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.”