Harbaugh: Michigan Football Win Over OSU Could Salvage The Season
Michigan has had its share of disappointments this year, from a bad home loss to Michigan State to injuries and poor offensive line play. Much of the sting could be eliminated with a win over Ohio State, head coach Jim Harbaugh said Wednesday.
The tough part — doing it with an offense that’s struggled behind an inconsistent line, and with no idea who will start at quarterback.
Redshirt freshman Brandon Peters has made strides recovering from a concussion suffered at Wisconsin, but many believe fifth-year senior John O’Korn will get the nod, with redshirt sophomore Alex Malzone the likely backup. Redshirt junior Wilton Speight was still wearing the red (no contact) jersey Monday.
“We’ll prepare multiple players for the game,” Harbaugh told the Jamie and Stoney Show on 97.1 The Ticket, without giving an update on his quarterbacks.
He added that a victory could help salvage the season and create some much-needed positivity.
“I think it would,” he said. “I think of how the greats at Michigan would think about the season. The [Tom] Bradys, the [Charles] Woodsons, the [Desmond] Howards, the [Tshimanga] Biakabutukas, the [Brandon] Grahams, the [LaMarr] Woodleys, on and on. I think about how the All-Americans would think of it, how anybody that played at Michigan would think of it and view it. They would think, ‘Great season.’
“You put an exclamation [on it]. They’d be proud of the team, absolutely.”
Michigan has lost 12 of 13 in the rivalry and is 0-2 against Ohio State under Harbaugh after last year’s controversial finish. The Wolverines lost 30-27 in double overtime, after which Harbaugh said he was “bitterly disappointed” with the officiating.
U-M’s players went so far as to say the nation “knows we won that game last year.” Harbaugh was more diplomatic.
“It’s part of the game, as they say … part of football and part of the experience,” he said. “It’s part of the players’ experience. People ask, ‘Do the players know the importance of this game? Do they know what it’s all about?’ And people ask me, ‘Do you convince them of that?’ You do. You try … you try,” Harbaugh said.
“These young men that are playing in it, you want them to have their experience in it, to have them capture the joy, the excitement, the intensity. I want them to have a winning experience. That is very important. I want that for our guys. I want that for our seniors, that they go out with their heads held high and have an experience that is a winning one.”
He experienced it from an early age, talking Monday about his first time at The Game as a kid in 1973, the infamous 10-10 tie. There are “levels” to the rivalry, he said, from his experience to playing in it and coaching in it to the fan who has been invested for decades.
"You grow up with it, which is one level,” he said. “That's what I did. I grew up with it, with my dad coaching here at Michigan. I was excited about it. I knew how important it was, how intense it was. It was a huge, other level to actually play in it … not to just be on the team, but play in it, and you experience what you experience. Then to play in it a second time … and there's another level even after you've graduated and your playing days are over.
"The fans that have been around it for 50 years, it grows. There's no question about it. But there are different levels to it.”
He understands how critical it is to win it, he reassured.
“It has great importance, and the players that are playing this game want to be successful. I want them to be successful,” he said. “We’ve lost this game two years in a row. There’s nothing on the mind right now more important than preparing and putting our players in a position to have that winning experience — locally or globally.”
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