Wolverine Watch: Smashing Expectations In Reverse
It’s a saying that goes back into the Bo Schembechler era, when Michigan won Big Ten titles and dominated Michigan State.
You make your greatest progress between game one and game two of the season.
Michigan State fans are nodding vigorously, fist pumping and shouting you know it, baby, at that mention.
Michigan fans are projectile vomiting.
The Spartans were dead in the water seven days ago. They’d been beaten, embarrassed, in their own stadium, turning the football over like a greased watermelon in a downpour. Who might they beat? Maryland? Northwestern at home … maybe?
Turns out, they didn’t have to wait long at all. One week later, the Spartans made their season, even if they quarantine until Christmas, after Saturday’s 27-24 win in an empty Michigan Stadium.
Michigan? It was riding high, after thumping P.J. Fleck’s Minnesota Golden Gophers in the opener, 49-24. Problem is, P.J.’s gold was pyrite and stealing it didn’t do the Wolverines much good.
RELATED: Best & Worst From The Loss
RELATED: Offense Notes — Inefficient Ground Game One Of Many Flaws
A week later, Michigan’s offense evaporated by more than 50 percent. Its defense revealed a hole more coveted by Big Ten offensive coordinators than donut holes by offensive linemen.
Bottom line — the Wolverines lost to the team that lost to Rutgers. That’s not where any team wants to find itself after improvement week.
Jim Harbaugh assured everyone afterward that he and his team would “own” this loss. A quick scan of the room revealed no one bidding against him.
In short, over the last three decades, this represents the greatest one-week turnaround for both Michigan and Michigan State — in opposite directions.
The Wolverines made MSU quarterback Rocky Lombardi look like Rocky LomBrady, getting beaten all afternoon on deep and intermediate throws. As everyone knows, Michigan puts its cornerbacks on an island in press-man coverage.
Against Lombardi, they were truly cast away. It proved painful as Tom Hanks’ tooth extraction with an ice skate. Lombardi Fedexed 323 yards and three touchdowns to the Wolverines.
“We really didn’t expect those, because the game plan was just to hone in on the run,” said sophomore safety Daxton Hill, who helped out the cornerbacks at times. “But they did take some shots, so we just have to adjust. When something like that happens, we just have to keep playing our defense. Don’t be shocked or anything, just be ready for anything.”
The other big “don’t” involves grabbing the manual for the Ohio State pass rush. Like in recent battles with the Buckeyes, it just wasn’t there. Lombardi operated all afternoon with no sacks and not nearly enough pressure.
“Their offensive line did a really good job protecting,” Harbaugh said. “We didn’t get any sacks or any havoc type of plays defensively.”
Offensively, Michigan moved the football, with 452 total yards to MSU’s 449. The Wolverines just didn’t cash in often enough, including one particularly painful swing and a miss with a dead wildcat.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Joe Milton drove the Wolverines from their own 25 to the MSU 5 as halftime approached. On second-and-five from the Spartans’ six, they inserted redshirt sophomore running back Hassan Haskins as the wildcat.
That’s certainly not unprecedented. Haskins has enjoyed decent success running in those situations. Only this time, he figured to expand his horizons.
After a one-yard gain on second down, Haskins remained in place for the third-down play. He attempted to float a pass to an open receiver in the back of the end zone, but saw MSU’s Antjuan Simmons leap up to knock it away and nearly pick it off.
“It was the difference in four points,” Harbaugh said. “Close. It was a good play call. We just needed a bit more height on the throw.”
Of course, everything gets second-guessed in a loss. But in this instance, Milton seems like his own wildcat. His 59 yards rushing in the game led the Wolverines, three more than Haskins managed. Milton throws the ball more often, and stretching out at 6-5, he has more height starting out.
Haskins shook his head when asked about the loss.
“Unreal,” he muttered. “I can’t believe it right now.”
He wasn’t on an island with that feeling.
The Wolverines feature overwhelmingly sophomore- and freshman-eligible skill players, including the QB. They’ve got youth in key spots in the defense, and it showed.
But after a promising start, an anticipated rout turned into the biggest shocker in a long time, youth or no.
“We wanted to win, bad — beat them by a lot,” Haskins said. “There wasn’t a lack of confidence or anything. We wanted to do our job and do it well — smash ‘em.”
Instead, the Wolverines stand 1-6 against Ohio State and Michigan State in Michigan Stadium during the Harbaugh era.
Even the perma-smiling cardboard cutouts in the stands don’t see that as smashing.
---
• Talk about this article inside The Fort
• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel
• Listen and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolverine
• Sign up for our daily newsletter and breaking news alerts
• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolverineMag, @Balas_Wolverine, @EJHolland_TW, @AustinFox42, @JB_ Wolverine, Clayton Sayfie and @DrewCHallett
• Like us on Facebook