The Moment I Knew this Michigan Football Team was Different
There were several events this year that in the moment, made me feel like this team was different - that we were witnessing a change in culture, and damnit, it was going to be a lot of fun.
The first six minutes of both the 1st and 2 half of OSU game were legendary. Coming back against PSU, sure. The explosion of offensive possibilities and play calling vs. MD made me a believer in our offensive progression and varied possibilities, beating Nebraska in that funky game felt like something we wouldn't have done in previous years.
But for me, one moment stands above all others when I look back at 2021. When I saw this, I knew something great might be possible. In hindsight, this is when I let myself believe again.
@ Wisconsin. End of the 3rd quarter. Michigan 20 - Wisconsin 10. Feeling good but the game was far from over. JUMP AROUND!
We took that moment, made it ours, and fed off that energy. We wanted to be there and we were going to have more fun and energy than they were. When I saw this video, I knew this team had potential for something special. A culture had been changed and it was going to be a fun ride!
Look at the two teams - it's pretty easy to predict who would win this game. Damn, I love this team!
Throwing it up for discussion. What were the moments that made you believe again?
December 24th, 2021 at 9:10 AM ^
I knew this team would different when we finished 2-4 last year and many loudmouth posters were clamoring for Cheez-It Bowl bound Matt Campbell to be the coach. That shit will NEVER happen again.
December 24th, 2021 at 9:41 AM ^
Where are all the Campbell supporters now?
December 24th, 2021 at 9:48 AM ^
Also wonder where all the “this program sucks” and “we can’t win with 3 & 4 * recruit” posters are.
Actually I don’t, fuck ‘em!
December 24th, 2021 at 10:49 AM ^
They're still here, they have just moved onto other things to sound "smart" about...
Still waiting for them all to eat their crow, but it won't happen. Gotta keep those ego's healthy, after all.
December 24th, 2021 at 11:27 AM ^
For someone allegedly concerned about others being accountable for errors, you have so far chosen not to address yours.
December 24th, 2021 at 11:16 AM ^
Perhaps better as an out of season topic but: I don't get why celebratory threads always have to include this refrain. It has been an awesome and wonderful season, but it doesn't erase the decade + dominance of the four/five programs that gobble up 60-70% of the five stars over that same time frame. I'm not afraid to admit that I hope one of the effects of this season (and ideally a couple more stacked on top of it, right away) is to help Harbaugh and staff pull in monster classes like Fisher has started doing at A&M and like Saban and OSU have been doing for years on end. Combine that with the skills Harbaugh's program has already shown in identification of hidden gems... more season's like this one happen.
December 24th, 2021 at 9:32 PM ^
Honestly I think Harbaugh has finally found the coaches and recruits he can win with. I don’t think you’ll see a bunch of five stars on this team going forward, you’ll see kids who eat, sleep and breathe football like Jim does. We might get a higher end of four stars but I just think Jim is tired of coddling “superstars”. Look at the ones he compliments all the time, it’s the ones who bust their can all game long and in the weight room…it’s the ones he identifies with. Any five stars coming into this program will be ones who like school and enjoy the total college experience. Just my thoughts on the matter.
December 25th, 2021 at 5:49 AM ^
I believe in my team every year. I know that sounds cliche, but I look for positives to lift my hopes. Last week I said to my family, "told you we would beat Saggy State"
They replied "You say that every year"
My reply was "Yes, but I enjoy this win guilt free unlike the you!" They just shook their heads.
December 24th, 2021 at 12:54 PM ^
I wouldn’t have said the team sucks, but I’ll say I was strongly in the “we need higher level recruits to compete” crowd. Based on all available evidence to that point, that was definitely a conclusion one could draw as to our having good but never great seasons.
Alas, happy to admit that was erroneous thinking.
December 24th, 2021 at 9:50 AM ^
At the doctors office finding out how their dicks turned orange.
December 24th, 2021 at 10:15 AM ^
Or faces turned eggplant.
December 24th, 2021 at 9:53 AM ^
Taking a well-earned holiday break from running this site.
December 24th, 2021 at 9:57 AM ^
Still here, but speaking for myself I changed my mind. Whatever happened with that program reset has worked at least for this one year and this one team and I’m hopeful it keeps up.
December 24th, 2021 at 10:00 AM ^
lol come on, the dude is still a great coach. The fact that historically moribund Iowa State is disappointed with a 7-5 season is proof of that.
December 24th, 2021 at 10:16 AM ^
Now replace "Iowa State" with "Rutgers", and "Matt Campbell" with "Greg Schiano". The year is 2007.
December 24th, 2021 at 11:45 AM ^
WHERE'S WALLACE?!
December 24th, 2021 at 10:17 AM ^
What about the "Indiana has surpassed Harbaugh" crowd?
December 24th, 2021 at 10:29 AM ^
I’m more of a realist. I didn’t want harbaugh gone but that said, let’s see consistent production across consecutive years before we crown UM the new OSU of the B1G. Enjoy the moment and love it but we get 7 wins next year and get trounced by OSU and lose to MSU again and this thread will look really stupid.
December 24th, 2021 at 10:47 AM ^
found the grinch's account
December 24th, 2021 at 10:50 AM ^
????
I'm pretty sure VERY few of us hope Michigan becomes "the new OSU of the B1G".
?
December 24th, 2021 at 11:15 AM ^
1 year does not a trend make.
Last year was a Covid anomaly.
This year has been a "dream season"
I'd love for years like this or close to this to become more the norm. And they very well can with JMFH back in form.
Harbaugh is and always was a great head coach - he did it everywhere before, including the NFL.
We were on this trajectory when Harbaugh took over in 2015. The absurd MSU punt 6 game in 15 and the robbery in Columbus in 16 hurt our momentum, and Don Brown's ridiculous, stubborn game plans got us boat raced in 18 and 19. Of course, Jim can be blamed for some of Brown's poor approach as the buck ultimately stops with the head coach.
That said, anybody that spews the nonsense that Urban Meyer is a better football coach than Jim Harbaugh doesn't understand the game. Recruiter, probably. Finding loopholes in a broken NCAA system, definitely. More accomplished college coach? - absolutely.
But that success being tied to shady and unethical processes in recruiting (not even talking about $$$, but his sleazy false promises and fraudulent persona) and shitty management of coaches and inability to develop players as human beings beyond football....undeniable. Urban is a trash human being, win at all costs coach whose style only worked in the broken NCAA where players had no say. With NIL and the shifting power structure from coaches to player in CFB, Meyer will never be what he once was.
"Everywhere he goes controversy follows him"
December 24th, 2021 at 4:15 PM ^
Look at you thinking again, that's adorable.
December 24th, 2021 at 11:02 AM ^
No loss in the future is going to takeaway the OSU submission of defeat in the fourth quarter. You haven't seen that in a long time. Don't minimize this win by talking about hypothetical losses. That humiliation they felt will not go away.
December 24th, 2021 at 11:05 AM ^
Are you fuckin serious?
my, how the goalposts always move and true excellence can never be reached. I bet you’d find a way to say Nick Saban could do better.
December 24th, 2021 at 11:15 AM ^
Every great UM team has a generational player. Just unfortunate we only got 1 upper class year of Woodson and now Hutch who was injured Jr season. Without those bookends not sure we beat Bucks next year but I’ll enjoy this run. Can’t take this for granted when it only comes around every 20 years.
December 24th, 2021 at 11:17 AM ^
Something in this thread already looks stupid. Don’t need to wait a year.
December 24th, 2021 at 11:49 AM ^
Lol, Harbaugh had won 12 or more games at Michigan more than he has won 7 or fewer (in non-pandemic years). Why do you think it is even a possibility that we win 7 games next year?
December 24th, 2021 at 1:04 PM ^
Not even a month after winning the Big Ten - not even on Christmas Eve - do the concern trolls stop.
December 24th, 2021 at 11:45 AM ^
Yeah but that says nothing about what this team did to change your perspective or expectations, to raise your confidence they were going to finish different than past teams. That's just you claiming you never doubted Harbaugh would get it done, eventually.
I loved the moment the OP shows in the video embed, but much like rolling Washington earlier, Wiscy was having a down year at the time.
And while Jumping Around showed great spirit & confidence, we did go on to blow a pretty large lead in E. Landfill a few weeks later, so that being "the moment" seems premature.
And we could point to just grabbing a win right out of the opponents mitts, like at Nebraska - except Frost's boys gave the game away every damn week, practically!
No, for me the lightning bolt slant to All, who outran the entire psu D on a swollen ankle (a feat made all the more impressive when we watched Corum get caught from behind vs osu on his sore ankle) has to be the moment I knew things were different with this team. As Cade said "no disrespect but..." past M teams don't make that play, don't get that W.
That play not only made me say "Hey...this team don't fold!" It seems to have just lifted a burden & freed the team as well. Since that play they've put up 59, 42 & 42. And that was taking it easy on a couple of those opponents!
December 24th, 2021 at 1:07 PM ^
I agree that the All touchdown against PSU was the moment that showed the character of the team. The OOC slate was not as good as anticipated so was in reality a cakewalk that allowed them to find their character and build confidence.
Wisconsin was a solid win, but Wisconsin was also reeling at the time and that game showed the fun this team can have while playing a solid game outside what they had done previously (pass vs run). Then came Nebraska and MSU. Both games were tough and in one we came up short as we were unable to get into the endzone and of course the refs again.
I agree, it was the PSU game that really showed this team was different. The fortitude to come back when they were down, on the road, backs against the wall. It's true, previous teams probably would have folded. Harbaugh had gained the same reputation Clemson had before they finally broke through. Did Dabo not face criticism rightfully so for Clemsoning? Yes, and rightfully so Harbaugh was facing criticism for not being able to beat OSU, win the Big Ten or compete for the National Championship.
Criticism does not mean fans are less fans just because they raise questions and look at the program without rose colored glasses. That said, they are no less thrilled and happy that Harbaugh has finally done it, beaten OSU, won the Big Ten and playing for a National Championship. This team has crossed their Rubicon and have a great chance to win it all. Can we not all celebrate that without namecalling and being at odds over who is the better fan?
We are Michigan! GO Blue!
December 25th, 2021 at 10:51 AM ^
Criticism and toxicity are two separate things. Yeah we can be critical but those that were toxic actually made it harder to get here. They made recruits less likely to sign here, they made the players feel like the fans hated them, and gave fodder to rival coaches when selling their programs to recruits and the media.
So those toxic fans don’t get a pass, IMO. As far as I’m concerned they should do what we’ve been telling them for the last three or four years, find a new team to root for.
December 24th, 2021 at 12:17 PM ^
Oh my sweet summer child. One 9-3 season and they’ll be crawling out of the woodwork once again
December 24th, 2021 at 2:16 PM ^
BPONE is like chicken pox; once you have it, it stays dormant in you until it has a chance to come back as Shingles.
December 24th, 2021 at 5:56 PM ^
Ya, herpes too.
December 24th, 2021 at 3:44 PM ^
Something like that will happen the next time Michigan suffers a loss fans deem to be unacceptable, which is just about any loss. If they don’t beat OSU next year, some fans will complain that Harbaugh just got lucky in 2021.
December 24th, 2021 at 9:13 AM ^
Definitely seemed like a team enjoying the moment instead of past teams who played tight. I think the youth in coaches made such a big difference as opposed to guys like Don Brown who didn’t relate well with players. I know it won’t happen, but if we can keep this staff together for a few years watch out. We’re on the cusp, no matter what happens in Miami, of being a pre season top 3.
December 24th, 2021 at 9:22 AM ^
Agreed. At least Gattis and Macdonald - it's looking like both might be here for at least one more year which would be HUGE in building and maintaining the foundation they created this year. I think it's going to happen. Plus we have so many other great young coaches...
December 24th, 2021 at 10:41 AM ^
Just my opinion but I think it’s still TBD on MacDonald. I think Gattis is a safe bet for being here another year, but MacDonald is largely an NFL guy, and there will be at least a handful of NFL teams with new coaching staffs looking for a DC. And the man sure showed he’s up to snuff and can coach a defense this season.
You have to believe at least one of those incoming head coaches will look at the gameplan he pulled against OSU and come ask him “Can you do this for me against KC, Green Bay, Tampa Bay, or any other top-5 offense in the league?”
We may not know for another few weeks of MacDonald is truly back on staff for next year or not. Not until every new NFL staff is filled out.
December 24th, 2021 at 9:21 AM ^
After they pounded Washington I thought they'd be better than predictions. Jump Around helped get my brain wrapped around 9 or 10 wins. Opening drive of the 2nd half against OSU made me a true believer.
December 24th, 2021 at 9:23 AM ^
That 2nd half vs OSU will live as the greatest half of Michigan football in my life, most likely. It was perfect. Relentless. Violent. Focused.
December 24th, 2021 at 9:30 AM ^
4 completed passes, 4 Touchdowns, made OSU give up. It was everything a former lineman and coach dreams about UM doing to OSU.
December 24th, 2021 at 9:53 AM ^
OSU was shook, and you could see it. What a beautiful thing.
December 24th, 2021 at 11:19 AM ^
The modern version of 1976 when we beat them 22-0 without completing a pass which presaged the 1977 & 1978 wins after losses in 1975 & 1974 and brought about the final demise of Woody Hayes as OSU HC.
December 24th, 2021 at 12:00 PM ^
I can't say best of my life, but I'm probably a lot older than you - but best of this century, millennium, generation (take your pick) - Abso-fucking-lutely!
December 24th, 2021 at 9:48 AM ^
The Jump Around was awesome and at that point, I knew Mich would beat WI. Beating Nebraska and PSU were also great wins but we had seen other M teams do that, only to be disappointed. I had not bought in yet, the OSU monster was always out there, in the future, loaded with talent on both sides of the ball. Until THAT dragon was slain, there was still only Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown to kick.
When I REALLY bought into the team was in The Game. Specifically, in the first half, the series right after OSU scored to take a 10-7 lead, totally against the flow of the game. The whole season felt like it was hanging in the balance. And it was. We had just been punched in the mouth. The OSU dragon was rearing up yet again, looking to finish the job. The questions were before us: How does THIS Michigan team respond? Would we fold or would we fight back? Was Lucy holding the football yet again?
And what happened? Michigan took the ball and marched it right back down the field, with calmness, violence and determination, on a 6-minute drive in the snow, shoving it down OSU's throat, retaking the lead. This team had taken OSU's best shot, stood with them toe-to-toe and punched OSU right back, squarely in the Buckeyes' mouth.
At THAT moment, it was clear, this team was different.
December 24th, 2021 at 10:07 AM ^
Not until Haskins hurdled a fool against OSU for me. I’ve seen OSU find a way to end up ahead at the end too many times to believe until it was plain that OSU would have to score, get the ball back and score again in less than 3 minutes. I was just waiting for what I thought was the inevitable the entire game otherwise. Seeing OSU give up the TD in a vain attempt to save time was also glorious, but also a savy move since they knew they might stop Haskins once and lose either a timeout or a whole minute of clock, both of which were untenable if they were to have any chance. The failed 4th & 18 was probably the most relief I’ve felt in 20+ years of watching cfb. Was a good day, hoping for one more this year and another on 1/10.
December 24th, 2021 at 11:45 AM ^
Logged in to agree with this 100%. That hurdle is when I finally took a breath and even then waiting for the 4th down pass to believe. I didn’t really enjoy the game at all until then.
December 24th, 2021 at 12:08 PM ^
Like you and, I suspect, many others here, even as we kept piling up rushing TD after rushing TD, I kept waiting in the second half for the other shoe to drop, as it were. (And Smith-Njiba’s insane catch certainly didn’t help.). Afterwards though when I mentioned that to my OSU coworker, he ruefully sighed that the other shoe was Hassan Haskin’s cleat up their ass.