2B — Wednesday, October 17, 2018
SportsWednesday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

You can’t escape the clichés
B

y now, you’ve probably 
heard Jim Harbaugh’s 
quote from his Monday 
press 
conference.
The 
Michigan 
football 
coach was 
asked if 
he has 
given his 
players any 
directive 
on how to 
talk about 
the sixth-ranked Wolverines’ 
upcoming game with No. 24 
Michigan State.
“I think we could all use 
a break from the clichés 
that have been plowed so 
thoroughly on both sides,” 
Harbaugh said.
Harbaugh didn’t mention 
any in particular, but there are 
dozens to choose from.
One of those clichés has 
become Harbaugh’s record 
against his rivals, including a 
1-2 mark against the Spartans. 
Detractors of Harbaugh, 
including many Michigan 
State fans, love to talk about 
that. It has made the common 
response — pointing out how 
close Michigan’s two losses 
under Harbaugh were — just 
as cliché.
Wolverine fans, on the 
other hand, like to praise their 
team’s historical dominance in 
the rivalry — Michigan leads 
the all-time series, 69-36-5. 
Spartan faithful will then 
point out that their team is 8-2 
in the last 10 matchups. Those 
stats have been plowed pretty 
thoroughly.
That’s how this rivalry has 
always been. The back-and-
forth is part of it, especially 
between the fanbases.
Then there are the quotes 
that have added fuel to the 
fire over the years.
Back in 1978, then-Michigan 
State coach Darryl Rogers 

called the Wolverines and 
their fans “arrogant asses.” 
Perhaps that sentiment still 
lingers today? I’ll leave that up 
to the readers.
The most 
recent 
resurgence of 
these sound 
bites came in 
2007, when the 
Wolverines 
came back from 
a 10-point, 
fourth-quarter 
deficit to win 
in East Lansing 
during Michigan State coach 
Mark Dantonio’s first season.
After the game, Michigan 
running back Mike Hart had 
a quote that is constantly 
regurgitated.
“I was just laughing. I 

thought it was funny,” Hart 
said. “(The Spartans) got 
excited, it’s good. Sometimes 
you get your little brother 
excited when 
you’re playing 
basketball and 
let him get the 
lead. Then you 
just come back 
and take it 
back.”
Since then, 
“little brother” 
chants are 
frequent when 
the Wolverines 
beat the Spartans — in 
football or basketball. On 
the flip side, Michigan State 
running back L.J. Scott called 
Michigan “our little sister,” 
this summer. That idea came 
from chants the Spartans have 

used over the past few years. I 
guess it’s supposed to be more 
demeaning.
But Hart’s quote also 
spurred an 
inspired 
response from 
Dantonio.
“I find a lot of 
the things (the 
Wolverines) 
do amusing,” 
Dantonio said 
two days after 
the game. “They 
need to check 
themselves 
sometimes. Let’s just 
remember, pride comes before 
the fall. ... They want to mock 
us, I’m telling them, it’s not 
over. They want to print that 
crap all over their locker 
room, it’s not over and it’ll 

never be over here. It’s just 
starting. ... I’m very proud 
of our football team, and 
I’m very proud of the way 
our football 
team handled 
themselves 
after the game 
as well. You 
don’t have to 
disrespect 
people. If they 
want to make a 
mockery of it, so 
be it. Their time 
will come.”
In light of 
how things have gone recently, 
Dantonio was right. The 
Spartans won the next four 
games in the series, beginning 
the eight-out-of-10 run they 
have going presently.
But more than the results 

on the field, Dantonio was 
right in that this will never be 
over.
The line in the sand is 
drawn incredibly clearly 
between Michigan and 
Michigan State. I grew up in 
Michigan, and it is incredibly 
rare to find someone who 
roots for both teams. If you 
do, they either have children 
at both institutions or aren’t 
big sports fans.
I remember in elementary 
school, kids would chant 
“Michigan, State!” The young 
Michigan fans would put their 
thumbs up when they said 
“Michigan” and their thumbs 
down when they said “State.” 
The Spartan children would 
do the opposite. Maybe that’s 
just a quirky, small-town West 
Michigan thing, but the point 
is that the deep-seated fandom 
of either team is synonymous 
with a deep-seated disdain for 
the other.
Log on to social media this 
week, or any other for that 
matter, and you’ll see how true 
that is. Heck, both campuses 
have been vandalized in the 
last few days, and I sure 
haven’t seen any calls for 
kids to be prosecuted. That’s 
because it’s just how this 
rivalry goes, and it has been 
forever.
When Harbaugh called for 
a break from the clichés, he 
was likely talking specifically 
about his team, attempting 
to quiet the noise within 
his program and focus the 
Wolverines for the hard-
fought game ahead.
But this will never be over. 
There will always be another 
game next year. That means 
the clichés will never end, 
either. 
It’s all part of the fun.

Persak can be reached 

at mdpers@umich.edu, on 

Twitter @Mike_Persak or 

on Venmo @Mike-Persak. 
 

EVAN AARON/Daily
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh thinks the Michigan-Michigan State rivalry could use a break from cliches, but that might not be possible with the two teams.

MIKE 
PERSAK

“Then you just 
come back 
and take it 
back.”

“Let’s just 
remember, 
pride comes 
before the fall.”

Michigan makes statement in win over Wisconsin

Coming into Saturday’s game 
against No. 15 Wisconsin, there 
was one prevailing question: How 
far has the Michigan football team 
come since its week one loss to 
Notre Dame?
Well, there’s your answer. Loud 
and clear.
The 12-ranked Wolverines (6-1 
overall, 3-0 Big Ten) were largely 
dominant on both sides of the ball 
Saturday, pummeling their way to 
a 38-13 win.
“A lot of people have a lot of 
questions about who we are as a 
team, our offensive line, our run 
game, we don’t show up in big 
games,” said junior running back 
Karan Higdon. “I think we laid 
that to rest today.”
Behind a bruising offensive line, 
Michigan rushed for 320 yards, 81 
of which came on a quarterback 
keeper from junior Shea Patterson 
on the Wolverines’ second drive 
of the game. Higdon scored two 
plays later, grabbing a 7-0 lead with 
13:55 left in the second quarter.
Michigan’s trio of quarterbacks 
— 
Patterson, 
freshman 
Joe 
Milton and redshirt freshman 
Dylan 
McCaffery 
— 
totaled 
156 
rushing 
yards 
and 
two 
rushing touchdowns, exploiting 
linebackers 
they 
saw 
over-
pursuing. It was a strategy worked 
into the gameplan ahead of time.
“If 
the 
team 
is 
playing 
undisciplined, we’re going to use 
that to our advantage. The edges 
were squeezing in too hard on the 
inside zone,” said junior safety 
Josh Metellus. “So Shea felt like he 
had a chance to pull it, and he did. 
They kept being undisciplined, so 
Shea just kept taking advantage of 
that.”
It can be easy to forget, after the 
blowout that would later ensue, 
that the game was tied in the 
second quarter.
It took just four plays for 
Wisconsin (4-2, 2-1) to respond to 
Patterson’s electric run, answering 
with seeming ease. The Badgers 
ran three times with Taylor, then 
handed the ball to wide receiver 
A.J. Taylor on a reverse, who 
scored from 33 yards to even the 
game at seven. 
Jonathan Taylor — the nation’s 

leading 
per-game 
rusher 
at 
nearly 180 yards — was limited 
in 
repetitions 
moreso 
than 
effectiveness. He finished with 101 
yards (just 22 in the second half) 
on 17 carries, averaging 5.9 yards 
per carry, near his season average 
of 6.7.
For a moment, it looked like 
the Wolverines might just glide 
alongside Patterson and Higdon to 
a breezy win.
Early, they squandered many of 
those chances — hardly reflective 
in the final scoreline.
Redshirt 
sophomore 
kicker 
Quinn Nordin missed two field 
goals in the first half. Patterson 
took multiple ill-advised sacks that 
either took Michigan out of field 
goal range or killed the momentum 
of a drive. Michigan attempted 
a questionable gadget play with 
Milton in an ultimately scoreless 
drive. After an interception by 
junior safety in the middle of 
the second quarter, Michigan’s 
offense stalled. 
In doing so, the Wolverines let 
the Badgers hang around for a bit 
— heading to halftime only up 13-7 
— but they never trailed the game. 
Despite repeatedly knocking on 
the door, the Wolverines couldn’t 
quite bust the game open.

Until the second half, when that 
door came flying off.
Bailed out by two drive-saving 
penalties, including a roughing-
the-snapper 
call 
on 
a 
punt, 
Patterson 
scored 
on 
another 
quarterback keeper to open the 
half, this time from seven yards 
out. 
Michigan’s control on the game 
never waned form there. Playing 
from behind, Wisconsin’s offense 
struggled to move the ball in 
chunks. Badgers quarterback Alex 
Hornibrook looked skittish in the 
pocket all night, never establishing 
any sort of rhythm.
Hornibrook finished the day 
7-for-20 for 100 passing yards and 
with quite a few more bruises.
And on the flip side, Michigan’s 
offensive line displayed just how 
far it has come as a unit since Notre 
Dame on Sept. 1. The Wolverines 
were physically dominant for a 
large potion of the game, aiding 
an impressive performance; the 
Wisconsin run defense came into 
the game averaging 130 rushing 
yards per game. 
“Each player, you could point 
to that — (Jon) Runyan, (Ben) 
Bredeson, Cesar (Ruiz), Michael 
Onwenu, Juwann Bushell-Beatty 
— they’re all playing their best 

football,” said Michigan coach Jim 
Harbaugh. “They’re playing really 
well together.”
Added Higdon: “There’s no 
further question that we’ve got the 
best offensive line in the country.” 
With 9:55 left in the game, 
Wisconsin clinging to the faintest 
hope of life, Lavert Hill put an 
exclamation point on a destructive 
win, snatching a Hornibrook 
pass attempt with one hand and 
running 21 yards for a touchdown. 
“Every game is a statement 
victory,” said junior linebacker 
Josh Uche. “It’s win or go home 
from here on out, until the 
end of the season — until the 
championship games.”
What was that statement made 
today?
“That Michigan is here, here 
to stay,” Metellus said. “From 
week one we fell short, but we 
bounced back, we can fight 
through adversity, this is a real 
team, a real program that’s going 
to keep aggressive throughout the 
season.”
From the rushing attack to 
Patterson to the defense and in 
between, the Wolverines stamped 
their convincing win — and 
asserted themselves firmly in the 
thick of the Big Ten title race.

MAX MARCOVITCH
Daily Sports Editor
To ‘M’, Saturday’s 
game means more

Jim Harbaugh took the podium 
Monday for the start of his fourth 
Michigan State week as coach of 
the Michigan football team.
His 
ties 
to 
this 
rivalry 
are 
obvious. 
He went 2-1 against the Spartans as 
a player, and the Wolverines’ one 
loss with Harbaugh as the starting 
quarterback came in 1984, when 
Harbaugh broke his arm diving for 
a loose ball in the third quarter.
Since he returned to Ann 
Arbor in 2015, Harbaugh has led 
Michigan to a 1-2 record versus 
Michigan State, including that 
fumbled punt in his first season.
This record is part of one of 
Harbaugh’s greatest criticisms as 
a coach — his 1-5 mark against the 
Spartans and Ohio State.
In 
summary, 
Harbaugh 
is 
extremely 
familiar 
with 
this 
rivalry, which likely helped shape 
his answer when he was asked if 
there is any extra emotion entering 
Saturday’s game in East Lansing.
“Yes,” Harbaugh said. “In-state 
rival, Big Ten opponent. It always 
has, is and always will be (extra 
emotional).”
The rest of Harbaugh’s team 
shares the feeling, and for good 
reason. Junior running back Tru 
Wilson grew up in Michigan. Like 
anybody else who shares that bond, 
Wilson has been privy to the roots 
of this game his whole life.
“It’s in-state,” Wilson said. 
“We’ve got a lot of guys on our team 
that are from the state and have 
been living this rivalry — going to 
the game, watching the game — 
they’ve lived it just as much as I 
have, and we’ll be ready for it.”
Lawrence Marshall has a unique 
perspective. He too played high 
school football in Michigan, and, as 
a fifth-year senior defensive tackle, 
has been a part of the actual game 
as long as anybody on the roster.
He has friends on the other team 
who, in light of the Spartans’ success 
under coach Mark Dantonio, have 
taken the opportunity to dig at 
Marshall and the Wolverines.
“I remember when I was getting 

recruited, that was the year they 
won the Rose Bowl, my friends 
texted me, like, smelling roses, 
things like that,” Marshall said. “So 
it’s a lot of tension.”
Donovan Peoples-Jones feels 
that bond to the rivalry as much 
as anybody. Five players from the 
sophomore wide receiver’s high 
school — Detroit Cass Technical — 
will be on the field Saturday.
To count the number of players 
Peoples-Jones 
played 
against 
would take a long time. To him, 
though, the motivation doesn’t 
come from growing up watching 
games or the relationships he has 
with those on the opposing sideline. 
“I remember losing to them last 
year,” Peoples-Jones said. “The 
vibes that that brought our team, 
you know, it just wasn’t good. I 
think that’s all the motivation that 
we need for this week.”
Nick 
Eubanks 
isn’t 
from 
Michigan, he’s from Florida. But it 
doesn’t take long to get integrated 
into the Michigan State game.
The redshirt sophomore tight 
end gave perhaps the most colorful 
response of anybody about the 
Spartans.
“We hate those guys just as 
much (as the fans do),” Eubanks 
said. “We’re gonna see what they’re 
all about on Saturday.”
All of this is to say that this game 
means different things to different 
people.
No matter how you cut it, 
though, Saturday’s matchup is 
more than just the sixth- and 
24th-ranked teams playing for 
conference position.
It’s an opportunity for the 
Wolverines to move a step closer 
to their postseason goals, yes. 
But it’s also an opportunity for 
Wilson, Marshall and Peoples-
Jones to grab bragging rights over 
their friends for the next year. It’s 
an opportunity for Harbaugh to 
silence critics and make the extra 
emotions of the game positive 
ones.
It’s a chance for players and 
coaches to establish themselves as 
legends in a rivalry that means so 
much to so many people.

FOOTBALL

MIKE PERSAK
Managing Sports Editor

EVAN AARON/Daily
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh believes each of Michigan’s offensive linemen are “playing their best football.”

