Oller: Ohioans to celebrate 'Asterisk Day' by recognizing Michigan college football title
ANN ASTERISK, Mich. – You probably missed the memo, but Feb. 8 marks the newly-minted national holiday – Asterisk Day – celebrating the one-month anniversary of Michigan’s College Football Playoff national championship.
Asterisk Day, or *D for short, was created so 49 of the 50 states would never forget how Michigan won its first national title since 1997, by decheating Washington 34-13 on Jan. 8, 2024.
The Wolverines decheated the Huskies fair and square – or at least square – just as they decheated Alabama in the CFP semifinals, Iowa in the Big Ten Championship game and Ohio State on Nov. 25 in Ann Asterisk. Or is it Asterisk Arbor?
Decheating means winning legitimately, but also with the wink of an asterisk.
Michigan went 15-0* this season, 13-1* in 2022 and 12-2* in 2021, which not coincidentally is about the time Connor Stalions turned a hobby into a “help-Harbaugh-at-all-costs” obsession.
The victories should remain on the books, not vacated as many think should occur. Why? For one, the games actually happened. Just like Ohio State really defeated Arkansas in the 2011 Sugar Bowl and the Buckeyes men’s basketball team made it to the Final Four in 1999. Honest. Saw it with my own eyes.
So keep UM’s wins, but add an asterisk next to each so everyone forever can wonder “What happened?”
We know what happened, but future generations may not, because these things tend to fall through the cracks of history if not kept standing at attention. An asterisk is the flashing neon sign signaling “Something is amiss.”
What was that something? I’ve been noodling on that since Jim Harbaugh and his son, Jay, who coached Michigan’s special teams, skipped town for the safe hideout of the NFL, before the NCAA posse could catch up with them. The Harbaugh boys stayed one step ahead of the law by escaping to the Los Angeles Chargers (Jim) and Seattle Seahawks (Jay,), whose new head coach, Mike MacDonald, worked with both Jay and Stalions at Michiganin 2021. Hmm. That’s why I am revisiting the controversy. Justice must be served.
Anyway, all my noodling led to a verdict: Michigan decheated its way to a national championship by first cheating its way into competing for a title in the first place.
Let me explain. Jim Harbaugh was only so-so as UM’s coach from 2015-2020, compiling a record of 49-22 (.690), including dipping to 11-8 in 2019-20. True, he immediately improved the program after replacing Brady Hoke in 2015, but could not get over the hump against Ohio State (0-5) or win the Big Ten, much less qualify for the playoff.
Mired in a slump, Michigan had decent coaching and talent but lacked confidence. Enter Stalions, who did not become a paid staffer until 2022 but had volunteered under Harbaugh since 2015.
Stalions’ ability to decipher opponents’ sideline signals improved as he refined his spying techniques, which eventually led him, allegedly, to breaking NCAA rules by overseeing a scheme where either he and/or accomplices attended games of upcoming opponents to gain intel. To clarify, stealing sideline signals through advance scouting is not an NCAA violation unless done in person. Stalions took things too far. Electronically.
Whether Harbaugh knew or not, and my hunch is he knew “something,” without wanting to know the details, is immaterial to the main point. Stalions cheated. Which means Michigan cheated, and not just any garden variety rules breaking, either. Grade manipulation and paying players is amateur hour compared to receiving an illegal confidence additive that changes the trajectory of the program. The Wolverines needed an emotional overhaul, not a short-term fix. Stalions was the mechanic for the job.
Let’s reverse engineer Michigan’s rise to power to better understand the impact of how sign stealing benefited the maize and blue. Before winning the biggest games, the Wolverines needed to reach a place where they believed they could win. Cheating did that by changing “could” to “would.”
Michigan was a mess in 2020, finishing 2-4 in the abbreviated COVID-19 season, including a 38-point home loss to No. 13 Wisconsin. The pandemic-depleted Wolverines cited COVID as the reason to cancel the Ohio State game, which the Buckeyes likely would have won, and UM entered 2021 seeking answers.
This next part is fuzzy, because it’s not clear when Stalions began his in-person stealth missions in earnest. It’s doubtful they were happening in 2020, since stadium attendance was limited to families of players and coaches. Then again, if Stalions was able to disguise his way onto the Central Michigan sideline for the 2023 opener against Michigan State, then showing up as a "family member" in 2020 is not beyond the realm of possibility. Regardless, one can suppose Stalions was sniffing out sideline signals during the 2021 season.
To what effect? After looking lost in 2020, Michigan ran off seven consecutive wins to open 2021, outscoring opponents 264-100. That kind of turnaround is not unheard of – see Ohio State, 2011-12 – but knowing what we know of Stalions’ spy operation raises suspicion. As the ’21 season played out, and UM gained valuable information about its opponents’ signals, a competitive advantage occurred that likely made the Wolverines feel invincible. Everything worked, magically as far as the players knew, and easier than ever for coaches who chose not to pursue the reason why.
Confidence climbed, and it mattered not whether it grew artificially, via cheating, or organically. Once Michigan had it, winning followed, culminating with the lopsided 42-27 payback against Ohio State.
At that point, the Wolverines could have trusted themselves to win games without signal-stealing espionage, but a 34-11 loss to Georgia in the Orange Bowl showed that more skullduggery was needed to reach the summit.
So the cheating continued, cementing a sense of schematic superiority that ran through 2022 and into 2023. How much advantage Michigan gained by knowing what plays or formations opponents would run is hard to measure, but any competitive edge makes a difference when the margin between winning and losing is so small.
Only when the sign-stealing scheme was uncovered – the Big Ten confirmed on Oct. 19 that the NCAA was investigating – did the playing field level for UM’s opponents.
By then, however, the deed was done. As was the cheating. Michigan no longer needed Stalions, who resigned Nov. 3. The Wolverines believed they were back among college football’s royalty. Putting away Ohio State, Alabama and Washington was proof positive the program was elite. Michigan deserved to win those games, running the ball with power, defending on point and displaying championship steel.
But the asterisk remains, because over the past 2½ seasons Michigan needed to cheat to get into position to win. Without Stalions, the Wolverines were in short supply of the confidence needed to win a national championship. Cheating changed that, which is why 49 states celebrate Asterisk Day.
Understandably, Michigan chose to sit this one out. Let the rest of America celebrate the holiday. That’s how it goes when caught with a hand in the cookie jar. You justify your actions – “I was hungry” – or rationalize your behavior.
In Michigan’s case, arrogant excuses replace humble admission of guilt. Wolverines fans are the speeding driver who brags about beating everyone into the office, then argues that his co-workers should have left home sooner if they wanted to arrive before him, failing to admit they were on time while he drove 20 mph over the legal limit to get there early.
Pertaining to sign stealing, Michigan argues that everyone does it, so what’s the big deal? “Don’t blame us for being smart enough to build a better mousetrap.”
Ah, but the Wolverines got caught in their own trap. Which is why we celebrate Asterisk Day. Pass the brats.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football celebrates Michigan championship with asterisk
