Bredeson, center Cesar Ruiz and right guard Mike Onwenu. They also returned a senior quar- terback who threw for 2,600 yards in his junior season, an "NFL trio" of receivers in redshirt sophomore Tarik Black and juniors Nico Collins and Donovan Peoples-Jones, and some All-Big Ten talent on defense, includ- ing third-team All-American corner Lavert Hill and All-Big Ten senior safety Josh Metellus in the secondary. Most predicted there were two games in addition to the season ender with OSU that would deter- mine their Big Ten fate — not co- incidentally, both were road games against very good football teams, tough tasks given how hard it is to win away from home in league play. The Wolverines hadn't played well in the early going, needing double overtime to beat Army at home, but everyone knew the Big Ten opener at Wisconsin was supposed to be the first real test. In one of the season's two biggest disappointments, Michigan wasn't competitive in falling 35-14. The backlash was immediate, and Harbaugh understood something needed to change. "We were outplayed, out-prepared and outcoached. Outplayed, the whole thing, both offensively and defensively," Harbaugh said. "It was thorough. "We knew it about their team. They've got the ability, they're good enough. If they play good enough, they're good enough to beat you thoroughly, and that's what hap- pened. … They blocked better; they tackled better. They had a better plan and executed extremely well." The best remedy for a team coming off a tough loss is Rutgers. The Wol- verines plastered the Scarlet Knights 52-0 and followed up with a hard- fought 10-3 home win over Iowa. U-M held off a rally from upstart Il- linois to win 42-25 on the road, and the season was essentially on the line the following week. A 21-0 deficit proved too tough to overcome in a 28-21 road loss at Penn State, one in which U-M out- played the Nittany Lions for the bet- ter part of three quarters. Sophomore wide receiver Ronnie Bell's dropped touchdown pass late in the game prevented a potential tie, while Har- baugh lamented several questionable calls that essentially helped knock his team out of the Big Ten race. Their championship dreams disap- peared in State College, but the Wol- verines found their offense and their heart. That would set the stage for an impressive midseason turnaround. "I thought our team played with great character, great effort," Har- baugh said after the Penn State loss. "The entire night, both sides of the ball and special teams … fought re- ally hard. "I just complimented them on the effort that they gave, the character that they showed. They'll hold their heads high and come back at it again on Monday." He was confident they wouldn't treat the week like the season was over and come back fighting to finish the season strong. "Because we love football — that'll be our mission," he said. ACT II: TWO OF THREE RIVALS VANQUISHED The timing of the Penn State loss couldn't have been much worse. The Wolverines were all but eliminated from the Big Ten race with No. 8 Notre Dame set to invade Ann Arbor for a night game. Many had ques- tioned the timing of a meeting with the Fighting Irish right in the middle of Big Ten play, and several won- dered how the Wolverines would respond after such a disheartening setback one week earlier. Harbaugh wasn't one of them. He'd seen signs that his team was coming around offensively, and he was vocal about it. Senior quarter- back Shea Patterson and Co. moved the ball at will in the second half against PSU and put up 26 first downs to Penn State's 14, and 417 yards to the Nittany Lions' 283. "I thought the offense did a lot of really good things," the coach said. "As a line, the pass protection was really, really good. I thought Shea had a really good night throwing the football, receivers making catches, chipped away at the running game and got that going. "I thought the defense played re- ally well in the second half. A lot of really good things to learn from and grow from." But they had yet to put a full game together through the first seven out- ings. When the defense was lights out as it was in the win over Iowa, the offense struggled. The offense put 45 points on the board and the first 28 at Illinois, but the defense allowed the Fighting Illini to close the score to 28-25 before U-M pulled away at the end. Nobody was quite sure what to expect when Notre Dame came to town. The Wolverines, though, left no doubt that they were serious about making the most of the rest of the season, taking control and never letting up in a 45-14 plastering. This game also featured redshirt GOOD, NOT GREAT Michigan Rallies, But Falls Short Of Its Big Ten Title Goal The highlight of the season came in late October, when the Wolverines and redshirt freshman running back Hassan Haskins (149 rushing yards) ran over a Notre Dame team that was ranked eighth nationally at the time by a final score of 45-14. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL