The passenger doors closed. The airliner taxiied across the tarmac, accelerated down the runway, and rose high into the Washtenaw County sky on this chilly Friday evening, heading toward Happy Valley, PA.
The passengers on the flight, members of the University of Michigan football team, were not aware of the news that broke during their flight that Jim Harbaugh would not be allowed to coach them during their game on Saturday against #10 Penn State. But news broke on the ground. B1G commissioner Tony Petitti announced through ESPN that Harbaugh would be suspended for the final three games of the regular season, including The Game against #3 Ohio State in Ann Arbor on November 25.
The conference later informed the university, and within minutes Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel fired off a previously prepared response seeking a temporary restraining order attempting to halt the league's unprecedented punishment. A hearing was scheduled Saturday morning for Friday, November 17, but not in time to reinstate the head coach.
Offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore, who coached the Wolverines to a 31-6 win over Bowling Green during Harbaugh's suspension earlier this season for NCAA recruiting violations during the COVID-era, was named interim head coach against the Nitany Lions. Moore himself was suspended for the season's first game as part of the university's self-imposed punishment prior to the conclusion of the NCAA investigation.
Petitti buckled to enormous pressure from B1G coaches and athletic directors this past week during the conference's regular conference call. The first-year commissioner then informed Michigan that action by the conference was imminent based on its review of evidence presented by the NCAA. Even though the NCAA has yet to conclude its investigation, nor has it found any evidence connecting Harbaugh to Connor Stalions, the analyst at the center of the firestorm, as they announced.
None of this matters of course. In Petitti's eyes, overstepping is far more forgivable than inaction at this stage. Whether or not Michigan is ultimately found guilty of cheating, the clickbait that's been leaked from a private investigation has already triggered the ire and condemnation of the college football world. The court of public opinion has already reached a verdict.
In his letter pledging full cooperation with the NCAA investigation, Harbaugh unequivocably denied any knowledge of Stalions' actions. Stalions' lawyer released a statement that no member of the Michigan staff was aware of his client's sign stealing scheme. The school has not commented on this or any other matter, since part of fully cooperating with the NCAA investigation involves not commenting on what's being investigated.
Then there are the issues of A) which if any rule was actually broken and by whom (since sign stealing itself is not against NCAA rules); and B) how much of a competitive advantage if any a team gets by stealing an oppenents' signals. Since, you know, if there any advantage gained from sign stealing, they'd probably make a rule against it. But none of THAT mattered to the Wolverines on Saturday morning. All that concerned coach Moore was that they block out the distractions and play to their ability in what would be their most hostile environment of the season.
And all that concerned me, as this was my first trip to Happy Valley for a game, was the amount of abuse I'd face at the hands of Nitany Lion fans. When fueled with alcohol, these are some of the planet's worst. I witnessed it myself in 2018, at the Big House of all places. They sat behind us in the top rows of the SW corner of the end zone, which normally held but a few rows of opposing fans but the past rew years had filled them from the top of the bowl to the row right behind me. The loudest hecklers started up when they stumbled to their seats a half hour before the game and kept shouting insults and obscenities till Michigan stepped in at the end of the third quarter, scoring twice in the final minute to take a 28-0 lead in what would end up a 42-7 rout.
This year, surprisingly, Nitany Lion fans and alums were respectful and kind. Several invited us to their tailgates before and after the game. We could even walk with the crowd from the dirt lots down to the sidewalks and side streets to Beaver Stadium, or "The Beav" as it's affectionately known, without the need for the clever instantaneous retorts we'd practiced. Just 100,000 people getting set to take on a top-5 opponent. And, spoken or not, give the rudderless Wolverines exactly what they deserved for their cheatin' ways.
Penn State drew blood first in the defensive battle, not merely taking the lead on Michigan (which had only been done once before in 10 games) but possessing the ball INSIDE Michigan's 10-yard line (which no opponent had done in 2023). Heading into the student section with first and goal at the 3, the Nitany Lions were stuffed on a run up the middle and threw incomplete twice before settling for a 20-yard Alex Felkins field goal.
Keyed by long runs by quarterback JJ McCarthy and Buckeye-killing tailback Donovan Edwards, Michigan responded with a 75-yard drive capped by a 3-yard Blake Corum plunge. But Corum and Edwards had more planned the following possession. Blake broke free to the left and flew down the sidelines for a 44-yard game. Donovan went off-tackle right from the 22, cutting through the Nitany Lions and darting toward the pylon for a coed-silencing 14-3 lead five minutes before halftime. Drew Allar's 11-yard quarterback draw pulled Penn State to within 14-9 at intermission, but his pass attempt failed on the two-point conversion, a gamble that come back to bite Franklin.
Michigan turned a forced fumble into a field goal on their first drive of the half, and the score held at 17-9 till only minutes remained. But it wasn't what they did so much as how they did it that was noteworthy. Their 13-play, 45-yard drive ate up more than half the quarter because they ran the ball 13 straight times, daring the Lions of Nitany to stop them. That was only a teaser of how the rest of the game would play out. Michigan would run 32 straight times, without as much as an official pass attempt in the second half. McCarthy did draw a 15-yard defensive pass interference penalty on a long pass to tight end AJ Barner with twelve minutes left, which nullified the play. Otherwise, it was run, get up, line up, repeat.
After stopping Penn State on downs at their own 30 with less than five minutes left (due to Franklin's unnecessary two-point gamble that I mentioned earlier, the Nitany Lions were down two scores instead of one), Corum took those 30 yards to the end zone and the fatal blow was dealt. The once-combustible Penn State student section's chants of "Where is Harbaugh?" had devolved into to "Fire Franklin!" by the fourth quarter, and they left for their dorms in the final minutes.
For the powers that be––the B1G, the NCAA, the people who paid for the investigation of Harbaugh's team, whoever they are (insert eye roll expression)––who salavated at the thought of the cheaters, without their coach, getting their asses handed to them in an uber-hostile environment by the first decent opponent on their schedule, it was utter chagrin. The narrative hadn't gone the way it had been scripted. The problem they thought would disappear, has only gotten stronger.
Gear with the "Michigan vs Everybody" slogan––borrowed from the "Detroit vs Everybody" disrespect campaign and popularized by Aidan Hutchinson's knit-hat-wearing mother in 2021––have been flying off the shelves all over Ann Arbor. Michigan players and others who cheer for the maize and blue have started posting "BET" across social media––an acronym for "Beat Every Team". Reminiscent of Jake Taylor, the ficticious Cleveland Indians ballplayer from the movie Major League, who, when made aware of the owner's plans to sabotage her team's season, said, "Well then I guess there's only one thing left to do. Win the whole fucking thing."
Well, they can only beat one team at a time. But the mission that was accomplished at State College on Saturday told us a lot about team 144. And those 32 straight running plays sent a message to all who doubted the strength of these Wolverines. This team isn't good because it cheated. It didn't draw its success from a coaching staff who enlisted a low-level analyst to concoct an illegal scouting operation. These players won because they were better. Because they believed in each other. Not tearing each other down but encouraging each other, as Michigan's immortal Bo Schembechler famously ranted.
Take away the rogue analyst, hell, take away their coach, they don't care. In fact, they won't even throw a pass in the second half and they'll still win.
Hail freaking hail.
