Michigan Wolverines football head coach Jim Harbaugh revealed this afternoon his team returned to practice yesterday, and Saturday’s game at Iowa appears to be a go (as of now at least) as a result.
The showdown in Iowa City could potentially be the Maize and Blue’s final game of the 2020 campaign, though the club could still receive a bowl invitation in a year where there are no win requirements to play in the postseason.
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Several college football programs around the nation have already announced they’d decline a bowl invitation though (Boston College perhaps being the most notable), in order to close the book on 2020 and spend the holidays with their families.
“Every opportunity is a good opportunity to show what we can do,” redshirt sophomore running back Hassan Haskins exclaimed this afternoon when asked if he’d want to play in a bowl game.
“Whatever Coach wants us to do, I’m going to do it my best. It’s [the postseason] ‘whatever’ for me — I could play 10 more games.”
It’s well-known Harbaugh has been a supporter of playing as much football as possible, with the U-M head man actually being the original proponent for these Dec. 19 ‘Champions Week’ crossover games (though teams were clearly not paired up relative to their standings, as the Big Ten originally said they would be).
It looked at one time like the Nov. 28 loss to Penn State might be Michigan’s final game of the season once the Maryland and Ohio State contests were canceled, but the tides are now turning in favor of the Wolverines taking the field at least one more time.
“We’re always going to give it our all and will always have fight, regardless of how many people are out [due to injury or other reasons] — it doesn’t matter,” Haskins confirmed. "We’ll always have fight in us.
"We don’t pay attention to what other people say — we don’t care. We just want to get the W, so it’s all on us. This will be an opportunity to for us to get better and play an extra game.
“I always love more opportunities, so it’s a blessing to have an extra game.”
Fifth-year senior defensive tackle Carlo Kemp also spoke this afternoon about how difficult it was sitting at home these last two Saturdays and not playing games, especially this past weekend when the Ohio State showdown was once expected to occur.
Kemp noted that the magnitude of not facing the Buckeyes in what is likely to be his final year in college probably won’t truly hit him until a few years down the road.
“It definitely felt like I was missing out on something, not playing these past two weeks,” Haskins admitted. “It was a bad feeling. We have a game coming up on Saturday, so it’s all good and now I’m focusing in on that.
“Practicing again has been a relief and it was good to get back together and go over plays.”
Haskins found a bit of a rhythm late in the year when finally given the opportunity to shine, rushing for 100 yards in back-to-back games against Rutgers and Penn State. His tough-nosed running style and ability to consistently break tackles represents the mentality Harbaugh’s teams used to have, though Haskins has unfortunately been one of just a few Wolverine players to have held up their end of the bargain this season.
“It’s hidden talent on this team,” he said, when asked to describe Michigan’s identity. “We have all types of talent in every position group, but we just didn’t always show it in games.
“We’re getting an identity, and will keep working on it to get better.”
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