College football appears to be more wide-open this year than in recent memory, with several teams in the playoff hunt. Michigan is one of them, and head coach Jim Harbaugh and his team will enter November with a chance to make a statement and keep their hopes alive.
A loss to Michigan State in East Lansing wouldn’t eliminate the Wolverines from contention, but it would make it much tougher. But losing isn’t on their mind, especially after last year’s letdown in a home loss to the Spartans.
“There’s definitely [still] the approach of one game at a time, which you need to do. You have to do that, have to practice that,” Harbaugh said Monday. “It has to be implemented, lest a team be painfully humbled. Now we’re in a situation of a huge game. In some ways that mindset is similar; in other ways it definitely gets turned up a notch.”
It’s one of many rivalry game questions that essentially answers itself, Harbaugh said in response to how ‘big’ a win would be.
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“Huge game for us,” he said. “We’re very excited about it, ready to get to practice today and roll … excited to be in the position we’re in and ready to start practice ready to roll. Get our preparation for huge game on Saturday.”
Cliché, cliché, cliché, more cliché, which anyone in attendance should have expected. It’s that week, after all, where avoiding bulletin board material is part of the preparation.
But Harbaugh made it clear he was well aware of its importance.
“It would help, for sure,” he said. “Sure, it would give it a boost … you talk about winning the conference, winning the National Championship. It’s one of those … it’s an elimination mindset, a playoff mindset at this point. Win this game and it will help your chances.”
He has a lot of respect for what coach Mel Tucker has done for the Spartans, he added, saying he’s “done a tremendous job.” MSU was picked to finish last in the Big Ten East, but the transfer portal and emergence of some key players has put them in contention heading into November.
“They’re playing team football, winning football. On offense, they’ve been taking care of the ball,” Harbaugh said. “Their running game is outstanding, quarterback [Payton Thorne] is playing very well, very efficiently versus all comers. He’s very good against the blitz, very good scrambling, averaging about eight yards a run. A lot of things.
“Defensively, they’re playing really good defense — not a lot of tendencies to pick up on — and playing really well on special teams. Playing really good ball.”
Making for what should be an outstanding game Saturday.
NOTES
• MSU transfer running back Kenneth Walker leads the nation in rushing with 142.4 yards per game and is averaging 6.56 yards per carry.
“He’s got great vision, really good balance. He runs their zone schemes, their man schemes extremely well,” Harbaugh said. “He’s fast, looks to be about a mid-4.4 guy, but he’s also big, too.
“The most impressive thing with him is the yards he gets after contact. He gets about 4.5 yards after contact. He’s a fine back.”
• Saturday’s game will be Michigan’s first on grass, and the Wolverines are preparing as such.
“There’s a difference. We have a grass practice field, and we’re going to get on that as much as we possibly can,” Harbaugh said. “Getting the footing is what it comes down to … make sure the guys experiment, have the right cleat. Something you don’t think about is the proper cleat for the turf and the grass.”
• Karsen Barnhart and Chuck Filiaga started at guard against Northwestern for the injured Trevor Keegan and Zak Zinter. Though both Keegan and Zinter are expected to play, Harbaugh remained non-committal.
“We’ll see,” he said when asked if they’d be back.
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