Jim Harbaugh makes a statement despite being banned from Michigan football-Penn State game
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Their coach watched them play from the team hotel a couple miles away, though no distance was going to keep Jim Harbaugh’s fingerprints off the game. After all, Harbaugh had all week with his team.
And almost seven years before that.
No, not with these players exactly, but with this program. Seven years to lay out a football philosophy. Seven years to experiment and try different offensive coordinators, ideas, schemes.
Seven years to figure out that when his team was on the road against one of the best defenses in college football and it was lucky enough to grab the lead?
Run it. Again, and again. No matter how talented the quarterback, no matter how many throws he can make.
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J.J. McCarthy will be playing on Sundays someday. Maybe as soon as next season.
And while so many figured his arm would be the difference at Beaver Stadium, that he would have to win the game by throwing, Harbaugh, and acting head coach, Sharrone Moore, had a different plan.
Or at least a backup plan, for when Michigan lined up the first couple of series it didn’t take long to realize McCarthy wasn’t going to have time to throw. The backup plan worked. The Wolverines' defense helped, and U-M won its biggest game of the year to date, 24-15.
This was U-M's first test. That it came without Harbaugh on the sideline was … déjà vu?
Harbaugh flew with his team to State College Friday afternoon, or about the time Tony Petitti and the Big Ten decided he could no longer coach his Wolverines on the sidelines, at least for now – a judge agreed to hear U-M's request for an injunction on Friday.
What a judge can’t determine – or, for that matter, Petitti and the Big Ten – is how these Wolverines play on the field, and how they handle a tough situation like losing your head coach less than 24 hours before kickoff.
GAME STORY: Michigan football, without Jim Harbaugh, runs through Penn State, 24-15
From the moment the game started, it was easy to spot the extra oomph on the sideline, the fist pumps, the extracurricular chats with Penn State’s players, the amped up body language.
Michigan vs. Everybody?
Sure, why not, at least from the perspective of the players. After all, they were favored, and in the end they showed why.
And while they wait to see if their coach will be back on the sideline with them next week at Maryland, or the following week back home against Ohio State, or, if they beat the Buckeyes, not until Indianapolis the week after, home of the conference title game, they now know they can win on the road against a top-10 team without the security blanket.
That’s what McCarthy called Harbaugh earlier this season when the coach missed three games because the school suspended him ahead of an NCAA investigation into possible recruiting violations during COVID.
McCarthy said it wasn’t the same without Harbaugh, that the vibe was different, and it showed during the first three games of the season.
It didn’t show so much inside Beaver Stadium. They were ready, and then adapted, and when Penn State showed it wasn’t going to be easy throwing the ball?
Harbaugh’s team said: No problem.
McCarthy threw eight times in the first half. Eight!
At one point Moore called 30 straight runs. And when the Wolverines recovered a fumble near midfield on Penn State’s first drive of the second half, they ran it 12 times in a row, even when it was 2nd-and-goal from the 12.
U-M kicked a field goal on the drive but swallowed up eight minutes of clock. A conservative plan, for sure. But also, a smart one considering the trouble U-M's offensive line had protecting McCarthy when he dropped back to pass.
So, for the most part, he stopped dropping back.
Instead, he rolled out or threw quick screens, and when he rolled and saw nothing, he ran. He also ran when it was designed, most notably late in the first quarter on third and 10, when U-M looked like it would be punting a third straight time, already down a field goal.
McCarthy took the snap and took off to the right edge, using a block in the flat to pick up 13 yards. It was a clever call, using Penn State’s speed against it. The first down settled the Wolverines, and they scored five plays later when Blake Corum blasted through the middle for 2 yards.
The Wolverines scored again in the second quarter after a series of runs and took a 14-9 halftime lead. Then only managed a field goal in the third quarter.
Every series followed a similar script: pick up a yard or two on first, six or seven on second, and then convert for a first down or punt.
It was always a run. And Penn State didn’t have enough offense to make U-M pay for the conservative plan, though U-M's defense deserves credit, too.
And when Corum scored on a 30-yard run late in the fourth quarter after a desperate fourth-down attempt by Penn State, the Wolverines began celebrating on the sidelines, several of them turning and talking to the crowd.
They have a lot to say these days, I’d imagine. Though nothing said more than beating Penn State under the circumstances, especially the way they did.
Just like their old coach likes it.
Contact Shawn Windsor: 313-222-6487 or swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him @shawnwindsor.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Jim Harbaugh's fingerprints were all over Michigan's win over PSU
