The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/751827
8 THE WOLVERINE DECEMBER 2016 J im Harbaugh has been here before. He's absorbed the gut punch from a team that others insisted had no business in the ballgame. Harbaugh knows, better than any- one, it's what happens from here on out that matters. "We're all going to do our jobs," Harbaugh assured, in the truncated talk following his team's shocking, 14- 13 loss at Iowa. "That's part of my job. I'm not the only one, but it's a big part of my job to make sure we respond." The boss Wolverine and his staff can dissect Michigan's crash landing until next year's corn crop comes in, and it won't change the situation. Yes, U-M's offense dropped the ball — sometimes literally — against a crew of Hawkeyes desperate to make something of their season. Yes, special teams gaffes cost the Wolverines possessions and precious minutes as that clunker wore on. Yes, there were flags that shouldn't have been thrown, ones that you can al- ways count on in a hostile stadium, at night, in the Big Ten. None of that matters now, except regarding how Michigan learns from it to move forward. In 1985, Harbaugh quarterbacked a team that went into Iowa City and came away in misery from a defense- heavy loss. The No. 1 Hawkeyes won 12-10 over the No. 2 Wolverines on four field goals, the final one sailing through the uprights with two sec- onds remaining. The loss burned deep, even though the Chuck Long-led Hawkeyes rep- resented one of the toughest Iowa squads ever. Michigan, and Har- baugh, needed to bounce back. They never lost another game. The Wolverines did tie one, a 3-3 struggle at Illinois, costing them the Big Ten championship. But then they reeled off four consecutive wins, beat- ing Ohio State at home, 27-17, and slugging out a 27-23 victory over a nails-tough Nebraska squad. Michigan's final ranking: No. 2, the highest in Bo Schembechler's 21-year tenure in Ann Arbor. The very next season, the Wolver- ines were barreling through an unde- feated campaign in Harbaugh's senior year. They'd escaped South Bend with a 24-23 win over Notre Dame, sur- vived a 20-18 homecoming triumph against Florida State and then reeled off six straight Big Ten victories to again climb to No. 2 in the rankings. Then came Minnesota. The un- ranked Gophers and quarterback Rickey Foggie slipped quietly into Michigan Stadium, harmless to most observers. They strutted out with a 20-17 win, on a 30-yard field goal as time expired. Devastating. Crushing. Infuriating. And, of course, guaranteed engen- dering. Two days later, and five days prior to entering Columbus, Harbaugh spoke words that went down in Mich- igan football lore and that still burn the brains of older Buckeyes. "I think we're smart enough to know that there's too much at stake right now," Harbaugh told reporters. "Everything's still out there for us. We can still win the Big Ten champion- ship, we can go to the Rose Bowl, and we will. "I guarantee you we'll beat Ohio State and be in Pasadena." That's Harbaugh the quarterback. Harbaugh the coach is older, wiser and more circumspect when it comes to public comments about rivalry games. But inside the walls of Schem- bechler Hall, the message and the confidence remains the same. Every- thing's still out there for us. We can still win the Big Ten championship … Who knows what he might have added to that message this time around? Who knows, at this point, how the shoulder injury redshirt sophomore quarterback Wilton Spei- ght incurred against Iowa will affect the stretch run for this previously un- scathed crew? Here is what they know — one got away, a bad one, one they could have and probably should have won. It doesn't matter. In college football, in November, there are no safe spaces. The exams are coming, ready or not. That's why one of Harbaugh's many maxims applies well: "We work and don't worry." "Just keep going," fifth-year senior captain defensive end Chris Wormley said. "We've got two more games left. We win those two, we're right where we need to be." "This loss sucks," senior captain tight end Jake Butt bluntly offered. "We wanted this one bad. We had it right there. But we're not going to let one loss turn into two." Harbaugh remembers what hap- pened after the guarantee — a 26-24 win over the Buckeyes in Columbus, clinching a Big Ten championship. He doesn't make public vows anymore, but he's laser focused on private in- tensity, getting everything Michigan can out of the days ahead. ❏ Editor John Borton has been with The Wolverine since 1991. Contact him at jborton@thewolverine.com and follow him on Twitter @JB _ Wolverine. WOLVERINE WATCH JOHN BORTON It's Time To Work And Don't Worry Despite the loss at Iowa, Jim Harbaugh's crew can still accomplish its goals — notably win- ning the Big Ten championship and earning a College Football Playoff bid — by taking care of business in its remaining games. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN