Ohio State Postgame Presser: Jim Harbaugh Comment Count

Adam Schnepp

[Bryan Fuller]

What’s your view of the last spot there before the touchdown?

“That it wasn’t a first down by that much.” [holds hands apart about eight inches]

So you agreed with the call, then?

“That it was not a first down. The officiating, I’m bitterly disappointed with the officiating today. That spot—the graphic display is the interference penalties. The one not called on us when Grant Perry clearly was being hooked before the ball got there, and the previous penalty called on Delano Hill, the ball’s uncatchable and by the receiver. So yeah, I’m bitterly disappointed in the officiating. Can’t make that any more clear.”

[Ed. A- The second Harbaugh used “bitterly” I knew that I’d heard that word spoken with the exact same inflection before. I realized about the time we were leaving the stadium that Harbaugh said it the way Bo did in the archival footage used in Tiebreaker. Watch through 33:38 if you can stomach it.]

[After THE JUMP: the most bizarre explanation for a personal foul I have ever heard]

I misunderstood--

“My view of the first down was that it was that short [holds hands apart about eight inches].”

How do you feel this game affects the rivalry?

“Right now it’s not on my mind. It’s what I said.”

Do you feel that your team deserved to win?

“I thought our guys have worked incredibly hard. They have done everything that they could, and they’ve done it so very well. I’m very proud of our players, yes.”

Did you consider going for two?

“Two penalties all day. Multiple holding penalties let go. Multiple false starts. The official on my side who’s supposed to be watching that is concerned with whether our coaches are in the white or not in the white. Not on the field. Their coaches were on the field [and] practically in the huddle at times. Yeah, I’m bitter.”

Did you consider going for two after the touchdown in overtime?

“No. Considered it, considered and decided to kick the extra point.”

Do you think there’s any shot at getting into the playoff with two losses?

“I don’t know.”

Do you think you deserve to be in the playoff?

[chuckles] “I told you what I think. Thought our guys did everything they possibly could. Bitterly disappointed with the officiating. That’s how I feel right now.”

Jim, when did you know Wilton would go and can you talk about his play other than the big turnovers?

“Yeah, um, doctors had cleared him to practice this week. He was chomping at the bit to go. He showed that he was functional right up to the level that he’s been playing at all year. After he practiced on Tuesday, Wednesday, made the decision that he would start.”

What did you say to your team when you got in the locker room right after? I’m sure it was a very disappointed group. What did you say to them?

“Same things I’ve said to you.”

Disappointed in the officiating.

“And the other thing before that. Very proud of our team. This group has worked incredibly hard. Done everything they possibly could do, and they’ve done it so very well. Very proud of our team. That’s what I told them.”

Despite the officiating, are these the two best teams in the Big Ten?

“Uh, I don’t know.”

Defensively, you did a really good job of holding right up until the fourth quarter, then they got some things going. What were you able to do so well defensively, and did anything change from what you saw in the fourth quarter?

“Yeah, I mean, I thought we were doing a heck of a job. They got a gift interference call. A gift. The ball was uncatchable, past the receiver, when our guy, Delano Hill, made contact. And then fast forward to overtime, second overtime, Grant Perry is getting hooked, turned before the ball gets there. I think that really benefitted them, that gift interference penalty.”

Do you feel you lost this game or had it taken from you?

“I don’t know. What do you think? That’s what I think. As I said, bitterly disappointed in the officiating.

“So concerned about—could have been watching the game instead of being concerned about throwing a—what, did you throw a hat? Throw your script toward your sideline? That’s a penalty? I asked him that and he said, ‘Well, it is in basketball.’ I go, ‘Well, this isn’t basketball.’ He told me he officiates basketball. I don’t know the relevance. He said it would have been a technical in basketball. Yeah, I’m bitter.”

It’s gonna be tough to make the playoff. What would you say, what would your case be to get your team in there?

“We make our case on the field. I’m not here to make any arguments or any cases. I feel like our team has done everything they possibly could do and done it very well.”

Could you talk about Kenny Allen today and how big he came up for you?

“Yeah, Kenny was really outstanding, especially that last punt. Kickoffs were great. Field goals were great. He played as well as he possibly can play.”

Jim, you’ve been in a lot of big games. Can you remember a time where you came out of a game feeling like this about the officiating and the outcome?

“Yeah, I can remember a few other times. Not to this level, though.

[SID points to next reporter, reporter almost starts to ask question]

“Felt like there were some outrageous calls, including the one that would have ended the game. They had a good camera angle on it, ball doesn’t make it to the line. Gave ‘em a first down.”

Before the announcement that that call was upheld, did you ever get a good look at it before it was actually announced on review?

“Uh, our guys in the box were seeing it. I was seeing it on the big screen. You guys were seeing it on TV. What’d you see?”

[someone whispers ‘Short’]

“Short? What’d you see?”

Short.

“Short. It’s outrageous.”

Your defense played so well for much of the game, really dominated at stages. Does that add to the disappointment that it looked like you had control of the game?

“Yeah, I thought we were—I thought we did a heck of a job defensively. Got a gift interference call. You see that one? We’re probably just gonna keep beating a dead horse here because you know how I feel. Don’t know where else we can go with this.”

 

Comments

Michigan4Harbaugh

November 27th, 2016 at 11:09 AM ^

I love his honesty, and he has every right to be bitterly disappointed. In spite of our mistakes, we did enough to win the game. End of story.

Squash34

November 27th, 2016 at 1:58 PM ^

Act like Michigan did not do enough, or made to many mistakes to win. Not that I think you are here, but it just remind see me of all the comments from yesterday...
What did the buckeyes do to deserve to win? Doesn't their mistakes and inablity to move the ball offensively disqualify them just as much?
People act like since Michigan was the only team to make mistakes. Sure, Wilton's two pucks lead to points, and the fumble took some away. But osu boneheaded fake punt also lead to points, and Michigan completely dominated that game until that horrible pi call to extend their last drive. Yet, people say Michigan did not deserve to win, and on doing so, say osu did. Makes no sense to me.
Sure, the game is a win going away, that even the refs can't take away, without those mistakes. However, Michigan still dominated despite them, offensively, defensively and special teams wize. I honestly think it was osu that did not play well enough to win that game.

MGoStrength

November 27th, 2016 at 3:03 PM ^

Yes, with at least one call (the 4th down) going another way, UM could have won the game probably assuming we could run out the clock. The other calls it's hard to say.  It could have changed how the game played out, but does any of them gurantee UM would have won?  I don't see it that way.  Any number of variables could have changed if those PI calls go our way.  

 

Wilton could have not thrown a pick-6.  Wilton could have not fumbled on the goal line.  OSU could have kicked 2 FGs.  We could have stopped JT and pressured him more in the 4th quarter like we did in the first half.  It looked like our defense got fatigued in the 4th quarter and their defense took over in the 4th quarter, which is what better teams do.  

 

So, although if calls went a different way could we have won?...yes.  Did OSU make mistakes and give us an opportunity to win?...yes.  But, they also shut us down when they had to and made plays when they had to.  We still had an opportunity to make plays despite the officiating, so IMO the officials gave them an advantage, but didn't give them the game.  We still had an opportunity to take it, but were unable to.  I thought the better team won on that particular day (I think UM wins on a neutral site or at home).  

Detroit Dan

November 27th, 2016 at 6:34 PM ^

"Yes, with at least one call (the 4th down) going another way, UM could have won the game probably assuming we could run out the clock." [MGoStrength]

If the 4th down spot in OT went our way, the game would have been over right there and then.  No  "probably" or "run out the clock" needed.

M-Dog

November 28th, 2016 at 7:39 AM ^

If they make that call correctly, game instantly over.

Then we are talking about how Ohio State does not deserve to be in the CFP because they made so many mistakes:

- Pick by Barrett

- Derped fake punt that lead to a Michigan TD

- Two missed chip shot field goals

- Less than 50% pass completion by Barrett

- Kickoffs that failed to reach the end zone every time

- Long return given up to Peppers

But that's not how it works folks.  When 2 elite teams take the field, they force pressure.  There will be errors.  You are not just going to throw your play sheet out there and have everything work as planned.  You'll make mistakes or the other team will cause mistakes.  You play through that.

It's not about "Michgian made some mistakes" or "Ohio State made some mistakes".  It's about playing through the challenges on the field.

Michigan is as deserving of a CFP slot as Ohio State is.

 

Wisconsin Wolverine

November 27th, 2016 at 6:10 PM ^

If you model the outcome of a football game as a function of performance + random chaos, I'd say that Michigan played well enough to be ahead in performance, but not quite well enough to make them 100% safe from the effects of chaos.  And while it is disputable whether the chaos in this case was in fact random, you can say that OSU played well enough to be able to benefit (in game-winning fashion) from some things that are outside of either team's control.  Ultimately, the point of football isn't to be the better team - it's to win.  So it's always a bit of a conciliatory thought exercise to claim that the loser is the better team, but it does happen, and it's a double-edged sword: on the one hand, it makes you feel better to think your team is good, but it makes you feel especially disappointed that they were not justly rewarded.  Very, very tough loss to stomach.  I would congratulate any Buckeye fan sincerely, but I do personally think Michigan is the best team in the Big Ten, and I think football is worse off for having OSU go forward in our place.

sivaDavis

November 28th, 2016 at 1:08 AM ^

What did Ohio State do to deserve to win? Uhm they gained more than 5 yards in the 4th quarter unlike the opponent, they won the turnover battle, they didn't pack it in and play soft after the 1st half. If you wanna get mad and be bitter about every little thing, tell Speight not to have three turnovers. Tell your defense not to let Samuel cut back across the field to even let it be a close 4th and 1. Tell your offense to play better in OT and score a TD instead of settling for a FG. Have a great rest of the season guys, try again next year.

freejs

November 28th, 2016 at 4:36 AM ^

Game was over and the better team was cheated. 

And here's one for you that will blow your mind because you're a stupid fucking Buckeye - Samuel's run essentially lost the game for OSU. It induced Meyer to go for it on 4th and 1 and risk losing the game on that play. And when Barrett's ass hit the ground, you lost the game. 

Now get the fuck off of our board you classless piece of shit. 

Amazing you have the nerve to talk shit after your team got something they didn't earn. They got a W on the books, but on the field, they earned AN L. 

bluesparkhitsy…

November 28th, 2016 at 2:13 PM ^

You haven't really argued anything at all other than the fact that Michigan -- like every other team ever to play football -- wasn't perfect.  This is so obvious it need not be said, and it is entirely nonresponsive to the issue.  Harbaugh's point, and the point of Brian's post, is that officiating errors were egregious, one-sided, and possibly outcome-determanitive (definitely outcome determanitive if the spot was wrong).  Your argument amounts to saying Michigan should have played well enough to beat both Ohio State and to overcome biased and/or inept officiating.  That's not how that should work, and Michigan's play (which on the whole was better than Ohio State's) has nothing to do with the qualtiy of the officiating.

Boom Goes the …

November 27th, 2016 at 11:11 AM ^

 What the heck kind of explanation for the personal foul was that.  Just bizarre.  Such a shame because of the seniors on this team deserved to get this one

Boom Goes the …

November 27th, 2016 at 11:17 AM ^

I really think we should have gone for 2 after the darboh TD in OT. (I think Dantonio was right to do it last week and Hoke in 2013)  Hindsight is obviously 20/20, but since we had to switch and go on offense for the first series of 2nd ot osu had the advantage

In reply to by Boom Goes the …

Gustavo Fring

November 27th, 2016 at 12:06 PM ^

But I don't agree.  The defense had been outplaying osu's offense all day.  If you go for two (or go for it on 4th down in the subsequent overtime) you are taking the game out of the hands of Taco and Co. and relying on an offensive line that has been dubious all day.  The chance of picking up 2 yards was not too high.  

And in fact, we were a blown first down call away from being vindicated on the decision.  And if you don't buy that, we outschemed OSU on the play before.  The defense was clearly fatigued and that lends credence to your side...but I simply don't think the chances of picking up 2 yards on a given play against OSU was very high.

Durham Blue

November 27th, 2016 at 12:54 PM ^

I totally agree with this.  The defense was the main reason we were controlling play all game.  The offense had a lot of trouble running the football in the fourth quarter.  Any decision that put the balance of the game in the defense's hands was good by me.  In all honesty I don't think we would've gotten the 2-point conversion.  OSU's defense had our offense figured out at that point.  Speight's passes and timing with receivers was getting worse as the game went on.

In reply to by Boom Goes the …

jmblue

November 27th, 2016 at 2:24 PM ^

I don't have an issue with that, but the one game-management nitpick I have is us not calling a timeout on defense after their 3rd-down completion.  I would have liked to have done that so that we could have given our offense a little time to do something, which could have made a difference after Lewis's kickoff return into their territory.  Granted, after his return we might have been under 10 seconds, but I think we could have had time to run one pass to set up a FG. 

 

In reply to by Boom Goes the …

Squash34

November 27th, 2016 at 2:08 PM ^

Decision was much differant because if you go for two in ot the game ends either way. Same goes with the hoke decision, although there were still like 20 sec left there. the Dantonio decision was a bad one because there was 5 min left and they still would need a defensive stop AND a fg still wins for osu if you get the 2 point. From a game theory standpoint, it makes no sense.
That being said, I felt it was a toss up because I felt the refs would screw us in double ot and if they go for two and osu had a blatent penalty, like say tackling a wr trying to catch the ball, they would not call it. So, I think it was not as cut and drive as normally officiated games, which I think you go for it. But by harbaugh not he us basically saying his team is better and will win with more ot's. Can't really blame him for that either.

In reply to by Boom Goes the …

BLHoke

November 27th, 2016 at 3:12 PM ^

I am normally in the go for 2 camp as well... But in this instance, I think not doing so was the correct call. UofM struggled to make headway in goal to go situations all day. Took several attempts for HP to get in earlier in the game, and had to go for it on 4th down and make an unbelievable throw and catch to score the TD. OSU's defense, while not quite as good or physical as Michigan's, is much faster and with everything bogged down there at the 2, it's not difficult for them close space and make up ground quickly. Also, you're getting the ball right back and coming away with at least 3 points. Your offense aside from the 3 TO's had moved the ball with relative ease all day, so you like your chances to score a TD as well... And had the refs not swallowed yet another flag on a blatant PI, they likely would've done just that. That puts even more pressure on OSU to score a TD, because as the ensuing drive proved, they couldn't have felt great about sending their kicker out there after missing 2 chip shots earlier in the game. And lastly, the defenses performance on that drive helped confirm it was the correct decision. They had them in 3rd and forever yet again, and yet again, the refs ate 2 more flags. A block in the back right behind Samuel as he was about to turn up field, and the aforementioned hold... Which would've set up 3rd and impossible outside of FG range... Wait, that wasn't last... Last was when he didn't break the plain on 4th & 1... You can argue not enough to overturn if you like, but I've seen TD after TD taken away in identical situations. I also think it's telling when the majority of bipartisan fan bases think he didn't get it, along with several Spartan & Buckeye fans agreeing. It sucks, there's nothing that can be done about any of it now, and like many, I think the kids on the field had victory snatched away from them due to circumstances out of their control. I think the refs took the easy way out letting the call "stand", so they could escape that environment in one piece, and I can't say I blame them on that end... But it certainly is a "BITTER" pill to swallow.




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Chaco

November 27th, 2016 at 11:13 AM ^

I'm trying to remember a more consequential bad call. Took a chance at a big ten title and a national title with one bad call that decided a game. This will suck eggs forever.

Preacher Mike

November 27th, 2016 at 11:55 AM ^

Nope, just paused the video right at the most forward progress and looked where the ball was. Ther only has to be a millimeter of the ball over any part of that line. The ball was over it. It just was. I know it's hard to accept that Michigan got beat, but Barret got the line. No point in clinging to something that's not true.

JJJ

November 27th, 2016 at 3:22 PM ^

It doesn't look like he made it, the angle sucks. Where are the other camera angles? I've only seen 2 that are not helpful. I smell an OSU cover up. We need an investigation and release of all video feeds of this play. Unfortunately a vacated win still doesn't help us as history shows

G. Gulo of the Dale

November 27th, 2016 at 11:14 PM ^

The ball does slide up the butt of #88 a bit, and, at the furthest point of Barrett's forward progress, the ball does just touch the black undershirt hanging out from #88's jersey...  

... The problem is that it touches the undershirt on the back right side of #88's body when that part of his body is still short of the 15 (by like four or five inches).  

To be clear, I thought there were more blatant bad calls, but--assuming you aren't just trolling--I don't understand what you're seeing.     

Blue Ballin'

November 27th, 2016 at 8:38 PM ^

So, the only shot they kept showing us was from BEHIND the LOS,  and he still looked short. My neighbor, a Nebraska fan, and his wife, came over right after the game and both thought Michigan got jobbed all day, but especially on the 4th and 1 call. Frustrating as hell. We all know refs miss a call once in a while, but this officiating horseshit flim-flammery is just too ]obvious.

Preacher Mike

November 27th, 2016 at 12:02 PM ^

Well, rage away. Doesn't change anything. You don't need to look at a million angles. Just stop the video when Barret's arm slides up to the black piece of equpment on his own guy. Barret's arm slides up over the top edge of his guy's pants. That was over the 15. It just was. I don't care what you want to see, what you wish you were seeing, how mad it makes you that you're not seeing what you want to see. Barret's arm makes forward progress over the pants of his won guy and crosses the plane. If this were the goal line with time runnign out and a Michigan player did this exact same thing, you'd be screaming that he broke the plane. Barret got the line. He just did.