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