Higdon guarantees win against Ohio State

Submitted by Djrobinson007 on November 19th, 2018 at 1:33 PM

 In his press conference just a few minutes ago.  Every media person is reporting it. If someone could embed tweet or clip 

 

Fuck it! Go Blue!!! 

EGD

November 19th, 2018 at 2:37 PM ^

If you want to compare this to the MSU game, this is really no different than Sparty's pre-game walk.

Sure, Bush and Lavert and those guys could have moved out of the way and let the Spartans "impose their will" or whatever.  They could have been "respectful" and not done anything to give MSU supposed extra motivation.  But they stood their ground, as they damn well should have.  

Here, Higdon is asked point blank: do you guarantee a win over Ohio State?  It's the same situation.  He can "be respectful" and go with some weak answer like "all I can say is we'll go into that game well-prepared and give it our best shot" or some shit--but that's only going to be reported as "Higdon declines to guarantee M victory."  So he stood his ground.  As he damn well should have. 

ijohnb

November 19th, 2018 at 1:48 PM ^

It will not have ANY bearing on the game.  The stakes are so high for a Michigan v. Ohio State game like this that they literally cannot get any higher.  Ohio State doesn't care what Karan Higdon says.  They are 10-1.  They are playing for a BIG title and, in their mind, a shot at the Playoff.  It is Armageddon. 

And this is not "disrespect."  It is confidence.

bronxblue

November 19th, 2018 at 1:56 PM ^

"I think we're going to beat them" is pretty respectful.  It's an honest answer to a dumb question.

Also, Urban Meyer is a trash human being who apparently has such a culture around his program that their 1st-round NFL defensive end got as far away as possible from it the minute he got hurt.  It would be pretty telling if he needed to play a clip to motivate a bunch of his guys to give a shit playing Michigan.

Arb lover

November 19th, 2018 at 1:58 PM ^

There's this one story you might have heard about Babe Ruth, where he signaled to the stands with his bat, and then hit it there. 

Do I think the pitcher tried extra hard not to let him hit the next pitch? Sure. Would we have remembered the hit had he not done that? No.

Sometimes a win can be more glorious if you go in with true confidence.

ijohnb

November 19th, 2018 at 2:00 PM ^

Two things:

1.  There is no such thing as "more motivation" in this circumstance, man.  Look at the circumstances, there is no room for "more motivation."  The motivation plate is quite full.

2.  Did you watch the video?  What else is he supposed to say?  "Um, I don't know, we may lose, we may win, I guess we will find out."  What player is going to answer the question that way, man?

 

Newton Gimmick

November 19th, 2018 at 2:27 PM ^

I might agree with you somewhat if this were MSU week.  Dantonio seems to use this kind of stuff well.  Ohio State, and Meyer in particular, have never really had that kind of chip-on-the-shoulder identity, except maybe an early year or two under Tressel.  They prefer the role of the confident, dominant favorite.  

bronxblue

November 19th, 2018 at 1:54 PM ^

Ah yes, let's be careful not to offend the delicate sensibilities of the august school that is Ohio State and their totally not-condoning of domestic violence, drug use, and overall violence staff.  

I mean, I think a decent number of people could call me a "snowflake" and it wouldn't be that off-beat, but for fuck's sake nut up and accept that a rival may not like you and expects to beat you.

UMForLife

November 19th, 2018 at 2:23 PM ^

Dude,

We are not backing down. Don't you want to see some fire. He is the leader and he is going to deliver. Every extra yard will be earned. I love this and you need to recognize that we are going to be the bully now and not being bullied by OSU. 

aleng

November 19th, 2018 at 2:32 PM ^

Guarantees are only as good as the person/team giving them... in my opinion Higdon's statements are a reflection of this teams collective identity. I don't get the sense they are making things up for show. Have you seen something from this team that would lead you to believe they should not be as confident as they are or are pretending to be something they're not?

ijohnb

November 19th, 2018 at 2:11 PM ^

I understand what you are saying, man.  Last year, even, a player doing this would have freaked me out.  But the reason that you are getting this kind of response is because we as fans have realized that being nervous about a player "guaranteeing a win" or getting worried about reprise when Charles Matthews laughs in Nick Ward's face is part of the sickness that Michigan fans and teams have had for years. 

This team has left all that stuff definitively behind.  They have coined the season "The Revenge Tour."  They wear the t-shirts for crying out loud.  They believe they are going to beat everybody they play and that is how Harbaugh needs them to be.  That is him.

BroadShouldersBlue

November 19th, 2018 at 2:10 PM ^

I love that he said it. It feels different than us driving a spike into the field in Spartan Stadium or even Mike Hart's infamous line. This team is good. They know they're good, and they don't give a fuck if you know it. Confidence is better than fake humility. 

It's gonna be a dogfight, but for the first time in years, it feels like we can actually win going into this game. 

ole luther

November 19th, 2018 at 4:33 PM ^

I don't know........I just can't get over this feeling that although they're talented and I agree that it is almost always a dogfight........we're gonna win big this year.

M is playing as a team, osu is not.

M doesn't have all of the coaching/administration crap looming, osu does.

M has shown steady improvement in all aspects of the game, osu has not.

M is loaded with confidence, osu........not so much. 

 I believe a 3 TD victory is not only possible, but probable.

pinkfloyd2000

November 19th, 2018 at 1:38 PM ^

This doesn't bother me. In the slightest.

Why the hell not? 

There's no amount of "bulletin board material" that's gonna motivate either team any more than each one already is.