columns

ATLANTA — The thing about bowl games is that you tend to forget there’s a football game at the end of the week. And once you remember, you tend to struggle trying to pin meaning to it.

There are only so many questions and so many storylines after a month without football with a fairly meaningless game as the light at the end of the tunnel. That leads to scenes like Friday morning — Jim Harbaugh and Dan Mullen standing in front of a lavish backdrop with Peach Bowl logos plastered all over the room, some helmets in front of them, a moderator to their left.

The press conference was, for lack of a better term, a sham.

[After THE JUMP: column]

At the moment Chase Winovich went down, you could see the season flashing before Michigan’s eyes.

After scoring to take a five-point lead in the third quarter, the Wolverines had recovered a fumble only to have Shea Patterson intercepted — for the first time since October — on the very next play.

And then Winovich, who embodies everything about Michigan’s identity, as a defense and as a team, was on the ground, being tended to, walked off, gone.

Of course, the Wolverines’ worst-case scenario never came to pass. Seemingly emboldened by the injury — or at least the repeated cheap shots (there’s no other word for it) from the Hoosiers — Michigan clamped down. Devin Bush and Rashan Gary swarmed Peyton Ramsey, pushing Indiana out of Michigan territory, and that was about as close as the Hoosiers got in an eventual 31-20 win for the Wolverines.

As for Winovich, it seems he’ll be fine. At minimum, things are a whole lot better than they looked.

[After THE JUMP: Winovich and Michigan's identity]

Early on in the fourth quarter, the game out of hand, Michigan Stadium’s ops people decided to go for the kill. Zombie Nation blasted from the speakers. The fans played along, mocking Penn State with its own chant.