Alec Cohen & Alexis Rankin / Daily Design by Jack Silberman

FOR JIM HARBAUGH, THE QUESTIONS ARE THE INSULTS

Monday, December 2, 2019 | michigandaily.com

As the seconds continued to churn 

off the second-half clock Saturday, a sea 

of red began to funnel down the rows of 

Michigan Stadium. Chants of O-H-I-O 

from the traveling fan base rained down, 

and the locals filed for the exits.

The scoreboard was lopsided, and it 

would only grow moreso. The visiting 

sideline stayed composed because 

they’ve got more business to attend to in 

the coming weeks, and because nearly 

every one of them had been in this 

spot before, trouncing their supposed 

archrival. 

It was a scene that could’ve been 

ripped straight from last year’s script, 

nearly verbatim.

After a 33-yard touchdown extended 

the Buckeyes’ lead to 56-27, where it 

would stay when the clock hit zero, 

sophomore defensive end Aidan 

Hutchinson walked off the field, arms to 

his side, fists balled in rage, screaming 

to everyone and no one in particular. He 

looked up at the sky and screamed there, 

too.

“I didn’t see this coming,” Hutchinson 

would say later, choking back those 

emotions after Michigan’s 15th loss to 

the Buckeyes in 16 years.

“No one’s happy,” added senior tight 

end Sean McKeon. “(It’s) definitely really 

frustrating, especially for the seniors. It’s 

just kind of the same thing every year. 

Gotta execute better, and yeah it gets old, 

but just gotta play better against them.”

It’s easy to sit here and quibble 

about the particulars — about how 

three mistakes in the second quarter 

potentially accounted for an 18-point 

swing; about how senior quarterback 

Shea Patterson completed just four of 

24 second-half passes; about how the 

defense relented 577 yards and 56 points 

a year after allowed 567 yards and 62 

points; about a fourth-and-1 play call, 

and about nearly 100 before it; about how 

a team that fleetingly looked like it could 

compete was instead run off the field 

and shoved into another offseason of 

unanswerable questions.

But those would be mere quibbles, 

drowned out by the cacophony of reality, 

which is as follows: 

This fanbase and this program 

measures itself against one program. 

That program is one of the three best 

programs in the country. Michigan is 

not.

Ohio State recruits at a higher level. 

It executes at a higher level. And for 

now, it is the singular force keeping 

the Wolverines from contending for 

titles most fans expect. That “level” is 

a nearly-impossible one to reach, and 

the Wolverines have found themselves 

hitting a really-good-but-not-great 

plateau in their attempts to climb there. 

Twisting the dynamic of the “rivalry” 

into any other framework would be 

willful self-delusion.

Asked if that chasm instills a mental 

hurdle in Michigan’s players — some of 

whom have experienced just two wins 

over Ohio State in their lives — fifth-year 

senior Jordan Glasgow rebuffed.

“I can’t really speak for the other 

players, only myself in that aspect, but 

personally I don’t feel like that’s the 

case,” Glasgow said. “There’s a streak. 

It’s a bunch of individual games and 

they’ve been able to continue it on for 

the last 7-8 years. We just weren’t able 

to execute. As you said, execution plays 

a big role, the biggest role in every game. 

We just weren’t able to do that today.”

Today, or 15 of the last 16 tries.

Ultimately, trekking that steep 

mountain falls on Michigan coach Jim 

Harbaugh — who now drops to 0-5 in 

his tenure against the team he’s paid a 

hefty sum to beat. It would be wrong 

to insinuate he’s been complacent in 

those attempts. After being gashed for 

369 rushing yards in 2015, Harbaugh 

turned around and hired Don Brown, 

who held the Buckeyes at bay in 2016. 

After watching Ohio State’s offense 

gash Michigan with quick tempo and 

alarming ease, he went out and entrusted 

an offensive overhaul to Josh Gattis, who 

hoped to mirror those traits. There will 

surely be changes in the offing, attempts 

to remedy yet another deep wound. 

Every week-to-week tweak, every 

wholesale change, every bit of evolution 

comes with one goal in mind.

When that goal never comes to 

fruition, vexation builds.

“It’s very, very frustrating,” Patterson 

said. “What we do all year leading to 

this game is for them. We know it’s an 

emotional game.”

Then he glanced to his left, peering 

at sophomore running back Hassan 

Haskins: “Luckily Hassan’s got a few 

more shots at them.”

After the game, a reporter asked if the 

disparity between the programs was the 

result of “a talent gap, a preparation gap, 

a coaching gap” or another factor.

Harbaugh glanced straight ahead and 

shot back.

“I’ll answer your questions, not your 

insults.”

At this point, they’re one and the 

same.

Marcovitch can be reached at

maxmarco@umich.edu or on Twitter 

@max_marcovitch.

MAX MARCOVITCH
Managing Sports Editor

