Michigan Football Home Games Under Harbaugh
As we prepare for this Saturday's game against Iowa, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at how Michigan Football has done in home games under Harbaugh.
They are 28-4 overall at home since 2015. This is a decent record, but it can be broken down further. In home games not against MSU and OSU, they are actually 28-0. Unfortunately, this means Michigan has not been able to beat MSU or OSU at the Big House with Harbaugh (hopefully that changes this season).
You could be thinking that it doesn't mean anything because those 28 wins were against mediocre or bad teams. This would be compounded by the fact that Michigan has lost all 4 of their home games against their rivals. Upon review, it's obvious Michigan has been able to handle decent/good teams at home under Harbaugh (like this year's Iowa game).
2015
vs #22 BYU: W 31-0
vs #13 Northwestern: W 38-0
2016
vs Colorado: W 45-28
vs Penn State: W 49-10
vs Wisconsin: W 14-7
2017
No home games vs. ranked teams or even decent teams (not named MSU or OSU)
2018
vs Wisconsin: W 38-13
vs Penn State: W 42-7
Overall In These Games
7-0, outscored opponent 257-65
While this doesn't definitively mean Michigan will beat Iowa this weekend, it does show that this is the type of game that Michigan has won, and won handily, under Harbaugh. Losing this one at home would be a bad sign. None of these previous games have been close. It's time to make that record 29-4 at home under Harbaugh and beat Iowa like we did Wisconsin or Penn State last year.
October 3rd, 2019 at 7:20 AM ^
Well, there have been 2 OSU games at home not mentioned and 2 MSU games as well. I know OSU was ranked both times and MSU was ranked in at least one of those games ('17). It looks like a pretty flawed argument...
October 3rd, 2019 at 7:24 AM ^
I mentioned both MSU and OSU in my post. Also, I never said this should be an argument that indicated Michigan will win Saturday. It's just to illustrate that this is a game Michigan has won under Harbaugh.
October 3rd, 2019 at 7:53 AM ^
Yeah you might've mentioned those four games (sort of) but did you MENTION MENTION them?
I think not.
Reading is hard. You should've bolded the OSU-MSU stuff, used a different font, color what-have-you. Can't expect readers to invest the 26 seconds it takes to actually read what you wrote now can you?
October 3rd, 2019 at 10:28 AM ^
So you're just reaching to make yourself feel better? Got it.
When you're posting about the middle of the pack games, are you really even trying? I think not.
October 3rd, 2019 at 10:32 AM ^
You didn’t actually read the post did ya? Just glossed over the title & wanted to make sure ample bpone was applied.
October 3rd, 2019 at 10:37 AM ^
Perhaps your cognitive skills are lacking, but the point is you shouldn't take select games to prove a point; and if you are going to do that, make sure you're using the best teams...
October 3rd, 2019 at 10:58 AM ^
Gtfo.. you either didn’t read the op or don’t have the cognitive skills to comprehend what he very plainly laid out & had a ridiculous retort.
Take your L & do better next time.
October 3rd, 2019 at 11:03 AM ^
No L since 2011...and that's where it matters, not on some homer fan boi blog
October 3rd, 2019 at 11:23 AM ^
Ah. An Ohio State fan. This explains your idiocy.
October 3rd, 2019 at 10:02 PM ^
Go Fuck yourself, Butler. Your negativity blows goats. You're FIRED!
October 3rd, 2019 at 10:08 PM ^
If I DIDN'T make it clear the first time, go Fuck yourself, The Butler! Suck a donkey dong you loser!
October 3rd, 2019 at 10:33 AM ^
Don't forget to wear your lucky t-shirt, socks, and underpants on Saturday...
October 3rd, 2019 at 10:40 AM ^
Since most actually read his post we will save those for the osu-msu games where it’s clearly needed. Like he plainly explained in the op...
October 3rd, 2019 at 11:04 AM ^
You're not even close in those games...better start with lesser teams
October 3rd, 2019 at 7:34 AM ^
Try reading the post, dipshit
October 3rd, 2019 at 7:40 AM ^
You didn't kill your wife!
October 3rd, 2019 at 8:29 AM ^
That movie was on last night. It's so good. An all-time classic thriller.
October 3rd, 2019 at 8:08 AM ^
WTF
It will be a mystery for the ages how you both managed to attack what he said and not read what he said. God is gonna ask you about this one on the way out.
October 3rd, 2019 at 8:30 AM ^
You post twice in 3 years and this is one of them?
October 3rd, 2019 at 8:43 AM ^
reeding is goode.
October 3rd, 2019 at 7:21 AM ^
Thanks, UMFanatic96. (I nearly typo-ed you into lascivious territory.) Commentators often talk about Harbaugh's stellar home record but it's interesting to see it broken down specifically.
October 3rd, 2019 at 7:59 AM ^
I agree, UMFantastic69 really breaks it down.
October 3rd, 2019 at 11:39 AM ^
Looking at Vegas lines to supplement the 28-4 figure, we are 27-2 under Jim as home favorites.
You can guess the 2.
October 3rd, 2019 at 7:53 AM ^
A positive from all the games you have listed, pretty much all of them I didn't expect to be as lopsided as they were going in. And the 2016 Wisconsin game SHOULD have been more lopsided with all the missed chip shot field goals.
After the last three weeks, a much better than expected performance would heal a few wounds. Not all but a few. Plus, Iowa is a dick and needs a good smack down.
October 3rd, 2019 at 7:55 AM ^
Expect a game like last year's Penn St game. It'll be a two score game for about 2 1/2 quarters, and then we will pull away during the final stretch of the game.
38-13.
October 3rd, 2019 at 8:50 AM ^
Some people think Penn St. are the beavers. But they are not the beaver . There is only one BEAVER.
#EXPECT VICTORY
October 3rd, 2019 at 9:30 AM ^
Pedo State are the Nittany Pedophiles. The US colleges with Beaver as a mascot are as follows, I think .... I ganked this info from a google search and didn't double check.
Caltech
MIT
UMaine - Farmington
PolyU of Puerto Rico
Oregon State
American River College - Sacramento
Bemidji State
Champlain College
Bluffton U
October 3rd, 2019 at 7:58 AM ^
It seems to me that Harbaugh really feeds off the environment of the Big House and all that comes with it. He himself looks more dialed in at home than on the road.
October 3rd, 2019 at 8:58 AM ^
Really? Could have fooled me.
But regardless, he needs to be dialed in all the time, probably even more so on the road.
October 3rd, 2019 at 9:00 AM ^
Not sure if serious. Yes obviously he needs to coach better on the road.
October 3rd, 2019 at 9:09 AM ^
Yea, all I have to go off is this season as that is the current sample. And in every game, he's been the same dude that stares blankly into space. I'm not sure if we are watching two different people?
October 3rd, 2019 at 9:32 AM ^
I don't think Harbaugh has maintained the same level of focus the entire time he has been here, clearly he has seemed detached at times, particularly this season. But I do not think he looks checked out during games. Perplexed, because shit is not working, but I don't see blank stare Harbaugh when he is actually on the sidelines.
Anyway, my initial point was that it looks to me like Harbaugh feeds off the crowd and the environment of coaching at home. While admittedly not a groundbreaking observation, it seems a stretch to consider it somehow controversial.
October 3rd, 2019 at 9:03 AM ^
He was dialed in for all of 2015 on the road (see his Penn St meltdown) and all the way up to the 2016 OSU game. Everything changed since that game.
October 3rd, 2019 at 9:22 AM ^
Well the rumor is that the players feed off the home environment. The fans, the banner, etc gets the them fired up to play regardless of Harbaugh's less than motivating pre-game speech.
October 3rd, 2019 at 10:04 AM ^
Economic research suggests that the reason for home field advantage is referee bias. The do not think the refs are intentionally biased, but influenced by crowd pressure.
One of many links that a google search turned up: http://freakonomics.com/2011/12/18/football-freakonomics-how-advantageous-is-home-field-advantage-and-why/
October 3rd, 2019 at 10:21 AM ^
Good post. This explains how awful Big Ten basketball refereeing is.
Unfortunately, MSU 2015 was at home and Michigan didn't get the calls in that game. Plus the missed fumble recovery call in the Army game this year plus a few other examples people can probably remember are the exceptions to the trend.
October 3rd, 2019 at 11:59 AM ^
MSU lost to us twice in their home games since Harbaugh has been here. That’s just the way the rivalry has been.
October 3rd, 2019 at 11:09 AM ^
Referee bias doesn't explain getting smoked by Wisconsin. Nor does it explain why we consistently come out flat in road games.
October 3rd, 2019 at 8:05 AM ^
I believe there is a good chance to win on Saturday if they score fast and eliminate the turnover problem. This Iowa team is good, but very beatable.
October 3rd, 2019 at 8:40 AM ^
Yeah I got Michigan here, 31-24.
October 3rd, 2019 at 8:11 AM ^
Appreciate the digging! Unfortunately, the other team wants to win too, and it looks like Iowa is tough in some places where we are weak. Still, I am quite hopeful. The kind of truly dynamic play-calling that we've longed for and some RPOs with the R in them, we might just win.
October 3rd, 2019 at 8:13 AM ^
I'd be more curious in his record in home games against ranked opponents minus OSU, since Iowa fits that criteria but is clearly way less talented than OSU. So, MSU, Wiscy, NW, BYU, & ND when ranked.
October 3rd, 2019 at 8:21 AM ^
Isn't that basically what the OP did?
Of the teams you mention, Michigan hasn't played ND at home under Harbaugh (yet) and MSU was not ranked in 2017 so that adds just the 2015 MSU game to the ledger making Michigan 7-1 in those games at home.
EDIT: I see you excluded PSU so removing those two games changes it to 5-1.
October 3rd, 2019 at 11:00 AM ^
I actually would have included PSU I just forgot. I was really just trying to illuminate that I don't think beating the teams he listed means all that much. Basically all he's saying is that we generally beat B1G foes at home minus MSU & OSU. I'm not sure how much that's really saying, particularly since we often lose to MSU & OSU at home and we haven't played Iowa at home when they're ranked in quite some time.
October 3rd, 2019 at 8:16 AM ^
Nice post, OP. I feel confident Michigan can win this game because it's at home. Despite a poor road record for what feels like forever (which well predates Harbaugh), Michigan is very good at home under him (OSU and MSU aside, though we all know 2015 MSU should be a W). People are understandably jumpy from two weeks ago and see that Iowa is Wisconsin "light" which just adds to that, however this is a game that Michigan should be able to win based on their recent history.
October 3rd, 2019 at 8:21 AM ^
That Colorado game was a lot less comfortable than the final score indicated.
October 3rd, 2019 at 8:56 AM ^
Many clenched wolverine assholes that day. Colorado came out and repeatedly punched our dicks and they had a 21-7 lead in the first quarter. We sorted that out before the half and they didn't lead again.
It was a good game. Showed that we could come from behind and win handedly.
October 3rd, 2019 at 9:22 AM ^
Colorado actually jumped back ahead briefly, 28-24, with a long bomb touchdown to open the second half. They would not score the rest of the way as their senior QB was injured on the next drive and the backup, just a freshman, was repeatedly wrecked by Michigan's D.
The turning point in that game, IMO, was Colorado missing a midrange FG that would've made it 24-7 early in the second quarter. I remember the collective sigh that fell over the stadium when the kick sailed wide.
October 3rd, 2019 at 9:44 AM ^
You're right, I forgot about the TD in the 3rd.
October 3rd, 2019 at 10:28 AM ^
You have a unique style of phallic sports writing. I would never want you to cover any game I participate in. Nevertheless, good luck and GO BLUE! We win!