Wisconsin 49, Michigan 11
If the season's going to be a blazing disaster, might as well see how high the flames can go.
The score somehow understates how humiliating a loss this was for a program that finds itself 1-3 for the first time since 1967. After the first quarter, Wisconsin held a 129-1 edge in total yardage; Michigan had twice as many turnovers as yards. On the opening play of the second quarter, Wisconsin's fullback plunged in for his second touchdown of the evening to make the score 21-0.
The ensuing possession ended when M running back Zach Charbonnet ran for three yards off tackle on third-and-eight. Only a pandemic prevented Jim Harbaugh from being subjected to a chorus of boos. The Badgers covered 74 yards in six plays to extend the lead to 28, which in most video game households means it's time to hand the controller to someone else. If only.
The Wolverines embarked on their best drive of the half—not a high bar, considering their first four went for two interceptions and two three-and-outs. After Chris Evans was ruled down just short of the goal line upon review, Joe Milton lined up in a shotgun formation that tipped a quarterback run. Wisconsin called timeout. Michigan came back out showing the same look and Milton got stuffed on a keeper.
At that point, the program seemed dead-set on becoming a meme, and not in a good way. A play initially ruled a Danny Davis catch and fumble looked suspect on first glance, which didn't stop the official team account from tweeting their ready-made turnover graphic, then having to issue an update:
The play was overturned. After losing the chance to put points on the board before the half, Michigan went into the tunnel down a historic number of points:
Michigan's 28-point halftime deficit is Michigan's largest halftime deficit at home since Michigan Stadium opened in 1927.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) November 15, 2020
The 28-point deficit is tied for the largest by a CFB or NFL team coached by Jim Harbaugh. pic.twitter.com/qhLbEmyRrT
The official tweet was brief.
Half. pic.twitter.com/jGFGqX1PLc
— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) November 15, 2020
Getting the ball to start the second half, Michigan stalled out in Wisconsin territory, then seized the opportunity to be meme'd again:
On the board. pic.twitter.com/yh1iM71NrN
— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) November 15, 2020
Huzzah.
Michigan eventually saved some face with an impressive diving touchdown grab by Mike Sainristil, though he caught it from backup Cade McNamara after Joe Milton was benched with 98 yards and two picks on 19 attempts. Milton looked overwhelmed, though he didn't have much help; five Wisconsin ballcarriers finished with more yards than M's leading rusher, Charbonnet, who had 21 on three carries.
In fact, because the defense never figured out how to stop UW runs to the edge all night, the Wolverines finished on the wrong side of a Rushing Rutger: 49 Wisconsin points, 47 Michigan rushing yards.
A fourth-quarter fullback trap when Wisconsin was killing clock went for 43 yards to set up a touchdown. This is Rutgers-level football from a program that has no business playing that way. Start the search, please. There's nothing left to explore here anymore except the depths.
[Hit THE JUMP for the box score.]
November 15th, 2020 at 3:28 AM ^
Harbaugh is Harry Kipke without the national titles: alumni hero coach who starts off well and then suddenly in one season everything goes to shit.
2020 = 1934
November 15th, 2020 at 3:32 AM ^
Just gonna put all my thoughts here, because there was no point in breaking down position groups or anything in snowflakes. Feelingsball is all that this deserved.
This game puts 2020 Michigan Football (Harbaugh Year 6) in full contention for the worst team in the last 40 years of the program, only rivaled by RichRod's Year 1.
And oh yeah, that 2008 team actually beat a top 15 Wisconsin team while unranked – That was the first time I ever attended Michigan Stadium. The depressing reality is that these two seasons are literally the first and most recent years of my (most vivid) life as a Wolverine.
Michigan Football is more of a drug than a religion – and it's a depressant. Over time the side effects have varied widely, and the good news about right now is it remains more consistent in its suckiness, so we are numb to any further heartbreak for now. The sad thing is, despite everything, I'm still an addict.
So yeah...this is the lowest it's ever been in both historic and lifetime proportions, and Warde needs to approach it that way. No mercy. I stand by the narrative that they still won't have the guts to do it affirmatively, but I will still push forward what needs to happen.
I'll always love James Joseph Harbaugh, the Michigan Wolverine, but I hope Coach Harbaugh loves his alma mater enough to do what he has to do – walk away.
November 15th, 2020 at 10:37 AM ^
Maybe we should jettison the dope for some Dope?
November 15th, 2020 at 7:23 AM ^
I guess I'll be adding Harbaugh's tenure to the "What are you talking about? Michigan didn't have a football team those years" RR and Hoke club.
November 15th, 2020 at 7:35 AM ^
I wouldn’t expect different in this absolute shit excuse of a year. Comical.
November 15th, 2020 at 8:21 AM ^
This has been a tough 20 years. Remember when Hoke was hired and mgoblog said “we’re Notre Dame”? Well they just beat Clemson.
This coaching staff looks like a bunch of spare parts from different projects that weren’t meant to go together. The team is undermanned and lost.
And can we now finally say fuck this Michigan Man bullshit? Did you see the park service brought some Canadian wolves to Isle Royale a year or so ago? It’s because too many years of inbreeding left a native pack of 2 deformed and infertile wolves. They were both killed by the new wolves this year. And that’s where the Michigan Man hubris has left us.
We don’t have to wander in the wilderness for another 20 years. I hope.
November 15th, 2020 at 8:29 AM ^
Each of the last three games has been historically bad (MSU is awful, IU broke 24-game streak, UW set a first half record) so there is no option for Warde in regards to Harbaugh, but there is a big choice for interim and then permanent HC. It’s painful to reach this point and there will be painful days ahead, but there is no option.
It needs to happen with enough time to get the right guy. It also needs to happen quickly based on the lack of fight in this team. Swinney was the WR coach at Clemson when he was elevated to HC in the middle of the season after Bowden exited, so Gattis or someone as interim HC should be considered. Not that UM should expect the same outcome, but it has been done successfully.
November 15th, 2020 at 9:55 AM ^
Maybe it’s time to give gattis an interim try
November 15th, 2020 at 9:57 AM ^
You could tell we entered the apathy stage from the first play. I yelled to my wife “the defense is all standing straight up, look like they are on ice skates, and softer than TP”.
just like ‘14 hoke. You can always tell quickly in the defense side. TERRIBLE leverage and technique from the first play and they seriously looked like they all had ice skates on. This is what happens when your focus is so gone you don’t do any of the little things which leads you to not being able to accomplish the most basic things...ie hold the edge, stay low, leg drive, lol tackle.
November 15th, 2020 at 9:54 AM ^
I’m dying to know what happened to Jim? Where is the guy that would lose his shit on the sidelines circa 2015 over the smallest of things. It’s like he’s been lobotomized
November 15th, 2020 at 10:05 AM ^
I don’t comment often here, preferring to read the more talented scribblers. But here’s my observation re: the who can we get that is better notion. JH is damaging the brand. I do not think this can be denied (how many comments here include “I’m not watching any more”). The M brand is what brings recruits, recruits are what return the brand to national respect. It’s a feedback loop. JH is now blocking the loop rather than facilitating it. QED he HAS to go. The next guy in doesn’t have to the best football coach on the planet. He needs to be an experienced D1 coach capable of operating in the modern CFB mode who will make stability, recruiting, and high-level Xs and Os competency his priorities. With that M can ascend to a level below the summit and take stock. I would bet there are a few coaches out there who could hit those criteria. Not a slap at anyone here, just an assessment of the realities and a logical way forward in light of them. Fire JH now. Any interim will do (season is effectively over). Search. And be transparent to the M fan base so that they have reason to buy in. A gritty young rebuilding team fighting for every win in the B1G east - I would watch that. Wouldn’t you?
November 15th, 2020 at 10:23 AM ^
How about the hockey team, eh?
November 15th, 2020 at 10:52 AM ^
I’m heartbroken. I thought Harbaugh was the One. Brian Kelley came back from his 4-9 season, but the wheels feel like they have fallen off. Lack of OTs and DE aside we are a bad football team.
November 15th, 2020 at 11:05 AM ^
Well, considering this season is over, let's fantasize about the future. My "who can you find that is better than Harbaugh?" list (not guaranteed to do better, but I would take my chances at this point):
1. Urban Meyer: Pipe dream. Depends on whether or not he would be the kind of guy to get off on being a turncoat troll and whether or not he likes a challenge. Considering his demigod status in Columbus, he has better options and can pick his spot over the next 5-6 years (USC, Notre Dame, Texas, or Tennessee. Maybe even one of the perennial playoff powers Bama, Clemson, OU, or Ohio State depending on retirements / coaching moves).
2. Kyle Whittingham: Toughness factor. Whittingham does a rocksteady job with borderline P5 talent at Utah. They always look smaller than their average Pac-12 foes (outside of d-line), but they play with a much tougher edge. Whittingham would fix Michigan's defense overnight and root out the program-wide malaise.
3. Joe Brady: Downfield passing game. Just get the guy who invented Joe Burrow and ask questions later. Michigan's biggest weakness during the 6-year Harbaugh tenure is a lack of downfield passing game. They play in a 15 yard box and cannot stretch the field whether Harbaugh, Fisch, or Gattis is calling plays. Rudock's best deep balls would sail out of bounds. Every WR is always covered and they require a Herculean effort just to complete passes.
4. PJ Fleck: Recruiting + enthusiasm. Fleck is a player's coach in a good way and would upgrade our lackluster recruiting. Harbaugh is recruiting without paying attention to scheme/fit/type. He is casting a wide net and bringing in the highest-rated players according to Scout.com and worrying about pesky details later. Fleck knows what to look for and can find diamonds in the rough to fill in the gaps.
5. Bob Stoops: Wants back in. Was just coaching in the XFL, so the want-to might be there.
6. Chris Petersen: Family life notwithstanding, if he wants back in the game, the job would be his.
7. Matt Campbell: Not flashy, but adequate. Everybody thinks he's great, so give him a shot.
8. Luke Fickell: Not flashy, but adequate. Ohio State turncoat would be interesting and he can get the defense playing better. Hopefully he can make a more intelligent OC hire than Harbaugh did with Gattis.
9. Gary Patterson
10. Pat Fitzgerald
11. Jeff Hafley
12. Bryan Harsin
13. Billy Napier
14. Mark Stoops
15. Gus Malzahn
16. Tom Allen
17. Sean Lewis
18. Troy Calhoun
19. Craig Bohl
20. Clay Helton
November 15th, 2020 at 11:34 AM ^
Should include Lance Leipold from Buffalo to the list. Oversaw one of the most dominant program in D3, Wisconsin-Whitewater. Jumped up two level to Buffalo and turned the program around into a MAC contender.
November 15th, 2020 at 11:40 AM ^
Clay Helton. Lol. Good one !
November 15th, 2020 at 11:59 AM ^
Jim Leonhard!
November 15th, 2020 at 12:11 PM ^
i think Leonhard or Lea (ND DC) are interesting, high risk guys... very young, but high energy... like Harbaugh when Stanford hired him out of no where.
maybe Hafley out of BC (i don't think Fickell will come here, but who knows).
The best football coach out there might be Hugh Freeze frankly... whether Michigan would be able to get over themselves to hire him is another question...
November 15th, 2020 at 1:55 PM ^
Joe Brady didn't "invent" Joe Burrow, just FYI. Burrow broke OHSAA records in high school and credits Corey Dennis and Mike Yurcich for much of his development.
If I were the UM AD, and I'm not, I would go after Fickell first, then Matt Campbell. I almost forgot about him. You want a guy that's going to be around a while. The young pups are hungry and would jump at the opportunity.
I could be wrong, but I don't see lateral moves(I know I'm going to take heat for that) like PJ or Fitzgerald as a possibility. Interesting list, though.
November 15th, 2020 at 12:21 PM ^
I’m having trouble believing McCaffrey was beat out by Milton. Milton stares down receivers, throws the ball without touch or accuracy on the long balls. But hey, he’s built like Can Newton.
November 15th, 2020 at 12:52 PM ^
I agree, I think there is more to the story
November 15th, 2020 at 12:51 PM ^
If we swapped coaching staffs with Wisconsin at halftime, would Cryst and his staff made adjustments that better suit the players in this roster? I’m not saying Michigan would’ve won the game, but the score would’ve been closer. This staff at Michigan refuses to adapt to its players. Trying to repeatedly force a square peg into a round hole doesn’t work, no matter how many times you try.
November 15th, 2020 at 1:59 PM ^
We're turning the corner on this!
Tell, what other dumbass recently made this deceitful claim?
November 15th, 2020 at 3:18 PM ^
I was mystified by Milton taking awful sacks instead of throwing the ball away. Sees like he had all day to make the decision, multiple times, to throw it away and save the yards. It happened a couple times in the second half as we were trying to go fast and burn a minimum of clock time. This is yet another example of piss poor coaching.
November 15th, 2020 at 9:46 PM ^
Fire Harbaugh, Fire Warde and Fire President Schlissel. We need a full restart on all levels. This is a train wreck.
November 15th, 2020 at 9:48 PM ^
Give Jim the honor of finishing out the season.
Begin the search now. COVID might make travel limited in the near future, so get the Brinks trucks rolling to Cincy tomorrow. Go Pacman Jones on Fickell until he agrees. Presser week after season's end, so as to protect upcoming class.
November 16th, 2020 at 8:34 AM ^
If UM doesn’t go after Luke, some other blue blood school will. He’s not staying at UC. Best not to wait on this one for long.
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