Harbaugh has Wolverines playing for ‘all the marbles’
“The Game” is back on again, and the Michigan Wolverines — to the surprise of just about everyone but themselves, perhaps — will host Ohio State at the Big House on Saturday with a berth in the Big Ten Championship Game on the line and a gnawing hunger that’s impossible to ignore.
“I think we’re ready,” Michigan quarterback Cade Mcnamara saidl. “I mean, it’s hard not to think about that team when you’re so close.”
And ready or not, here we go again, with Michigan raising expectations to where history says they should be heading into the traditional Thanksgiving weekend showdown with Ohio State.
“We want to win all the marbles,” coach Jim Harbaugh said. “So we’re in the position we want to be in. We’ve been preparing for this, really, the entire year. And now we bring that preparation to life this week to play for it all.”
The way Harbaugh sees it, this opportunity was a long time coming. Not based on his own history with the rivalry, first as a player and now as a coach who’s 0-5 against the Buckeyes since returning to Ann Arbor in 2015.
No, this is something the Wolverines’ rejuvenated leader has been talking about since last winter, when he promised a comeback was in store for his Michigan program and then went about proving it in just about every way he could. There was a new contract, full of incentives that some took as insults. There was a revamped staff, which brought an infusion of fresh ideas and young energy. And back in July, when Harbaugh talked about the challenge of beating the Buckeyes and winning the Big Ten, he used excited analogies that careened from military propaganda to mountaineering.
“We’re going to try to get to the top,” he said back then. “We’re going to either get there, or die trying.”
That their title hopes didn’t die with that fourth-quarter collapse at Michigan State a few weeks ago says something about the Wolverines’ resolve. So does the way they finished off their win against Maryland last week, ending any suspense with an explosion of big plays late in the third quarter.
You could make the case that this is the perfect scenario for the Wolverines. Heading home to face Ohio State as a decided underdog that has lost 15 of the past 16 games in this rivalry. With an elusive trip to Indianapolis and possibly a College Football Playoff spot on the line.
“Yeah, it feels good,” said Mcnamara. “This team’s right where we want to be. We were hoping, and now we’ve got the opportunity.”