SB Nation: Harbaugh Quote for MSU Week
SB Nation: Key quotes from Jim Harbaugh's pre-MSU Press Conference: Full link
Noteworthy points to highlight I thought were:
- Jimmy Rolder will redshirt this year but coaches plan to get him in 4 games still.
- Mullings to be back "soon"
- Team will be practicing on grass this week in preparation for MSU's grass field
- Regarding the tunnel incident last year with MSU, Harbaugh said, “That seems like a long time ago. I like what J.J. said — it’s a goldfish mentality. It’s onward.”
I think that's smart and classy move from JJ and Harbaugh to try and move on from the tunnel incident. Not to take the moral high ground, but I am not sure MSU would do the same were the shoe on the other foot.
Also how do they manage to practice on grass this week? Do any of the practice fields have grass? Lacrosse or soccer fields?
October 17th, 2023 at 9:12 AM ^
Who cares what sparty would do? That seems like a low bar.
October 17th, 2023 at 9:21 AM ^
Them's fighting' words!
October 17th, 2023 at 9:15 AM ^
JJ and Harbaugh can say that in public, and they should in order to avoid giving MSU bulletin board material. However, I’m sure that in private they are highly energized by last year’s incident and are looking forward to thoroughly dismantling MSU on Saturday.
October 17th, 2023 at 9:20 AM ^
Maybe. And maybe just seeing it as a game you have to play to reach your greater goal(s), a team you have to beat--what is required to do that--is exactly the right approach.
October 17th, 2023 at 9:35 AM ^
I don’t wanna see our 1st team in any longer than necessary because of the potential for injuries, aka cheap shots. So enter the half with a score around 42-0 and make a statement. JJ dropping 50 yd dimes would be super awesome! Then a big dose of our freshman wrecking ball to put the cherry on top.
October 17th, 2023 at 9:50 AM ^
I’m with you
October 17th, 2023 at 10:01 AM ^
I was at the MSU game in 2011. There were multiple MSU fans in the stands near me openly yelling to injure Denard Robinson.
MSU's relevance revolves around UofM to the point where many in the fan base are willing to encourage and excuse violent acts.
October 17th, 2023 at 11:01 AM ^
nevermind
October 17th, 2023 at 12:14 PM ^
"There were multiple MSU fans in the stands near me openly yelling to injure Denard Robinson."
They tried! One of the goon DL literally twisted his helmet off his head. Of course, no personal foul was called. And after the game Hoke fucking apologized for a motivational tactic his team tried. I like Brady, but he can fuck all the way off for that...
October 17th, 2023 at 9:40 AM ^
I think viewing rivalry games as "just another game" may have been part of the problem during our long sojourn in the desert.
October 17th, 2023 at 9:56 AM ^
Agreed. And I don't think Harbaugh views them as just another game. I also do not think that you will see Michigan play really aggressively and try to blow MSU out. Harbaugh plays MSU in a very "low variance" way. He does not care if they win by 50 points or 1 point, as long as it says W in the column.
I expect an exceedingly boring, low possession game with Corum carrying the ball 25+ times and Michigan not ever threatening to cover the spread but never in a position to worry. M 31-13.
October 17th, 2023 at 11:59 AM ^
I'll bet you Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards don't get 25 carries between them on Saturday.
Michigan has bigger fish to fry than MSU, that being said they are not going to overlook this game.
You'll see a big Dose of Kalel Mullings(if he's available) and that new kid Benjamin Hall.
October 17th, 2023 at 12:12 PM ^
I did not say they were going to overlook this game. That is the opposite of what I said.
October 17th, 2023 at 3:31 PM ^
It was clear to me that Harbaugh, at least in public, did not give rivalry games their due emphasis before 2021. Before that 2021 season, though, Harbaugh declared a focus on "Beating Ohio" in statements to the press. Since then, he's been much more focused at least on the Ohio State game, all season long, and that's a fantastic change.
Something definitely happened in the offseason before 2021. Harbaugh's fire returned. The team culture greatly improved. There was a reinvigorated focus on beating Ohio State. And the results showed. I know we greatly improved our coaching staff in that offseason (remember Shoop, who didn't even show up?) but Jim also made some changes personally that clearly helped.
October 17th, 2023 at 9:59 AM ^
I think our sojourn in the desert had more to do with lousy recruiting (some of Carr's last years, all of the RichRod years, bits and pieces of the Hoke years) and lousy coaching (RichRod, Hoke).
Let's not forget that RichRod was 2-1 against one of our historical rivals (ND). I say that in jest. In isolation it looks OK, but it doesn't come close to making up for all the other nonsense.
October 17th, 2023 at 2:05 PM ^
As far as bad coaching goes, you have to include Carr for at least his last year. A case can be made that that gave rise to the RR/Hoke period. 2007 was the canary in the coal mine. Things were slipping, there was no plan in place for succession, and probably not even some thought given to it.
October 17th, 2023 at 4:14 PM ^
I know you said "bits and pieces" of the Hoke years involving lousy recruiting (and certainly QB recruiting was an issue at the end) but Hoke's recruiting was I think his strongest asset overall. Harbaugh certainly didn't arrive to a bare cupboard with players like Peppers, Darboh, Smith, Lewis., the Glasgows etc. on the roster.
October 17th, 2023 at 10:19 AM ^
To me this is one of the dumbest allegations that fans make, a cliche that arises everywhere and makes zero sense, even after the briefest look. From a great, great distance, Fan X says, "You just don't care enough!" It's silly. Of course they care. The point is that the games are already huge enough. There's a time to settle down and take care of what's in front of you, to kill with quiet cruelty, not just let your heart bang out of your chest. We didn't lose games under Hoke or RR because we didn't care; it's patently silly. Kill that worn out meme with fire.
October 17th, 2023 at 10:28 AM ^
I disagree a bit regarding games under Rodriguez. With the number of rivalries Michigan has on their schedule, particularly back then when ND was a staple, there was a certain method that needed to be employed for the team to be entering those games with a certain mindset to play them. Rodriguez did not understand Michigan football the way the other coaches in question did, including Carr, Hoke, and Harbaugh. Now Hoke did not fair much better but he did get what it was supposed to look like. Too often the MSU and OSU games did feel like just another game under Rodriguez. To top it off he simply said it on more than one occassion.
October 17th, 2023 at 12:39 PM ^
Yeah. I actually remember Rich Rod specifically downplaying the OSU game. I recognized it as an attempt to keep his players focused on their responsibilities and not get overwhelmed by the hype of it all, but it contrasted really poorly to Jim Tressel's declaration of intent when he was hired by OSU, and I thought it was an early warning sign that he might not be the right man for the job.
I'm not saying there aren't other genuinely massive rivalry games. Alabama-Auburn is huge, Florida-Georgia (in years where they're both good), Oklahoma-Texas, etc. But damn, to insist that Michigan-OSU is "just another game" is denying reality.
October 17th, 2023 at 9:37 PM ^
A couch fire?
October 17th, 2023 at 12:20 PM ^
In the 2008-14 period we were just bad in general. We didn't have a good record against many teams.
Hoke did put a lot of emphasis on the OSU rivalry ("That school in Ohio") and we played them tough every year, though the talent gap widened over his four years.
October 17th, 2023 at 9:46 AM ^
These are not mutually exclusive... (using "maybe" and "exactly" in the same sentence cracks me up, thanks for the chuckles)
October 17th, 2023 at 1:25 PM ^
Agree with your take.
Teams that are under-talented, under-coached and emotionally volatile need that extra motivation so they can play with heightened emotion. The theory being they will play better and at a higher level.
I’ve always felt the get-down-to-business model that Michigan has embraced is much more effective. Stick to your game, play your best, keep your head about you and have some fun while doing it.
October 17th, 2023 at 9:22 AM ^
Yep. That is something you should not forget IMO.
October 17th, 2023 at 9:38 AM ^
Exactly. Last year--as is oft our wont--the big brother got the upper hand and just sat on him.
This year I expect we will get the upper hand, sit on them, and then keep punching.
October 17th, 2023 at 9:40 AM ^
Once we get up a few scores put in McBurrows and German Green as a statement
October 17th, 2023 at 9:58 AM ^
I agree with you 100%
I would bet there isn’t a man in that locker room that has “forgot” what happened last year. No sense on creating bulletin board material. Plan is gonna be punch their dicks off for 60 straight minutes and let the scoreboard give the final word.
October 17th, 2023 at 10:20 AM ^
No, it's going to be to punch their dicks off with lethal calm for 40 minutes, if at all possible, and then let the third and fourth string rub it in.
October 17th, 2023 at 10:12 AM ^
Agreed, especially as several of the players at the center of the melee are starters like Angelo Grose and Zion Young. But I think once the game starts all that stuff goes by the wayside.
My only concern is that they stay within themselves and just get the W. I'm sure the team will want to try to run up the score on them, and that can sometimes lead to getting out of sorts.
October 17th, 2023 at 12:11 PM ^
I hope the broadcast team does not forget it. Might as well pile back on these guys to the TV audience to provide a reminder of what that program was and still is.
October 17th, 2023 at 9:20 AM ^
Glad Rolder is redshirting and it sounds like they have a firm plan for him that everyone is aware of. He and Hausmann could be an awesome LB pair to have with Hood also having something to say about it
October 17th, 2023 at 9:20 AM ^
My Sparty friends still bitch about Devin Bush scraping the midfield logo while denying all responsibility for the pregame shenanigans that year, so I doubt their fans would take the moral high ground.
That being said, they are also deeply ashamed by the tunnel incident so they are not hopeless.
October 17th, 2023 at 9:24 AM ^
My Spartan friends aren't ashamed. They keep saying it was our players faults they instigated it and got what was coming to them. Fuck MSU.
October 17th, 2023 at 9:40 AM ^
You know that whole "Michigan player instigated it" excuse is hilarious. Nobody knows what Green said in the tunnel (if anything) but lets play along and pretend he did trash talk them in the tunnel after the win, so fucking what? Thats on them for having no self control and they're condoning assault because some players got their feelings hurt. Their feelings were already hurt before they went to the tunnel after they got their asses kicked on the field so it doesn't matter.
October 17th, 2023 at 9:58 AM ^
Spartans shouldn't mind trash talk. Seems like their former head coach did a lot of trash talking - "where's the threat?" - "where'd all those wolverines go?" - "should we have a moment of silence? (following UM loss to App State) - joking about Mike Hart's height. Seems Spartans love it when a 50+ year old talks trash, but hate it when players celebrate a win.
October 17th, 2023 at 3:13 PM ^
I mean their fans are double sided hypocrites for the most part. The thing nobody even talks about like you mentioned is how a grown man started the trash talk first with Hart with the App State stuff and the height thing. But nope a dude who was 4-0 against them responding to that with a little bit of trash talking was some grand insult to them. But that is part of their deep seated inferiority complex on display.
October 17th, 2023 at 10:03 AM ^
Well… don’t forget: he was skipping.
October 17th, 2023 at 12:05 PM ^
That was pure Valenti and Rico.
"sKiPpInG uP ThE tUnNeL, hE gOt WhAt He DeSeRvEd."
Fucking Garbage.
Put a thousand on them Jim!
October 17th, 2023 at 10:02 AM ^
Really there are two types of Spartan fans that I know as friends/acquaintances . The "MSU guys" who actually went to LCC for a semester and somehow still belonged to a sketchy MSU fraternity is bitter and still thinking tunnel. Regular MSU students/fans are kind of humble and taking all of this on the chin without saying much.
October 17th, 2023 at 11:33 AM ^
You probably need different friends
October 17th, 2023 at 2:56 PM ^
I mean it is also a bit of a general societal problem we have where people somehow think anything they deem as remotely disrespectful somehow gives you the right to immediately escalate to violence. I mean how many news story, etc are their nowadays where people get killed or seriously hurt over the dumbest things? Far too many. More common mentality in very low class individuals, which the Spartan fanbase has many.
October 17th, 2023 at 8:18 PM ^
Maybe get better friends?
October 17th, 2023 at 9:47 PM ^
That literally has zero with what I said. We as a society have far too many incidents where violence is used as escalation for things where no rational person should believe it was warranted. This can be seen as extension of that.
October 17th, 2023 at 9:29 AM ^
My Sparty acquaintances would never admit shame about the tunnel incident or any other athletic malfeasance unless they were suspended over a pool of piranhas and the rope was fraying.
October 17th, 2023 at 9:30 AM ^
Even then it would be very difficult for them.
October 17th, 2023 at 12:24 PM ^
The Spartans I know have generally played the "both sides were wrong" card about the tunnel assault.
That said, I haven't spoken to them about it since Tucker was fired, so possibly their take is different now. (At the time they wanted to circle the wagons behind Tucker.)
October 17th, 2023 at 1:24 PM ^
No. They haven't changed their mind on the tunnel.
I try to only associate with or pay attention to the more rational MSU people. They still all believe--vehemently--that the tunnel is a "both sides" issue.
Nationally, where there is no MSU bias, I've found this to also be the case. That's the kind of thing that generally gives me pause to really look inward. But, I really don't get it. I think that people just assume that Green or McBurrows instigated it because it's beyond comprehension that MSU players, unprovoked, jumped the Michigan players.
It is beyond comprehension. And yet that seems to be what happened. If there was any kind of instigation from Michigan--aside from their mere presence in the tunnel--we've still never heard what it was. The video (with no audio) shows nothing.
October 17th, 2023 at 9:22 AM ^
If I remember correctly with the outdoor practice fields there is a full size main turf field, a couple of very short ~30 yard side turf fields and one not quite full size grass field.
October 17th, 2023 at 3:59 PM ^
Yeah, I think it’s like 90 yard grass field just south of the full turf field & Al Glick Fieldhouse