bullshit

It's All Bullshit. Let us start with this: all of this is bullshit. Bruce Feldman is quoting coaches who think Connor Stalions was worth 21 points a game, Allan Haller is piteously moaning about how MSU players were in danger because Michigan may or may not know what plays they're running, and various Big Ten coaches are up in arms about the Threat To Competitive Integrity.

Bullshit. All of it.

This all came out, Stalions got suspended, everyone is fully aware that they should use wristbands against Michigan, and Vegas reacted by shoving all their Michigan lines towards Michigan. And nobody is using wristbands except the one school in the conference that has mastered Writing and is now able to build a library:

Notice JJ had to go to the wrist band.
My anonymous source tells me that’s a reaction to *someone* sending Purdue video of our signs prior to the Big Ten Championship game last year.
Allegedly pic.twitter.com/mZZz0r2FDs

— Due# (@JDue51) November 5, 2023

Haller's crocodile tears are doubly ridiculous since the only danger anyone was in in the M-MSU game was Braiden McGregor when he got speared in the helmet. And after a couple of drives of performatively having the quarterback get the call from the sideline, they just went back to signals. If it was really that dangerous, Haller should be fired for Endangering His Players. But it's not. It's bullshit.

If any of this was true, teams would not dare to signal in plays at all:

"People don't understand the seriousness of it," said another source. "How it truly impacted the game plan. To truly know if it's a run or a pass, people don't understand how much of an advantage that was for Michigan."

There was anger interspersed throughout the call, as one source described the sentiment as: "Every game they played is tainted."

Nobody in football really believes this gave Michigan the kind of material advantage that taints the season, not when Michigan has blown out every opponent on the schedule. But give James Franklin an opportunity to spout off anonymously in an attempt to placate the Penn State fanbase staring down another beatdown at the hands of Michigan or Ohio State, and he's going to take it.

This conference has an entire division failing the Brian Ferentz test. The other division has two of the worst P5 teams in America, Rutgers, a Maryland team that just lost to Northwestern, a Penn State team that can't move the ball against anyone with a pulse, and M/OSU. Maybe this conference's problems are not solely due to one low-level Michigan staffer with grandiose ambitions.

[After THE JUMP: rumor du jour.]