2B — November 28, 2016
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
‘The Game’ lives up to the hype
J
ust after 10 a.m. Saturday,
Jim Harbaugh led his
Michigan football team
off the buses
and walked
through the
gates of Ohio
Stadium.
Harbaugh
said Monday
that he had
not been
back since he
last played
quarterback
there in 1986.
He did not say much else about
his team’s biggest rivalry.
Does he embrace the rivalry
with Ohio State? “I do.” Does
he enjoy it? “I do.” Does he
look forward to it? “Yes.” What
makes him look forward to it?
“Competition. That’s the best
part about it.”
It was always obvious that the
rivalry known as “The Game” is
more serious, more intense and
more important than any other,
no matter what sense Harbaugh
gave in the media. Saturday’s
unforgettable double-overtime
thriller was just another example
of that. Sometimes you end up on
the wrong end of those games,
like Michigan did Saturday. But
you can’t say “The Game” wasn’t
fun, and that’s good for everyone.
Since he arrived at Michigan
almost two years ago, Harbaugh
has been coy about hyping up
the Ohio State rivalry above the
others. We don’t know too much
about how he treats it on a week-
to-week basis.
Here’s what we do know
about Harbaugh: He knows
how to motivate his team for
the biggest game of the year, his
comments in press conferences
notwithstanding.
Senior safety Dymonte
Thomas said Harbaugh will drop
motivational quotes to show the
significance of his team’s next
game. Last Monday, before a
team meeting, Harbaugh gave the
players one quote in particular
— “I can’t say it, because it had a
little word in it,” Thomas joked —
that stuck out to them.
“I can’t say the word, but it was
something about how you can’t be
something for the rest of your life,
or in your whole life,” Thomas
said. “He just said, you kind of
look at it, we haven’t beaten them
in so long. So he said it’s time for
us to stand up and stick up and do
something for yourselves.
“You have a bully, and he
continues to bully you each and
every day. And in order for you
to get that bully to stop bullying
you, what do you gotta do? You
gotta go in there and punch
him right in the nose. And you
gotta continue to punch him in
the nose until he don’t want no
more.”
Ohio State has bullied
Michigan for more than a
decade. The Wolverines entered
Saturday having lost 11 of their
past 12 games to their archrival,
and a few of them weren’t close,
including Harbaugh’s first as
head coach last year. In that
game at Michigan Stadium, the
Buckeyes did what they pleased
offensively, trampling Michigan
for 369 rushing yards and 42
points in the rivalry’s most
lopsided game since the Rich
Rodriguez era.
Saturday in Columbus, the
Wolverines did what Harbaugh
urged them to do on Monday:
They went in there and punched
Ohio State right in the nose.
They dominated the game for
three quarters, allowing the
Buckeyes just 24 total yards
from the end of their first drive
until halftime and leading for all
but 3:46 of regulation.
Michigan just didn’t have
enough punches in the end,
when Ohio State survived with
a 30-27 victory. But it was clear
the Wolverines heard Harbaugh’s
message.
Here’s what else we know
about Harbaugh: He has just
the right makeup to make that
motivation mean something.
Monday, a reporter from
The Columbus Dispatch asked
Harbaugh to describe himself,
saying that some people call him
crazy and some call him “crazy
like a fox.” Harbaugh wasn’t
receptive to the question. He
doesn’t talk about himself: “I
don’t know that my personality
really, how relevant that will
be to the ballgame this week.
Probably irrelevant.”
His players know what they
see, though, and when asked
the same question, fifth-year
senior defensive lineman Chris
Wormley had an interesting
insight.
“I think with all the good
coaches, you gotta be wired
a little differently,” Wormley
said. “A lot of the great ones do
things differently. I’m sure (Ohio
State coach Urban) Meyer does
and has done things differently,
successful coach. With Coach
Harbaugh, he does things
differently.”
Few can deny that. A year ago,
Harbaugh’s team lost by four
touchdowns against an Ohio
State program that has been the
class of the Big Ten for the five
years Meyer has been in charge of
it. Over the past year, everything
Harbaugh did — the grueling
four-week bowl camp, the Spring
Break trip to Florida, the month-
long satellite camp tour, the all-
out quarterback competition, the
dominant early-season victories
— it all prepared Michigan to go
into Ohio Stadium and finally
knock off the Buckeyes.
Even once the season started,
the Wolverines were preparing
for this game. They kept their
starters as fresh as any group in
the country. They tested all of the
weapons they would need. They
installed a formation with nine
players in a straight line behind
the center. They did everything,
and then they gave Ohio State all
they had.
Which brings us to the last
thing we know about Harbaugh.
Not that there was any doubt
about the importance of “The
Game” in the mind of the coach
who grew up in Michigan, played
quarterback for Michigan,
idolized Bo Schembechler and
once guaranteed that his team
would beat Ohio State before it
actually did, but Saturday showed
that significance all the same.
Before the game, Harbaugh
went through warmup drills
with the quarterbacks, catching
their passes like he always does.
Then, he engaged in a cordial
handshake with Meyer, for
whom he has, by all accounts,
tremendous respect.
But when the whistle blew,
Harbaugh was emotional and
tenacious. He grew more irate
than ever at the officials, though
admittedly in a game where
there were more controversial
calls than ever. And then he
slammed them in his postgame
press conference, saying he was
“bitterly disappointed” — to use
a Schembechler phrase, for good
measure.
It is not a good look for
Harbaugh to come into his
postgame press conference and
spend almost the entirety of
it criticizing the officiating. It
may cost him a fine from the
Big Ten if the conference makes
a ruling Monday morning. It
may even cost him some points
with the all-important College
Football Playoff committee this
week when the members decide
Michigan’s postseason fate.
But that was Jim Harbaugh’s
rivalry week, for better and
worse. In an era many have
trumpeted as the second coming
of Schembechler and Woody
Hayes’ “Ten-Year War,” Saturday
proved to be quite a second battle.
Perhaps Harbaugh won’t say
it. Perhaps it won’t quite measure
up next year. But “The Game” is
“The Game” again, and let’s all be
grateful for that.
GRANT HARDY/Daily
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh prepared his team all year to play “The Game” again, and it lived up to the billing.
JAKE
LOURIM
Michigan falls to No. 1
Nebraska in four sets
The
No.
18
Michigan
volleyball team was on a 6-1
scoring run, trailing No. 1
Nebraska in the fourth set.
Scrappy defensive plays gave
the Wolverines the edge in the
waning points, but they had
already fallen too far behind to
catch up to the Cornhuskers.
The
deciding
point
was
a Nebraska kill by Mikaela
Foecke, which went off the
Michigan block and landed
out of bounds, securing the
Cornhuskers a 3-1 win and the
Big Ten championship.
Nebraska
(18-2
Big
Ten,
27-2 overall) seemed to be in
control of the
match
from
the start. The
Wolverines (11-
9, 22-10) only
secured
their
first lead in the
beginning of the
third set. The
Cornhuskers
held
Michigan
to
just
a
.020
hitting
percentage in the first set,
meager compared to their .139.
Though
the
Wolverines
stepped up their offense in the
second set, their defense paid
the price. The Cornhuskers
dominated with a .500 hitting
percentage and easily took the
set, 25-17.
Michigan
went
into
the
break down 0-2, and it had to
make some adjustments if it
hoped to come back against a
strong Nebraska team.
It came into the third set
on a roll and, following an ace
from fifth-year senior outside
hitter
Kelly
Murphy,
the
Cornhuskers called a timeout.
The timeout proved ineffective
for Nebraska, though, as the
Wolverines came back with a
4-0 run.
It seemed as if Michigan
was going to force a fourth set
easily, but the Cornhuskers
kept the Wolverines on their
toes by saving six set points.
Fortunately
for
Michigan,
sophomore outside hitter Carly
Skjodt ended the set with a kill
that hit off the Nebraska block
and landed out of bounds.
The Wolverines fell behind
quickly in the fourth set.
Michigan coach Mark Rosen
tried to slow the Cornhuskers’
momentum
by
calling
timeouts, and even by getting
a net violation overturned, but
Nebraska was too effective on
all sides of the ball. Michigan
fell in the fourth set, 25-21.
Junior middle blocker Claire
Kieffer-Wright impressed not
only in Saturday’s match, but
also throughout
the
season.
Kieffer-Wright
finished
the
match with 13
kills
and
has
proven she will
be an important
player for the
Wolverines
in
the postseason.
“She’s
been
one
of
our
most
consistent
performers
offensively,” Rosen said. “And
not only her execution side
of the ball, but I think her
personality and her leadership
has been great.”
Despite the loss to Nebraska,
the Wolverines finished with
a winning Big Ten record – a
good sign with the postseason
on the horizon. They will
enter the NCAA Tournament
as the No. 12 overall seed,
which is a testament to the
stiff competition they’ve faced
throughout their conference
play. They will face American
in the first round on their home
court at Crisler Center.
“I think we’ve gotten a lot
better because of the strong
competition and now we go to
postseason really prepared,”
said Rosen. “We’ll try and take
it one match at a time.”
VOLLEYBALL
PAIGE VOEFFRAY
Daily Sports Writer
“We’ll try and
take it one
match at
a time.”
Fourth-quarter struggles prove costly
COLUMBUS — Jourdan Lewis
scooped up the squib kick and ran.
If he could find the right holes
and cut the perfect path, he would
give the Wolverines their first win
over the Buckeyes in five years.
After
a
disappointing
fourth
quarter that saw No. 3 Michigan
go three-and-out on all three of
its possessions and collect just five
total yards while No. 2 Ohio State
(8-1 Big Ten, 11-1 overall) found
new life through quarterback J.T.
Barrett, Lewis had the chance to
save the day.
He sprinted down the field as
Ohio State fans who had assumed
overtime held their breath. There
was no time left on the clock, and
with the game tied at 17, anything
could happen. Lewis cut left across
the field after weaving through
defenders for 40 yards, and then,
finally, the Horseshoe exhaled.
Cornerback
Joshua
Norwood
took him down on the Buckeyes’
43-yard line, and the game would
indeed go to overtime.
As Lewis picked himself up, he
shook his head in disappointment
of what could have been. His run
was a fitting cap to a disastrous
quarter, and Ohio State would
retain its momentum through two
overtimes, ultimately coming up
victorious, 30-27.
The
game
didn’t
have
to
end in disappointment for the
Wolverines, though. Had they
continued to play the way they
did throughout the first three
quarters, the Buckeyes would have
needed much more to win.
“We were just playing lights out
that first three and a half quarters,”
said defensive end Chris Wormley.
“They got some plays, they have
good players — I mean, they go to
Ohio State, they have good players.
So, we need to make a few plays at
the end and the outcome probably
would have been a little different,
but I thought we played pretty well
for the most part of the game.”
The Wolverines headed to the
locker room at halftime with a
10-7 lead after pure defensive
domination held the Buckeyes to
just 81 offensive yards in the first
half. Ohio State had converted only
one of seven third-down attempts,
and J.T. Barrett was 5-for-11 for no
touchdowns. The Buckeyes’ lone
score came off a 16-yard pick-six
by Malik Hooker.
But Ohio State looked minimally
better after the break, and then
like a completely different team
in the final quarter. In the fourth
quarter alone, Barrett rushed for
71 yards and threw for another 59,
and running back Curtis Samuel
caught two passes for 23 yards.
“J.T. didn’t start out very good,”
said Ohio State coach Urban
Meyer. “We had some misfires.
We weren’t playing very well. …
We had some protection issues.
And the pass game is a constant.
It’s either protection issues or
a misfiring, and I thought the
receivers played decent. … They
just keep swinging. It’s a very, very
good defense we faced.”
Meanwhile, Michigan’s offense
stopped producing. All three of
its
fourth-quarter
possessions
amounted to just 3:53 of game
time, allowing Barrett to wear
out the defense further. Cracks in
the Wolverines’ defensive armor
began to show as the Buckeyes
gained seven first downs in the
fourth quarter (Michigan had
none) and 127 yards.
Both units faltered in the final
frame, but the Wolverines thought
their defense was strong enough to
lead its team to victory.
“It’s a bummer, you know,” said
redshirt sophomore quarterback
Wilton Speight. “I feel like I let the
defense down with the game that
they played. It stings.”
When asked if he thought
Michigan played well enough to
win, he responded right away.
“Yeah, absolutely.”
But as he said it, Buckeye cheers
traveled from the concourse and
permeated through the walls of
the press room 45 minutes after
the end of the game.
The Wolverines may have
done enough to win in the first
three quarters, but not in the
fourth.
GRANT HARDY/Daily
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Wilton Speight couldn’t lead Michigan down the field for a clinching drive in the fourth quarter of the loss Saturday.
KELLY HALL
Daily Sports Editor
SPORTSMONDAY COLUMN