Jim Harbaugh praises his players, calls them 'stalwarts,' 'savage warriors'
With its 41-13 win over Purdue at the Big House on Saturday night, Michigan improved to 9-0 for the second consecutive season. This year, though, Jim Harbaugh's team has been even more dominant than it was last season.
All nine victories this season have been by at least 24 points, and no opponent has scored in the third quarter or run a play inside of Michigan's own 10-yard line.
Defensive coordinator Jesse Minter remains the master of second-half adjustments. Michigan has outscored its opponents 114-0 in the third quarter this season.
As much credit as the coaches deserve for their tremendous efforts in preparing the team each week, the players deserve even more credit for executing the game plan on a consistent basis, especially in the third quarter.
Harbaugh called his group of players "stalwarts" and "savage warriors" after the game.
"Just so impressed with the squad tonight," Harbaugh said. "Just a bunch of stalwarts."
The Michigan head coach then went on to more or less list every player on the roster and the things each one did well during the game. He mentioned J.J. McCarthy's completion percentage (65%) and yard total (335), Roman Wilson's big day, Will Johnson's interception, Semaj Morgan's spark and he even shouted out Tommy Doman for sticking four punts inside the 12-yard line.
All in all, Harbaugh sounded like a proud father bragging about his kids and their achievements. Every comment seems warranted, though. When a team looks as dominant as Michigan has through the first three quarters of the season, there's not much to scoff at.
When Harbaugh was inevitably asked about the sign-stealing allegations surrounding the program, he quickly deflected the question and began talking about his stalwarts again.
"The guys were such stalwarts. The comments keep coming about why they're good, how they're good. They're just good. If you know football and you watch our guys play, I've said it before, there's 20, 22, 23 guys that'll be playing on Sundays next year."
"I truly believe there's another 30, 35 right behind them that'll return and others that will be developing. It's just really good players. If you know football, just watch the game, turn on the tape, that's why they're so good. They're good at it."
Even though Michigan isn't the most talented team in the country (in terms of players' former recruiting rankings), the quality of football from the team as a whole right now cannot be ignored, and Harbaugh would be the last to do so.
With outsiders continuing to question just how good Michigan is, Harbaugh welcomes the skepticism.
"Go ahead and question them about why they're good, how they got good. It's practically a priceless gift to get to where we want to go."
Where Michigan wants to go, as Harbaugh described, is the Big Ten Championship Game, the College Football Playoff and the National Championship Game. Hopeful appearances in each of those three venues, though, likely won't come without a win in Happy Valley against Penn State next weekend.
It'll be by far the biggest test for the nation's third-ranked team, but it's one quarterback J.J. McCarthy is excited for.
"Super excited for the opportunity, super excited for the matchup. They're a super talented team. They're well-coached. It's gonna be a good one for us to see where we're at."
It'll be a FOX Big Noon Kickoff next Saturday between two of the Big Ten's best teams in Happy Valley.
---
Discuss this article with our community on our premium message boards
Not a subscriber to Maize & Blue Review? Sign up today to gain access to all the latest Michigan intel M&BR has to offer
Follow our staff on Twitter: @JoshHenschke, @Berry_Seth14, @TrevorMcCue, @DennisFithian, @BrockHeilig, @JimScarcelli, @lucasreimink
Subscribe to our podcasts: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify
Check out Maize & Blue Review's video content on YouTube
Follow Maize & Blue Review on social media: Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram