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.