The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/859588
10 THE WOLVERINE SEPTEMBER 2017 INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS stretch. They're talented enough to compete with Wisconsin, with Ohio State, with everybody in the confer- ence. "They're going to have to stay healthy. They're going to have to be a team that does improve week to week, and finish the season. That should be the theme for them after last year." One of the biggest parts of finishing for the Wolverines involves beating Ohio State in the final week of the regular season. Rittenberg insists Michigan can get that done. "Absolutely," he said. "They were better than Ohio State last year. Any- one who watched that game could see they were the better team, and they let down in the fourth quarter and had some things go against them. "I think that game should give them a lot of confidence, even though there are not that many guys who were instrumental in that game that would play in this year 's game. The game's at home, certainly the older players want to beat Ohio State before they leave Michigan. "It's absolutely doable. Ohio State is a team with a lot of mystery itself. We don't know how their offense is going to be. They were not a good offensive team in the second half of last season, and they clearly weren't in their playoff game. It's not this given that Ohio State is going to be this juggernaut, just because they made some changes on their staff and [quarterback] J.T. Barrett is back. "Absolutely, Michigan has what it takes to beat Ohio State." Harbaugh himself is getting set- tled into coaching in the Big Ten, Rit- tenberg noted. The time is fast ap- proaching for another breakthrough, he assessed. "He's done a really nice job, getting people talking about Michigan," the scribe said. "He's recruited at a high level. He's shown he can coach. "But I think there is a step there, and people who automatically put him in the top five nationally have to also take a step back and see he's not won multiple conference cham- pionships. He's not won a national championship … "To me, he's a top-10 coach, but I would hesitate to put him in that elite group, as much as I would hesitate to put Michigan in that elite group until they do it. It has to happen for them." ❏ "I think it's clear [Tom] Brady is the greatest quar terback of all time, whether we take into account rings, stats, longevity, leadership — none of which [Joe] Montana is lacking — but Brady has just so far exceeded every- one's expectations, not only of him- self, but of what we can demand from a human being. Brady is the greatest football player of all time, regardless of position. He has mastered the sport in a way no other person has." — Will Cain of ESPN, in a debate with coworker Mike Golic regarding whether or not Brady is the best quarterback of all time "He's physically mature and rugged, so it's hard to tell if he's just dominating at this age because of that, but he's still worthy of a [National Team Develop- ment Program] invite. He has a hard shot and plays heavy on pucks. He can power his way into the scoring areas and wins a lot of battles below the dots. He has decent hands and vision." — Jeff Cox of SBNation College Hockey on 2019 forward Dylan Wendt, who com- mitted to Michigan July 27 "Harbaugh can hang out with Judge Judy, sleep at a recruit's house and call out opposing programs and athletic directors for NCAA misdeeds. He can attend WWE events, coach first base for the Tigers and take his team on an overseas field trip to Rome. We know all that. We've seen him tweet about it, heard about it on his YouTube channel and been subjected to breathless 24- hour coverage of his every move. "Now it's time for some actual wins to go viral, as 2017 is the year where Harbaugh's biggest challenge will be Michigan's on-field production match- ing its coach's off-field profile. Here's a reasonable standard that Harbaugh is unlikely to live up to in year three — that of Penn State's James Franklin and Ohio State's Urban Meyer. Franklin won the Big Ten last season in his third year in State College, an impressive feat considering he took over a program decimated by NCAA sanctions. Ohio State won a national title in Meyer's third season there, and Meyer also took over a program weighed down by NCAA sanctions." — Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports, in an article he wrote after Big Ten Media Days THEY SAID IT Matt Dudek on Twitter, after he was hired to serve as Michigan's director of recruiting "I'm FIRED UP for this new opportunity at Michigan with Coach Harbaugh and his amaz- ing staff. The past three days have been nothing short of incredible, but I can't say I'm even a bit surprised! I'm hungry (go figure ha) to get into everything with an EN- THUSIASM UNKNOWN TO MANKIND! I guess the only thing left to say is THANK YOU, #BearDown, #OnToTheNextOne and #GoBlue." PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN