Wolverine Watch: Moving Forward, But How Far?
Wait ‘til next year. It’s the haven of also-rans, particularly in baseball. Once in a while, another sport borrows the saying.
There’s a temptation to go there, particularly after a loss to Michigan State that felt like bamboo shards under the fingernails. The temptation will grow undeniable if Jim Harbaugh’s football team ventures to Indiana this weekend and comes away 1-2.
The Hoosiers have given Harbaugh’s teams fits the past few years — with nothing to show for it. But Indiana has already pulled off a thriller against Penn State at home, and likely figures, why not?
The Wolverines — feeling as empty as their stadium after the MSU loss — could let one defeat turn into two. If they do, wait ‘til next year goes into overdrive.
There’s an immediate problem with that, of course. For players such as senior defensive end Kwity Paye, fifth-year senior defensive tackle Carlo Kemp, fifth-year senior tight end Nick Eubanks and others, there is no next year in a Michigan uniform (although fall athletes' eligibility was extended an extra year, those with NFL futures are not likely to take it).
What they face involves a present shrouded in dark clouds — ones that could grow stormy in a hurry.
“The only way you can go is up,” Eubanks said after the MSU misery. “It makes no sense to just stay down and droop about this loss, and just keep our heads down. Things happen. Games get lost. Teams don’t play well. It’s up to us, whether to keep moving forward. Lord knows, if we keep our heads down, it’s only going to get worse.”
The Wolverines under Harbaugh are accustomed to early gut punches. In 2015 and 2018, they lost the opener, to Utah and Notre Dame, respectively. Last year, Wisconsin clubbed them, 35-13, in the season’s third game.
They went 4-0 to begin 2017, but without starting quarterback Wilton Speight they dropped the season’s fifth game in a monsoon to the Spartans, 14-10.
Only in 2016 — Harbaugh’s best Michigan squad to date — did they run off nine wins before getting dented. This year, they’re once again circling the wagons early.
“We definitely suffered a tough loss,” redshirt junior linebacker Josh Ross acknowledged. “We definitely did. But at the end of the day, us as players, we’re all we’ve got. We emphasized that to each other.
“You keep pushing forward. We’re going to bounce back, stronger than ever.”
When “we’re all we’ve got” becomes the mantra two games in, you’ve got trouble.
Harbaugh found himself answering big-picture questions before any Indiana inquiries in his weekly press conference. Someone harkened back to the “savior” tag some were giving him upon his arrival back in Ann Arbor.
“I didn’t consider myself to be a savior then, or now,” he said. “I’m part of a team. I’m not going to go back over the last five-and-a-half-years.
“… I love coaching this team — the current team, and the past teams we’ve had. We forge on. Obviously, we’re coming off a tough loss. It was a gut-wrenching loss on Saturday.”
In it, the Spartans handed Big Ten squads the blueprint to take down the Wolverines. Provide the quarterback maximum protection, and let him hurl rainbows down the field against Michigan’s one-on-one cornerback coverage.
Don’t think for a moment offensive coordinators — starting with Indiana’s — will set those lowlights aside, out of a sense of mercy.
Harbaugh expressed confidence in U-M’s new corners, like you’d expect in this situation. He also didn’t close the door on changing up Michigan’s defensive looks.
“We have to put ourselves in the best possible position,” he said. “We’re always willing and ready to adjust when necessary.”
Losing to the team that lost to Rutgers injects a dose of necessity into hope’s hindquarters.
This is a young Michigan team at key spots. The quarterback and two top running backs are sophomore eligible. The bulk of the receivers are sophomores and freshmen. The suddenly scrutinized secondary features a sophomore as its most talented performer.
Michigan sideline reporter Doug Karsch posited, prior to the season, this crew might be a year away from serious Big Ten contention. His comments before the opener at Minnesota came to mind following the MSU loss.
He said this: “If you lose a division game … before you get to Ohio State, then it’s play for next year, most likely. If you look at the roster, and I hate doing this — I just hate doing this, before the season even starts — depending on the attrition, 2021 has a chance to be pretty good.
“I don’t want to go there yet. I bristle at the notion of playing the next-year card already. But with the potential attrition, and what I would call my educated faith in the offensive line, I think 2021 could be good.
“But you don’t start looking at that until you’ve lost both crossover games or you lose a Big Ten East game before Ohio State.”
Two games later, that situation arose.
It says here, Michigan’s lineup will see some big changes out of necessity for the Indiana contest. Another slip-up, and there’s no doubt the Wolverines will be playing for next year.
Then the question becomes, how does next year become any different?
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