ANN ARBOR, Mich. – There was a lot more riding on this latest Michigan football game against Ohio State than a Big Ten title and some playoff hopes.
Most of the college football world was watching with bated breath, hoping against hope that the Wolverines would slip up and give them a chance to say everything they did the last three years was because of sign stealing.
It’s a notion that’s been shot down by too many former players to count. I think Joel Klatt said it best: “The less you know about football, the more you think sign stealing impacts a game.”
But common sense has no place in most Michigan football discourse. If there’s a chance to diminish what Jim Harbaugh has achieved in Ann Arbor, the masses will jump on it. Predictably, that’s what’s happened over the past two months as details about the operation leaked to the media.
Unfortunately, the angry mob will have to wait at least another week for a chance to pile on.
Michigan didn’t have its sign-stealer on Saturday against Ohio State. Heck, it didn’t even have its head coach. All-American Zak Zinter suffered a gruesome leg injury. The starting quarterback isn’t healthy enough to call a single designed run play.
No problem. Didn’t matter. Michigan went out and took care of business anyway.
I remember the first few years of the Harbaugh era, when he was trying to clean up the smoldering dumpster fire left behind by Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke. Harbaugh won 10 games in three of the first four years and came inches away from a playoff berth in 2016.
The overwhelming narrative should have been, “Look at the job Harbaugh has done turning around this long-dormant program.” Instead, it was “Harbaugh can’t beat his rivals. Harbaugh can’t win the big game.”
OK, fair enough. Both criticisms were true, of course. Ignore the context that both Michigan State and Ohio State were enjoying simultaneous program golden eras -- but sure, Michigan had its flaws.
Then, Michigan started winning those games -- first against Michigan State, then against Ohio State shortly thereafter. The Big Ten championship drought ended. Surely the program was vindicated in the eyes of the public, right?
Nope, the goalposts moved to “Who cares? Michigan can’t win the playoffs.”
Again, that’s true. Michigan is 0-2 in playoff games. Other than the fact that much of that criticism comes from fan bases whose teams have never been to the playoff, it’s a reasonable critique.
But the sign-stealing thing -- whew. If Michigan would have lost to Ohio State on Saturday, the asinine conclusions would have reached a whole new level. That Rod Moore interception was devastating for the social media trolls.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens next. My guess is most will still point to Connor Stalions and his grainy cellphone footage. It’s a flimsy, last-ditch attempt to deny the reality:
Michigan is one of the sport’s elites.
A year after notching the program’s first 12-0 regular season, Michigan went out and did it again. It’s eyeing a third-straight conference championship and playoff appearance -- achievements that teams not named Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, Clemson, or Oklahoma can only dream about.
Since the start of 2021, Michigan is 35-1 in regular-season games despite playing in the second-toughest division in the sport. That’s a Saban-esque streak of sustained excellence.
Michigan has won its most recent game against every single Big Ten team -- and its most recent game at every Big Ten stadium. That includes two wins over 11-0 Buckeye teams, two wins over eventual 10-2 Penn State teams, and countless tricky road trips navigated with the poise of a group that’s been doing it for decades.
Next year, the entire landscape of college football is about to be turned on its head. Playoff bids will become much less exclusive. Conferences are expanding, divisions disappearing. Transfers and NIL deals are more prevalent than ever.
The sport will never look the same, and with that comes a healthy dose of uncertainty.
But one thing’s for sure. As this era of college football comes to a close, Michigan will be remembered as one of the programs near the very top -- regardless of sign stealing.
Saturday made sure of that.
