Measured, sane column on where Harbaugh is at

Am I doing this right?

Simplify the playbook.  Fix the OL.

and most view the team's prospects in that same light. I just don't get that. I mean it was a Lions loss. The kind that have held them back for decades.

Still, Lion fans show up every Sunday expecting better, rooting for a team that has never made a Super Bowl, can't beat the Packers, and is perpetually on the playoff cusp, needing some sort of mathematical formula of occurences to make it in the years when they seemingly have a shot. And yet in spite of this frustration, the undeterred fan base has remained incredibly loyal if now wounded by positive expectations in the face of recurring negative outcomes.

Bo always felt and said that if the Lions were ever to start winning regularly, they would become the dominant sports franchise in Michigan.

Michigan, by contrast, is the winningest program in college football history. But that record has been tainted by program results of recent vintage to the point that people now expect one loss will now put the Wolverines on the road to becoming the Lions. And I don't see that or get that point of view. Yeah losing to a rival sucks, period. Nothing makes up for it. There is no solace except winning your other games, and even then it only masks the pain. You can't resolve your feelings until you win again, and then you always judge the outcome by the performance in it, which is the weirdest aspect about college football and Michigan football in particular, because winning so often accustomed people to evaluate and review the performance like a Broadway show. 

Michigan lost on Saturday because their quarterback and offense was terrible when it mattered, which was on nearly every drive in the second half, except one. The play-calling was questionable and every time a penalty was called, it seemed to have a dramatic effect on MSU's ability to score or avoid a Michigan score. And the calls were iffy at best. This is what happens to young teams that haven't learned to win and don't have enough hard knocks and game mileage in their vehicles to shrug off disaster and reach their intended destination.

The defense has this capability but the offense doesn't. But know this, we are getting there under Harbaugh. He's turned the program around, and we nearly finished last year, and a couple plays here or there, and the season ends in grand expectation of the future. Now, a gloomy night game shades the future in a way that it shouldn't. Not because it wasn't disappointly bitter to lose to MSU and watch Dantonio escape a pounding justice, but because we let this outcome color our perspective of what is real and what is not. And what is not real is the idea that this team would succeed in 1997 fashion with a stout defense and an unremarkable offense that made plays when needed. The diffference is in the ages of the players and the experience of that team, which was on hand Saturday lending their support.

The fact is, this team has to find an identity before it can win, and do the kind of winning that makes us feel whole again as a dominant program, which we were hoping Harbaugh would instantly offer by name recognition. Well, we are learning the hard lesson that Harbaugh is successful because he works hard at it, and it doesn't come without growing pains. It's a process not a function of prediction. That only happens when your desired performance matches outcome, especially here.

Is great.  But we have enough talent to win now.  Yes, we need better QB play but we have enough even at that position to play better.  I don't buy the youth or rebuilding excuse.  Harbaugh's a winner and we should expect that TODAY.  Pep, Drev, Jay H.  They don't know how to win.  I think it's that simple.  Or maybe not.

GO BLUE!!