Harbaugh learned ‘several things’ from botched-punt loss

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Jim Harbaugh prides himself on preparing his teams for every possible scenario.

Michigan’s coach acknowledged Monday he learned “several things” in the aftermath of last year’s infamous loss to Michigan State in which a botched punt with 10 seconds left led to one of the most dramatic finishes in college football history.

“Have the punter at the right depth,” Harbaugh said when pressed on what he learned from the play. “Not be in a spread punt in that situation.”

Harbaugh called a timeout and chose to punt on a fourthand-2 from the Spartans’ 47, leading by two points, after De’Veon Smith ran the ball three straight times trying to pick up a first down and run time off the clock. Harbaugh sent punter Blake O’Neill onto the field, and the Australian lined up about 16 yards deep to field the snap. Harbaugh had two gunners — players lining up as if they were wide receivers — in the formation as if it was just another punt. It wasn’t. Michigan State rushed 10 players, leaving one gunner uncovered and no one deep to return a potential punt. O’Neill bobbled a low snap and instead of falling on the ball as Harbaugh would say after the game he wished the punter had done — though O’Neill was never coached to do that — he whirled and tried to get the kick off only to be swarmed by Spartans. The football was jarred out of O’Neill’s hands and directly into the arms of Jalen Watts-Jackson, who returned it for a 38-yard, game-winning, game-ending touchdown that left him with a broken hip after Wolverines tight end Jake Butt tackled him.

Michigan State’s 27-23 victory was its third straight in the series and seventh win in eight games since Michigan’s last win at Spartan Stadium in 2007.

When the bitter rivals meet again Saturday, many believe it would take something short of a miracle for the Spartans to extend their streak.

No. 2 Michigan (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten) has lost only one game since losing to Michigan State on Oct. 17, 2015, at the Big House. The Spartans (2-5, 0-4) have lost five straight and are underdogs by more than three touchdowns at home.

The swag is back for Louisville Cardinals

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville has regained its swagger, and the fifth-ranked Cardinals want to keep it.

The Cardinals (6-1, 4-1 ACC) visit Virginia (2-5, 1-2) on Saturday looking to build on their 54-13 rout of North Carolina State that moved Louisville up two spots in the Top 25. Coach Bobby Petrino was pleased with how thorough his team was on offense, defense and special teams — all of which were motivated by talk about how physical the Wolfpack were.

“It was maybe our best performance of the year,” the coach said Monday.

While Louisville’s poll position improved, Petrino shrugged off the idea that lopsided victories might be necessary to grab the playoff committee’s attention with the first rankings due out next week. As long as the Cardinals keep winning, the coach believes the rest will fall into place.

Cardinals quarterback Lamar Jackson, meanwhile, seems to be putting more things into his impressive repertoire.

The Heisman Trophy frontrunner has 34 touchdowns after rushing for a 36-yard score and passing for three others with precision that impressed Petrino and his teammates.

Buckeyes show no signs of panic

COLUMBUS, Ohio — If there is panic and unrest in the Ohio State camp after Saturday’s upset loss to Penn State, nobody was displaying it Monday.

Coach Urban Meyer said he doesn’t foresee any major personnel changes or adjustments in play calling. Quarterback J.T. Barrett said he’s not particularly worried about the passing game, which struggled in the 24-21 loss at Happy Valley. The message: Whatever problems there were can be fixed, and all of Ohio State’s goals are still attainable.

“The sun came up,” guard Billy Price said. “We’ve been here before. (Losing) isn’t an occurrence that happens often, but we grow from this, we get tighter together and we focus in on us, and we don’t worry about anything else. Because everybody is a couch coach. Everybody thinks they have the whistle, but we need to focus in on who we are.”

Maybe there’s no panic, but there is plenty to be concerned about after Ohio State (6-1, 3-1 Big Ten) dropped from No. 2 to No. 6 in the AP Top 25 poll as the result of the loss, which was only the fifth of the Urban Meyer era.

Receivers struggled to separate from defenders, and Barrett ran for his life much of the time from pass rushers his offensive line struggled to block. Barrett was sacked six times, including twice on the final drive to end the game. The run game bogged down, averaging fewer than 5 yards per carry. A blocked Ohio State field-goal attempt led to a Penn State touchdown. Ohio State had a punt blocked, too.

Huskies have dynamic duo in Pettis, Ross

SEATTLE — Jake Browning’s performance through the first seven games rightfully has the Washington quarterback in the Heisman Trophy conversation.

Somewhat lost in what Browning is doing for the fourth-ranked Huskies are the players on the receiving end of those passes — most often the combo of John Ross and Dante Pettis — and the huge chunks of yards they’re gaining after the catch.

Ross and Pettis will be called upon to have big games again when the Huskies (7-0, 4-0 Pac-12) travel to No. 17 Utah on Saturday for one of the most anticipated Pac-12 games of the season.

Last Saturday against Oregon State, Pettis and Ross became the first pair of Washington receivers with more than 100 yards each in the same game since 2002. Ross finished with 115 yards and Pettis had 112, becoming the first duo to accomplish the feat since Reggie Williams and Patrick Reddick in a game against California.

For the season, Ross and Pettis have combined for 61 receptions and 17 touchdown grabs. Ross leads the Pac-12 with nine touchdown catches, while Pettis is tied for second with eight.

“It always helps to have a couple of guys out there who can make plays,” Washington coach Chris Petersen said. “And we really feel like that. You know John and Dante are getting a lot of balls, but some of those other guys can do some things as well, and we’re not afraid to throw those guys out there.”

Clemson running back says hit was ‘dirty’

CLEMSON, S.C. — Clemson running back Wayne Gallman said Monday that the hit by North Carolina State defensive back Dravious Wright that knocked him out of the game on Oct. 15 was “dirty” and he wanted a teammate to retaliate.

Gallman said after he watched a replay of the hit that he had hoped his teammates would have hurt Wright. Gallman went through concussion protocol during the team’s bye week and expects to play Saturday when the third-ranked Tigers take on No. 12 Florida State.

“I wanted somebody to hurt him that was in the game if they could,” Gallman said. “I wasn’t able to be in it.”

Gallman did not remember anything after Wright’s first-quarter hit until he was in the trainer’s room several minutes later. When he saw a replay, Gallman was certain the Wolfpack defensive back’s hit — which looked like a helmet-to-helmet blow although no penalty was assessed — was intentional.

“You saw him lead with his head,” Gallman said of Wright. “He came with his head.”

Running backs coach Tony Elliott said Monday the hit on Gallman was difficult to judge at full speed and only after viewing it slowed down “you see there may be opportunity for a penalty.