Many of Michigan’s players came out of the tunnel for Saturday night’s home game with Wisconsin like they were clocking in for a four-hour shift at a job they didn’t like.
They jumped and touched the ‘Go Blue’ banner like they were afraid to scuff it, loped to the sidelines like they did two weeks ago in a home loss to Michigan State and took their spots like they were preparing to take their lumps.
And that was the highlight of a 49-11 loss to Wisconsin. At least it was 0-0 at that point.
It was humiliating to every loyal Michigan fan — it remains to be seen how much it hurt the players, some of whom seemed to be going through the motions (again) — and every bit as bad as last year’s loss to the Badgers in Madison. And it was embarrassing and a slap in the face to every man who ever wore the uniform and remembered what it meant to wear the winged helmet with pride.
This wasn’t supposed to happen to a Jim Harbaugh coached team. Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke embarrassments were explained away by “poor fit” or “in over his head” remarks, but Harbaugh was supposed to be the guy to fix it once and for all.
Instead, he has lost a lot of this group in year six, and that’s where it starts. The coach can talk about personnel, how hard they played, how much he likes the kids, etc., but there’s a disconnect somewhere, whether it’s between the coaches or the players themselves. There are also too few playmakers, and on Saturday, there were fundamental flaws exposed that had the Badgers toying with the Wolverines.
On defense, there was often nobody within 10 yards of the ball, especially on the edges with jet sweeps and reverses, and very few who seemed to give a damn when the Badgers annihilated them on both sides of the ball.
"The jet sweeps, you think not everyone is involved in the play. As a d-line, when you get that movement and that sweep motion, you owe it to your teammates to start running,” fifth-year senior defensive tackle Carlo Kemp said. “We have our corners who go against people and pullers coming at them … that’s an entire defensive thing to stop the run. Put your foot in the ground and chase and help everyone out by being relentless.”
