ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Fans filed down the stairs at Michigan Stadium, and the most popular question involved the next game.
"Holiday Bowl?"
That's a likely destination for Michigan after a 31-20 home loss to No. 9 Ohio State Saturday — their sixth straight loss to the Buckeyes and coach Urban Meyer. The Wolverines dropped to 8-4 and added another layer of criticism for third-year coach Jim Harbaugh to fight heading into that second-tier bowl matchup.
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We all know how that goes by now. Harbaugh wasn't brought to Ann Arbor to reach the Holiday Bowl. Michigan still can't win this game — The Game — and until that happens, nothing will change on the weekend after Thanksgiving for a restless fan base that hasn't won a national championship since 1997 or Big Ten title since 2004.
"Emotional game played by emotional guys," Harbaugh said. "Have the same regret. Wish the seniors could have gone out with a win."
This wasn't a blowout. The Wolverines bolted out to a 14-0 lead and a crowd of 112,028 blasted energy into the Big House in the first quarter. The defense made plays. Chris Evans ran hard. Backup quarterback John O'Korn didn't make the big mistake. Josh Metellus nearly came up with an interception that would have kept that momentum spiraling in Michigan's favor.
"That would have been big," Harbaugh said. "There were some mistakes made, and that was one of them. There were others."
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Ohio State, however, didn't make as many mistakes. The Buckeyes made the big plays when they mattered; this time around backup quarterback Dwayne Haskins. He replaced an injured J.T. Barrett in the third quarter and led Ohio State to 17 unanswered points. When Michigan had the ball with 2:47 remaining trailing 24-20, this installment ended abruptly. O'Korn threw an ill-advised interception to Ohio State's Jordan Fuller, and the fans filed out and started asking those questions. Harbaugh would take more at the postgame presser.
"I don't know about levels of disappointment, but I wish we would have won," Harbaugh said. "I wish we could have sent the seniors out with a victory."
That's been the epitaph on 15 of 17 seasons for Michigan since Jim Tressel arrived at Ohio State in 2001. Harbaugh hasn't changed that. The Wolverines are neither as far nor as close as the Harbaugh haters and supporters think. Which one is it?
Harbaugh is 1-7 against top-10 teams. Harbaugh hasn't finished higher than third in his own division. Harbaugh might have one eye on the NFL.
Tweet. Retweet. Or …
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Harbaugh energized the Michigan fan base, continues to bring in recruits and revenue for a rejuvenated program, and is in the process of a lifetime contract that will keep him in college football forever.
Well, everything but the last part.
"Fake news," Harbaugh said of those contract reports afterward.
There it is. Harbaugh remains the most polarizing coach in college football — a loose resemblance to a certain political figure in that regard — and that's not going to change throughout his tenure. Attention will always be on Michigan, for better or worse. Harbaugh brings more of it.
The problem is the script hasn't changed on the field. Rewind to Nov. 17, 2007, the final regular-season game for longtime coach Lloyd Carr. Michigan starting quarterback Chad Henne was injured. The Wolverines were coming off a double-digit loss at Wisconsin the previous week, and Ohio State rode a low-budget, run-heavy game plan to another victory in front of 100,000-plus frustrated fans at Michigan Stadium that dropped the Wolverines to 8-4 that season, too.
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The topic du jour that day was the Capital One Bowl. It's the same damn thing, even if better days are promised with Harbaugh.
When Michigan fans look for what changed in that 10-year stretch, it's a spin cycle back to that starting point. A lot changed, including a seven-year sabbatical from the national stage during the Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke years that amounted to a 46-42 record and countless embarrassing headlines.
It's better with Harbaugh now. We're not entertaining comparisons to Hoke, Rodriguez or even Lane Kiffin, who has quickly emerged as the Southern doppelganger to Harbaugh. Harbaugh's record against top 10 teams and place in the Big Ten East standings are easy target practice, but what he's done through the last three seasons shouldn't be compared to what Rodriguez or Hoke did at Michigan or what Kiffin has done anywhere as a head coach.
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh has had trouble taking down Ohio State. pic.twitter.com/EX29Aw0yOv
— Sporting News (@sportingnews) November 25, 2017
For those who insist, Harbaugh and Kiffin have almost identical FBS winning percentages, but Kiffin won 60 percent of his games at two Power 5 stops that ended in flames. Harbaugh left Stanford in better shape.
Michigan is in better shape now. It went from a laughing stock to having stock in the Big Ten race. Harbaugh brought in back-to-back top-10 recruiting classes and won eight games in 2017 with an offense that started three different quarterbacks. That's the biggest question the Wolverines need to answer on the field. Even with injuries to Wilton Speight and Brandon Peters, the quarterback play was nowhere near championship level.
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Harbaugh, however, ends his third year in a similar place Michigan ended its final season with Carr in 2007. The comparisons are eerie, too. The previous season ended with high-stakes heartbreak in Columbus. The Buckeyes remain the alpha dog in the Big Ten, and Meyer hasn't lost to Harbaugh yet. Remember, Carr was 5-1 against Ohio State before Tressel arrived, and 1-6 afterward. That head-to-head coaching matchup is everything in this rivalry. Ask John Cooper.
It comes down to 15 of the last 17. That's what Harbaugh needs to change in a fourth year that's bound to delete the three most-run tweets by Harbaugh haters. The schedule doesn't exactly line up. Michigan plays at Notre Dame, Michigan State and Ohio State in 2018 and faces Penn State and Wisconsin at home. That's more time in the spotlight, and more opportunities for the critics.
Harbaugh invited that criticism with his enthusiasm-unknown-to-mankind approach to social media. He tweaked other coaches and media personalities. He took the Wolverines to Rome and the itinerary says Paris for 2018. He's created a heel personality that is loathed more than loved outside of Ann Arbor, because it writes checks Michigan cashes at $9 million a year.
That can spawn high-level toxicity around a program with Michigan's standards. Ask Tennessee how that feels. Michigan is better off — and will continue to be better off — with Harbaugh, but at some point within the next year or two he needs to deliver against the rivals or this spins out of control. The Irish and Spartans are separate conversations. It always ends with the Buckeyes.
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It's the same old social media conversations, but that's not what we're looking at against Ohio State.
The same old ghosts have haunted the Wolverines since 2001. It's Austin Mack making a leaping catch down the sideline, just like Anthony Gonzalez in 2005. It's Barrett sprinting untouched into the end zone, just like Braxton Miller in 2013. It's Haskins pinch hitting for an injured quarterback, just like Cardale Jones in 2014. It's an endless horror show that ends with the same anticlimactic finish.
Ohio State wins and goes to the Rose Bowl. Fiesta Bowl. BCS championship. The discussion this day again revolves around the College Football Playoff.
Michigan goes to the Holiday Bowl. When will we see something different?
That's the biggest change needed in Harbaugh's fourth season. The most popular topic is always the next game, and it's time the Wolverines start winning some of them.
"They work, they don't complain, they don't whine, and I love coaching them," Harbaugh said. "That's going to continue, and we're going on the same-demanding, punishing path and keep improving. Keep getting stronger."
