Does Jim Harbaugh finally have a team that can compete at Michigan? | Yahoo Sports College Podcast
Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wetzel and Pete Thamel, and Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde discuss Michigan’s 49-24 rout of Minnesota, and if Jim Harbaugh’s squad can compete behind QB Joe Milton.
Video Transcript
DAN WETZEL: Huge win, I think, for Michigan 49-24. We were literally replacing Jim Harbaugh with PJ Fleck last week as were many in the state of Michigan.
PAT FORDE: Oh yeah. Yeah, we were.
DAN WETZEL: Joe Milton was a big time recruit out of Pahokee, Florida. Could have gone to Georgia. Could've gone to Florida. Michigan got it. They've developed him.
15 of 22 last night, 225, one TD. Eight rushes for 52 and another. He looks smooth. He can really huck it. So I thought it was a big, big statement for Michigan.
Now this has kind of been all about Ohio State at the end. But thoughts on that, Pat? Michigan winning.
PAT FORDE: Yeah, looked good, very good. And actually I think Pete might have broken the news that Minnesota had just some major personnel issues. Specialists. They were down kickers. They were down offensive linemen, and so I think that contributed to it. And Minnesota's rebuilding its defense, which might also contribute to it.
But Michigan looked like a team that Jim Harbaugh would be really comfortable with. They ran 56 plays against Minnesota, which is not many. They played at a very deliberate pace. They ran it 31 times. They threw it 25.
That's a Harbaugh sort of balance. And you've got a quarterback who can do both, who can throw it, who can run it. That was a good start.
PETE THAMEL: Yeah, I think if you're a Michigan fan, there's all of a sudden optimism, vision, and a path. Pound for pound, there was no question that Michigan was the better team and Michigan was the better program. And, look, entering the game, that was a question.
So I was excited watching Michigan last night because maybe the script is a little different. Maybe Ohio State has a bit of a foil here. Certainly I think right now that Michigan-Penn State game is super intriguing, right? Because you have Penn State down a little bit. Can Michigan sort of reestablish itself as that second team in the East?
And we should say about Penn State, no Micah Parsons, no Journey Brown. You take the best two players out of any program, that's really hard. You lose those two, that's difficult. But props to Harbaugh.
Props to Josh Gattis. We were critical of Josh Gattis last year. They looked like a refined, well-oiled offensive machine there, and they didn't ask Milton to do too much.
DAN WETZEL: Yeah. That team's got some potential. I didn't think it was a perfect game by any-- also, the defense, they made plays. Yeah, the fumble created, all of that. Scoop and score kind of. I guess it was a float and score. I don't know how you view it.
But a really, really good game by Michigan. And I just think that's kind of the team we've been waiting for that we haven't got. And I think Shea Patterson just wasn't good enough. He was a little too small. He just didn't-- I mean, he was a guy who kind of looked good at times but just clearly wasn't.
This is an upgrade. And if Milton can, as he gets experience, I think be a little more accurate, which is always a big concern. It's hard to get more accurate. But, I mean, he can gun a ball and will do it.
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