Michigan spring game a Harbaugh fantasy event
As the Michigan football spring game veered into the fourth quarter, the referee turned on his microphone. He announced from that point forward, any judgment call, including penalties for pass interference and holding, would be reviewable.
In that moment, Jim Harbaugh's fantasy was complete.
For at least this Saturday afternoon, football was played exactly on the Wolverines coach's terms and in a manner reflective of his personality. It was intensely competitive, quirky and purposely enigmatic.
In the Blue team's 20-12 victory over the Maize squad, the returning starting quarterback of the reigning Big Ten champions, Cade Mcnamara, threw only seven passes. The player who averaged the most yards per rush, Kalel Mullings, spent all of last season as a linebacker. The top-performing receiver, Darrius Clemons, is a true freshman who just arrived on campus in January.
A layman's eye could recognize this was still Michigan football, but it was also sufficiently hazy to obscure what the actual team may look like this fall.
“You don't want to show too much, right?” running back Blake Corum said.
“I mean, we're not trying to show anything,” Mcnamara agreed. “We're just trying to get some dudes reps.”
The offenses on both sides lined up in heavy sets and spent the majority of the game pounding away at the opposing defensive fronts. In an exhibition where there were no stakes, 63 runs were called and 58 passes thrown.
When the Wolverines chose to let their hair down, they did so in vintage Harbaugh style: with a pass from a tight end to, you guessed it, another tight end.
Of course, the real entertainment was reserved for halftime, when Harbaugh was front and center during a throwing session starring social activist and former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Kaepernick was an honorary captain Saturday, even though he isn't from Michigan and didn't play for the Wolverines.
But none of that really mattered because Harbaugh was the self-appointed commissioner of the spring game, and this was his event. Kaepernick wants back in the NFL, so Harbaugh gave his former player from their days together in San Francisco a stage to show what he still can offer.