ANN ARBOR, Mich. — It’s hard not to go there.
After No. 4 Michigan’s 14-7 victory against No. 8 Wisconsin at Michigan Stadium on Saturday, it's obvious what most fans want to see at the end of the season.
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We want to put Michigan and No. 2 Ohio State together in Ohio Stadium on Nov. 26 with matching 11-0 records, just like in 2006. The Wolverines beat a top-10 team for the first time since 2008 with the win against the Badgers.
We still can’t go there yet. We always have to explore the mind of Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh first.
Harbaugh went to a predictably unpredictable place in the aftermath of his team's hard-fought win over the Badgers. He wanted to eat ice cream — chocolate ice cream — with his team. Bust out your best Cole Trickle voice from “Days of Thunder” when he got mad at Harry Hogge — “Ice cream?” Point being, Harbaugh was going to celebrate this victory first, then get ready for Rutgers afterward. Big wins are worth celebrating.
Did it matter that the Wolverines got that big win with the help of a fourth-quarter touchdown pass from Wilton Speight to Amara Darboh?
“They’re all fourth-quarter games where as far as I know,” Harbaugh said. “It was a real football game like we thought they’ve all been. We prevailed, and we’re very proud of that.”
Michigan is 5-0 and just solidified its top-five ranking, but there are a few things we don’t know about Harbaugh's team. The Wolverines could’ve pulled away from Wisconsin in the first half, but then Kenny Allen missed two field goals. Ryan Tice missed another field goal in the third quarter. Harbaugh lamented leaving “nine points on the board” and promised an “open kicking competition.”
That’s the pitfall of the Harbaugh hype machine. No win is big enough, even if it’s against a tough defense that came into the game with two top-10 wins under its belt. Next week’s game against Rutgers will be measured against the 58-0 beatdown Ohio State put on the Scarlet Knights on Saturday.
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Here’s what we know about Michigan so far. Wilton Speight in the right quarterback, but he made a few risky decisions against Wisconsin that didn’t go the other way. The running game is hit-or-miss, and the kicker is a giant concern.
Everything else is there, especially on defense. Harbaugh gave the game ball to defensive coordinator Don Brown. Michigan limited Wisconsin to 159 total yards. Jabrill Peppers remains one of the best all-around football players in the country. Channing Stribling had two interceptions, and Jourdan Lewis came up with the highlight of the day with a one-handed interception — one Harbaugh described/name-dropped as, “I’ve seen Odell Beckham Jr. do that.”
It’s not always pretty, but that’s part of the Harbaugh hype machine. He does weird things. He lined up 10 players in a straight line near the goal line. He pretty much does whatever the hell he wants. On Saturday, he did it against another school, and Speight’s touchdown pass to Darboh was the one play that made the difference.
“I appreciate the style of football today,” Harbaugh said. “No question about it. It’s a good style of football. It’s been a winning style of football for us through five games.”
That’s why we want to put Michigan there six games from now. We want the contrast of styles with Ohio State. We want the rematch with Urban Meyer after the 42-13 shellacking the Buckeyes gave the Wolverines last year. We want the biggest stage possible for Harbaugh’s first visit to The Shoe since he guaranteed — and delivered — victory in 1986.
It’s 30 years later. It’s damn-near perfect.
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We still have to put Michigan on the road first, second and third. After the trip to Rutgers next week, the Wolverines hit their bye week. They still have road trips to Michigan State and Iowa down the line, places they haven’t won since Lloyd Carr retired in 2007. That’s where we’ll find out if Michigan really is good enough to challenge Ohio State for the Big Ten East title. From there, we’ll figure out if the program’s first Big Ten title since 2004 and a possible berth in the College Football Playoff are in the cards.
We can almost go there, and we’re comfortable in saying a few things: Michigan will be favored in every game leading up until Ohio State, meaning the chances of getting to the Buckeyes unbeaten is more likely than unlikely. We can also say that an undefeated season this year would dwarf the one from 2006. A win then would require an ice cream truck. It’s a lot to think about.
It’s certainly there, but Rutgers comes first.
“This is October and we haven’t been on the road yet,” Speight said. “We’re excited to get out of Ann Arbor and take on an opponent in their house.”
