Jim Harbaugh, Michigan Get Ripped After 'Stunningly Embarrassing' Loss to Ohio State
Saturday on ESPN, Tim Tebow pointed out that the only game that truly matters on a school’s schedule is the rivalry game. Win, and you’ve made your whole season no matter what happens. Lose, and you may as well have gone 0-12.
Michigan didn’t just lose to Ohio State — its biggest rival — they got utterly pantsed by a 62-39 final score. It’s a loss that’s more than just embarrassing, it also drops the Wolverines from holding down the No. 4 seed in the College Football Playoff to a new destiny of playing in some form of the Fly-By-Night Industries Bowl.
That’s not to say that Ohio State beating Michigan should come as a surprise to anyone. After all, that’s seven straight and 14 of 15 for the Buckeyes in this rivalry.
Before the game was over, there was some speculation that Ohio State was going to hang the most points on Michigan’s defense of any team in the Wolverines’ entire history of playing college football.
Most points allowed in Michigan football history:
65 — Illinois, 2010.
62 — Ohio State, 2018.*
58 — Cornell, 1891.
56 — Cornell, 1889.
55 — Northwestern, 1958*Game is still going on
— Zach Shaw (@_ZachShaw) November 24, 2018
Heck, if it weren’t for that Illinois game back in 2010, this would’ve been the most points Michigan’s allowed in 127 years.
Saturday’s performance by Michigan was so bad, ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum described it as “stunningly embarrassing.”
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh could only pledge to make sure this was a one-time event.
“We’ll come back motivated to make darn sure it doesn’t happen again,” Harbaugh said after the loss.
Michigan entered the game with a 10-1 record and a chance to clinch a spot in the Big Ten title game. A win there would have almost assuredly put the Wolverines into the College Football Playoff.
And then they let Ohio State put 62 points on the board.
As Jeff Seidel of the Detroit Free Press wrote, “This was like sailing through a class, acing the mid-term, getting extra credit and then bombing the final. The only part that mattered. This was a stunning, historic collapse.”
Harbaugh remains winless against the Buckeyes, almost hard to believe when you consider he coached a team quarterbacked by the likes of Colin Kaepernick all the way to the Super Bowl in the 2012 season. Anyone who can do that deserves respect.
Which, in a manner of speaking, Harbaugh got; Ohio State loves the guy.
Spotted in the Ohio Stadium stands: “Coach Harbaugh Forever!” pic.twitter.com/WFhfRfxIaA
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) November 24, 2018
Harbaugh isn’t the only Michigan coach who has struggled to beat Ohio State; he’s just the latest. As Michael Smith of Pro Football Talk pointed out, the last time the Wolverines won at the Horseshoe, Harbaugh was still playing in the NFL.
The last time Michigan won in Columbus, the Florida recount was ongoing and the Supreme Court had not yet decided Bush v. Gore. The top movie at the box office was Jim Carrey’s The Grinch. San Diego Chargers quarterback Jim Harbaugh had just had a 0-TD, 1-INT loss to the Dolphins
— Michael David Smith (@MichaelDavSmith) November 24, 2018
Tebow was right: There is nothing in this world like Rivalry Week in college football.
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