The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1184078
66 THE WOLVERINE DECEMBER 2019 BY CHRIS BALAS M any expected Michi- gan's Big Ten champi- onship hopes to come down to a few select games, the way they always do. Winning a title is about hav- ing a great team, but it's also about getting a few breaks along the way, including on the schedule … and for the Wol- verines, the latter was always going to be a bear. Only a handful of teams in the country would be favored to go into Madison and State College and win in the same year, but that was the task Jim Harbaugh's fifth team faced this season. Splitting the pair was U-M's key to getting to the Ohio State game Nov. 30 with a shot at a title, but it didn't hap- pen. The Wolverines failed to show up in a 35-14 loss to the Badgers and were a dropped Ronnie Bell pass away from overcoming a 21-0 deficit in a 28-21 loss at PSU. "Then from between Bell's legs the ball came bounding out," SI.com's Ross Dellenger wrote. "Beaver Stadium roared. "It was the sound that ended Michigan's season." Only it really wasn't. Their College Football Playoff and Big Ten title hopes, yes … but the season? Maybe to those who view college football as an all-or-nothing, playoff-or-bust proposition. That, however, was never what college football was really about un- til big money got involved, and this team, while disappointed, knew it. These Wolverines still had three rivalry games to play, and though none of them would change their fate at the national level, each of the Notre Dame, Michigan State and Ohio State battles alone were enough motivation for any red- blooded Michigan Man. It was head coach Jim Harbaugh's challenge to convince them of that, but it didn't take much. His team came out fired up for what the coaches would later call one of the best Tuesday practices of the year prior to the Notre Dame game, and he didn't need to say much. His cap- tains led the way. "You start focusing on expecta- tions like, 'We were supposed to do this, we were supposed to do that' — none of that really matters," senior defensive tackle Carlo Kemp said. "Yes, we lost at Penn State, but you've got to remember, this wasn't our last game of the year. This isn't, 'Alright, we're done — let's start packing up.'" Notre Dame was the first of the three big rivals to experience that attitude, receiving a 45-14 bludgeon- ing in a driving rainstorm. The night game crowd braved some of the worst weather condi- tions in Michigan Stadium's storied history — they didn't get the "sea- son's over" memo, either — and were rewarded with one of the more satisfying wins over a rival in recent memory. Their head coach wasn't sur- prised. From Kemp and senior offensive guard and fellow team captain Ben Bredeson down, the message had been delivered — there was no time to sulk, only op- portunity to make it better. The sign of a program on solid footing is how much they're able to keep fighting when it appears all is lost, and this group came out swinging. "I have so much respect for our players. Just a wonder- ful job by them," Harbaugh said after the drubbing of the Irish. "They've had some tests, they've taken some criticism, but they've had the mindset to keep working and keep grow- ing. … That leads to really great victories and success like our players had tonight. "It's a great lesson for them, because not everybody can do that. That's why I'm really proud of our team and have so much respect for the guys to be able to do that at a young age, 18-22 years old. … That's good. It bodes well." He saw it coming, he said, with the way they prepared and how important it was to them. "Day in, day out, work in practice, the growth — you could see it," he said. In another year, with some better breaks, they might still control their own destiny. Give them Ohio State's slate through six Big Ten games, for example — Indiana, Nebraska, Michigan State, Northwestern, Wisconsin at home and Maryland — and they'd still be in contention for a championship. As Kemp noted, though, you control what you can control, and they had their chances. They have a handful more now, and a chance to win 11 games with a sweep of the rivals and a bowl win. That would be a great season any year in any system, playoff or not. To their credit, it was still within reach with three games to go. ❏ Chris Balas has been with The Wolver- ine since 1997, working part time for five years before joining the staff full time in 2002. Contact him at cbalas@ thewolverine.com and follow him on Twitter @Balas_Wolverine. INSIDE MICHIGAN CHRIS BALAS Wolverines Have Proven Their Character Senior defensive tackle Carlo Kemp, a team captain, noted after the Penn State loss: "This isn't, 'Alright, we're done — let's start packing up.'" PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL