The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com 
Sports
Wednesday, December 9, 2020 — 21

Michigan’s reaction to Ohio State 

game cancelation

Jim Harbaugh protested and 

marched, released statements and 
said publicly at every turn that 
he wanted this football season to 
happen.

And when he told the Michigan 

football team that the biggest 
game of their season was canceled 
— marking the first time in over a 
century that the Wolverines won’t 
play Ohio State — they were just as 
devastated as he was.

“Very disappointed,” Harbaugh 

said. “We were all very much — we 
wanted to play. And we were all 
very much, ‘The odds are against 
us but let’s go do this.’ 

“And as I said before, to a man. 

To a man, our players wanted to 
have that opportunity.”

Kirk Herbstreit’s comments 

on 
ESPN 
last 
week, 
that 

Michigan might “wave the white 
flag” on playing the Buckeyes, 
using COVID-19 as an excuse, 
reverberated around the program. 
Senior defensive back Hunter 
Reynolds angrily tweeted on 
Tuesday, “there wasn’t a person 
in that locker room tryna duck 
anyone,” and athletic director 
Warde Manuel released a scathing 
video 
last 
week 
criticizing 

Herbstreit.

On Tuesday afternoon though, 

all Manuel had was resignation. 
Canceling was the right thing to 
do. That didn’t make it any easier.

“The 
Michigan-Ohio 
State 

game is the greatest rivalry in this 
sport,” Manuel said. “So this is a 
really hard day, hard time, for me, 
for Jim and for our team, our staff, 
our University and for our fans. 
For both teams, I am certain. But 
we had a trend with a number of 
positive tests that continued to go 
up even over the weekend, and so 
over the last seven days, they have 
not slowed. 

“We were not cleared to 

participate in practice by our 
medical staff, and we were looking 
at, in terms of, by the end of week, 

much wouldn’t have changed and 
we still don’t have a total grasp 
of this virus on our team. And so 
we are here today, we made the 
decision this afternoon, that we 
were not going 
to be able to 
participate. 
We 
weren’t 

even cleared to 
practice today.”

No specific 

numbers 
were given in 
terms of the 
Wolverines’ 
COVID-19 
cases. 
Dr. 

Sami Rifat, the 
team’s medical 
director, 
only 

said 
the 
Big 

Ten’s 
red/red 

thresholds — a 
5% 
positivity 

rate 
on 
the 

roster 
and 
a 

7.5% positivity 
rate 
in 
the 

surrounding 
team 
population 
— 

had not been reached. Reports 
earlier in the afternoon said that 
between 
contact 
tracing 
and 

positive cases, the Wolverines 
would have been missing upwards 
of 40 players had the game been 
played.

“Our 
student-athletes 
have 

really worked hard and are 
diligent,” Manuel said. “This is 
probably as much a reflection 
of where we are in our state and 
in our area. … I don’t want any 
of this to be reflective of our 
student-athletes and their efforts 
to really keep themselves and their 
teammates safe.”

A report in the Detroit Free 

Press last week said the outbreak 
came from Thanksgiving-related 
gatherings after the Penn State 
game on Nov. 28. Whether positive 
cases will be stemmed in time 
for Dec. 19, when Michigan is 
scheduled to play a crossover game 

against a to be determined Big Ten 
West opponent, is unclear.

“First priority, as Warde has 

said, (is) stemming the COVID 
positives has been the objective 

here the last week,” Harbaugh 
said. “Still trying to get that under 
control. Hopefully that will be 
looking better in the next few 
days. Ultimately, we were told the 
number of people that were out 
due to COVID was too high. 

“So, there’s the real possibility 

that we could play again before 
this season is over. Our players, as I 
said before, they want to play. They 
wanted to play this week. They 
want to play next week. They’re 
going to continue to condition and 
prepare for that possibility.”

With the state of the schedule 

in flux — Ohio State needs to play 
six games to be eligible for the 
Big Ten championship game next 
week unless the rules are changed 
to accommodate — Manuel said 
Michigan would be open to 
playing the Buckeyes the week of 
Dec. 19 as well if Ohio State doesn’t 
have a sixth game.

ETHAN SEARS
Daily Sports Writer

In 
a 
press 
conference 

dedicated 
primarily 
to 
the 

cancelation of the Ohio State 
game, 
Jim 
Harbaugh 
and 

athletic director Warde Manuel 
declined to speak on rumors of a 
potential contract extension for 
Harbaugh.

Harbaugh’s 
original 
deal 

expires 
in 
2021, 
and 
with 

a dismal 2-4 season so far, 
Michigan is at a crossroads on 
deciding whether to extend 
him or move on. On Monday, 
author John U. Bacon reported 
that Manuel and Harbaugh had 
discussed a new incentive-laden 
contract worth less money than 
his current deal, with a smaller 
buyout. 
Tuesday, 
though, 

Manuel seemingly refuted that.

“This is a time where we’re 

gonna focus on this pandemic,” 
Manuel said. “Jim and I will 
meet, as we have said, at the 
end of the year to discuss the 
program and where we’re gonna 

go and all those different things. 
How rumors get started about 
things before Jim and I sit down 
and have a conversation, I’m not 
gonna get into. That’s not for me 

to track down. 
But 
that’s 

where 
that 

is 
and 
that’s 

where we’ll be 
at the end of 
the season.”

Harbaugh 

added: “Warde 
and I have, for 
months, 
long 

agreed 
that 

we’ll talk about 
the 
extension 

at the end of 
the season.”

When asked 

to clarify what 
was meant by 
the end of the 
season, Manuel 
said, “We have 
one last game 
… that we are 
scheduled 
to 
play,” 

referring 
to 

the 
Championship 
Weekend 

crossover matchup on Dec. 19. 

While it is not a guarantee 

the Wolverines will be able to 
play that weekend given their 
current 
COVID-19 
outbreak, 

Michigan indicated that it is still 
preparing as if it will play that 
game. He also clarified that he 
has always held contract talks at 
the end of the season and that is 
not a new development in 2020.

There would be complications 

from waiting until then to 
further discuss an extension. 
National Signing Day is Dec. 16, 
and if there is uncertainty over 
who will coach the Wolverines 
next year, it could lead to losses 
on the recruiting trail.

When asked if he was afraid 

other teams would use the 
uncertainty around Michigan’s 
coaching situation against it 
in recruiting, Manuel stated 

simply that, “negative recruiting 
occurs all the time.”

Nick Baumgardner of The 

Athletic reported Tuesday that 
Harbaugh and Manuel have 
discussed an extension in the 
last week and that the program 
prefers to have a resolution by 
Signing Day, a date that is in 
conflict with what Manuel said 
in the press conference. Bacon 
and Baumgardner also both 
indicated that Harbaugh has 
received interest from at least 
five NFL teams, though it is 
unclear whether there have been 
any formal job offers. According 
to Baumgardner, the decision is 
now up to Harbaugh to accept 
the new terms or walk away.

Tuesday’s press conference 

didn’t clear anything up on 
the contract front — in fact, it 
made things seem even more 
uncertain. Whatever happens, 
though, it’s likely that a decision 
will come in the next few weeks, 
whether that’s before Signing 
Day 
or 
after 
Championship 

Weekend. We just likely won’t 
know what’s coming until it 
happens.

“I don’t wanna make anybody 

feel or think that Jim and I 
have been just sitting around, 
not talking to each other about 
this,” Manuel said. “We have 
had a lot to talk about ... and 
Jim has been a leader and 
phenomenal with his efforts 
on his team. ... He’s committed 
to this team, he’s committed to 
this department, he’s committed 
to this university. 

“So from my standpoint, he 

has been doing everything at a 
high level, including his efforts 
with the team, so from that 
perspective I just don’t want 
people to get the sense that 
we’re just sitting around and 
nobody’s talking to each other 
and we’re waiting and waiting. 
That is the furthest thing from 
the truth. We’ve had a lot to do 
and a lot of other things to talk 
about.”

ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Writer

Harbaugh, Manuel mum on contract 

extension talks

What would have been: Even before cancellation, 

COVID-19 took the life out of “The Game”

O

n Monday morning 
of the week Michi-
gan was scheduled 
to play Ohio State, 

there wasn’t an unruly mess 
of TV cameras swarming Jim 
Harbaugh’s press conference. 
Even in this 
Zoom year, 
there weren’t 
four screens 
of reporters 
pining for 
that perfect 
soundbyte.

On Twitter, 

there weren’t 
fans perform-
ing the req-
uisite mental 
gymnastics to convince them-
selves that this is the year the 
Wolverines finally win. There 
weren’t players saying they came 
to Michigan to beat Ohio State 
or seniors praying their last shot 
comes to fruition.

The reason, of course, was a 

COVID-19 outbreak in the Michi-
gan program put in-person prac-
tices on pause since last Monday, 
ultimately forcing The Game to 
be canceled on Tuesday.

“It is disheartening that we’re 

not gonna be able to play Mary-
land,” athletic director Warde 
Manuel said last week in a video 
released to media. “And our hope 
is that we can play Ohio State 
and finish the season in the final 
week.”

On Tuesday, his hopes were 

officially squashed.

Consider that for a second and 

let it sink in. For the first time in 
103 years, Michigan will not play 
Ohio State. The last time it hap-
pened, there was the small mat-
ter of a World War. A year later, 

despite the Spanish flu pandemic 
limiting the Wolverines to five 
games, the two teams faced off at 
Ohio Field, with Michigan win-
ning, 14-0.

Let’s not have any misconcep-

tions: That result would have 
been incredibly unlikely to hap-
pen this year, even if The Game 
were played. As of Sunday night, 
the Buckeyes were favored by 
29.5 — a fair line considering one 
team is bound for the College 
Football Playoff and the other 
is 2-4.

But despite this horrendous 

year for Harbaugh and Michigan, 
there’s something inconceivable 
about The Game being canceled.

From a purely fact-based 

analysis of the rivalry’s last 15 
years, a cancelation would seem 
to be no great loss. Since 2004, 
the Wolverines have won just 
once. Under Harbaugh, Michigan 
is 0-5. For nearly two decades, 
it hasn’t mattered whether the 
Wolverines are a national title 
contender or bottom-feeding fod-
der. They do nothing but alter-
nate losses in Columbus with 
losses in Ann Arbor.

And yet, there’s something 

impossibly hopeful about The 
Game. Think about the age-old 
debate amongst fans: Would 
Michigan rather finish 11-1 with 
a loss to Ohio State or 1-11 with 

a win over Ohio State? As fool-
ish as the question is (and yes, 
11-1 is the answer), it highlights 

the meaning of this game. A few 
lucky bounces and questionable 
calls can reverse a season’s last-
ing feeling.

Consider, for example, the 

Buckeyes’ 2018 upset of Michi-
gan. Ranked 10th in the country, 
they weren’t going to the Col-
lege Football Playoff. By their 
sky-high standards, the season 
should have already been a dis-
appointment. But they spoiled 
the Wolverines’ Revenge Tour 
party. That, not its eventual Rose 
Bowl win, is Ohio State’s lasting 
impression of its 2018 season.

And if you think the same 

can’t happen for Michigan, think 
back a year further. With three 

losses before The Game and John 
O’Korn under center, the Wol-
verines were 12-point underdogs 
and had precious little to play 
for. Yet, they scored the game’s 
first 14 points, and led mid-
way through the third quarter. 
Had Josh Metellus held onto a 
dropped second-quarter inter-
ception, Michigan likely would 
have won.

Do I think that would have 

happened this year if The Game 
were played? No. If I had to pick 
one side of Vegas’ 29.5-point 
spread, it would’ve been the 
Buckeyes’. But for this one week, 
hope would have at least ema-
nated.

“We still have the big team, 

OSU, at the end of the year,” 
senior offensive lineman Andrew 
Stueber said, when asked what 
Michigan had left to play for 
after a 27-17 loss to Penn State 
dropped the Wolverines to 2-4. 
“We just need to click on all cyl-
inders and we’re in contention 
for that game.”

Call that a fairy tale impres-

sion of Michigan’s chances. I 
won’t blame you, because I agree. 
But the pure presence of that 
word — chance — mattered. It 
mattered to these players and it 
mattered to Harbaugh.

And if nothing else positive 

could have come out of this 
wretched year, they deserved 
those five days of annual opti-
mism. It might have been all they 
had.

Mackie can be reached at 

tmackie@umich.edu or on 

Twitter @theo_mackie.

THEO
MACKIE

 ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily

The Michigan Wolverines lines up on defense against the Ohio State Buckeyes in last year’s edition of “The Game” which the Wolverines lost, 27-56.

There won’t be 
fans performing 

the requisite 

mental gymnastics 

to convince 

themselves that 
this is the year.

‘THE GAME’ CANCELED

 ALEC COHEN/Daily

With COVID-19 cases on the rise within the program, the Michigan-Ohio State matchup became the 121st FBS game 
to be canceled this season.

