The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/558143
BY JOHN BORTON I nquiring minds want to talk to Jim Harbaugh about the Big Ten season. About Michigan State. About Ohio State, guarantees and games long past. He's interested in two issues, at any given moment. Those consist of that day's practice and improving his team therein, and Utah. The Wolverines in- vade Salt Lake City on Thursday night, Sept. 3, for the first game of the Har- baugh era at Michigan. The new coach himself certainly isn't thinking about it in these terms, but as a competitor he has some strong efforts with which to contend, in the first game and beyond. Fielding H. Yost, for instance, won his first game at Michigan, 50-0. Of course, hosting Albion College and traveling to take on a Utah pro- gram that came into Ann Arbor and shut down the Wolverines last year, 26-10, represent two different hills to climb. Then again, Yost backed it up, streaking off to a 55-1-1 start in his first five seasons. That doesn't happen with any coaches anymore, although Ohio State's Urban Meyer, at 38-3, is tossing out a clear challenge without saying a word. Fritz Crisler's first crew of Wolver- ines shut out Michigan State, 14-0, leading to a career that concluded in a national championship. Harbaugh's old coach, Bo Schembechler, guided U-M past Vanderbilt in the 1969 season opener, 42-14, portending a shockingly satisfying end to that regular season with a win at No. 1 Ohio State. Of course, Harbaugh isn't talking about all that, either. He'd rather turn off all the talk and just prepare. "You strive to be about it, not to talk about it," Harbaugh insisted. "It's that simple. It's hard work, determination — all those great midwestern values." He's well aware of the final game on the regular-season schedule. He isn't misinformed about the rise of Michi- gan State, and although he won't talk about it, he's cognizant that he inher- ited a 5-7 football team with issues on offense, no proven quarterback and miserable rivalry records of late. So there's a laser focus on the task at hand. Harbaugh has stressed it 1,000 times when asked about the season. Just get better today. "You like to get out in front of your headlights," Harbaugh noted, gently rebuffing repeated questions about Meyer and OSU. "I don't. I'm think- Utah Dead Ahead First Impression Brings A Challenge For Coaches