Michigan football's Jim Harbaugh wants to turn page; 'We gotta attack this day'
Jim Harbaugh spent some time Monday, during his weekly news conference, reflecting upon Michigan football's 27-24 upset loss to Michigan State.
He wished the Wolverines had scored quicker on their final possession, which took 18 plays to travel 93 yards and consumed 4 minutes, 34 seconds. He said the offense was in second-and-long situations too often, and despite their 28 first downs, the Wolverines didn't score enough points. When asked about the cornerbacks, he began by criticizing the officiating, before reaffirming his confidence in his players.
And as he concluded his autopsy of Saturday's loss, Harbaugh made it clear his program must move forward:
“Coming off of a tough loss, it was a gut-wrenching loss on Saturday, and you can’t dwell on it,” Harbaugh said. “Just like any time we’ve had a win here, we have to move on quickly to the next game. Same over the loss. Win a game, you come back Monday and try to do it again. You lose a game, you try to come back and work hard and make darn sure it doesn’t happen again. Same mindset, same approach.
“What happened on Saturday, to your question, anything that’s happened in the past, that window is now closed. There’s nothing you can go back and do about what happened on Saturday. Next Saturday is still days away. You have some control over that, and that’s what you do today. Back at the work of making sure that doesn’t happen again. We have a better result the next time we play.”
The Wolverines have lost 19 games in their five-plus seasons under Harbaugh. Some have been blowouts at the hands of Ohio State. Others were decided in the final minute, such as the 2015 loss to Michigan State or last season's loss at Penn State.
This most recent loss might be different than all of them.
Michigan was favored by 21.5 points and coming off a dominant win at Minnesota. And Michigan State was coming off a loss to Rutgers, which hadn't won a Big Ten game since 2017, and the Spartans were in transition under first-year coach Mel Tucker.
“There’s no question when you lose momentum you wanna get it back as fast as you possibly can," Harbaugh said. “High priority to do something about the day. That’s where we’re at. And situation is, attack. We gotta attack this day, and I’m very confident the fellas will and our team will have a great day of practice. That’s the expectation. Gotta go for it. That’s where we’re at.”
The Wolverines have lost consecutive games just once during the regular season under Harbaugh, when they fell to Wisconsin and Ohio State to close 2017. And although they opened as favorites, their next opponent — No. 13 Indiana — is ranked higher this week and already notched a win over Penn State this season.
“We’re going to have to play really good,” Harbaugh said. "It comes to that every week. You’ve got to play good to win these games. Everybody’s got a good team. You’ve got to play well to win. Getting back to work. Coaches putting in a really good game plan. Players understanding it. And then they can go out in the moment and go for it when they have as good of an understanding as they can of the game plan. Practice it. And understand it’s going to be a tough game.
“Indiana’s really good. But (if) we play good (and) we play the way we’re capable of, then we’ll be tough to beat as well.”
The three Michigan upperclassmen who spoke Monday — fifth-year senior defensive tackle Carlo Kemp, fifth-year senior tight end Nick Eubanks and redshirt junior linebacker Josh Ross — also emphasized moving past Saturday's loss.
“At the end of the day,” Ross said, “a man is judged by how he faces adversity and tough situations.”
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football's Jim Harbaugh wants short memory with Indiana next
