Mgoblog Podcast - Top 25 Harbaugh Moment List
Seth talked about how he rewatches the last season, prior to the start of the new. I adopted that a few years ago as well, and thought the top 25 Harbaugh moment list would be a great add to that. See below w/ a quick description of the top 25 discussed by the Mgoblog team.
Only thing that stuck out to me in the 4 hours of Amazing, was no mention of the Revenge Tour of 2018. Chase Winovich was my fav guy from that team, and after the loss to Notre Dame to begin the season he renames the season the, Revenge Tour. They circle the 4 losses from 2017 - Wisconsin, MSU (mentioned below), Penn State and Ohio State - and set out to right these wrongs. That three game stretch where they put it to WI, MSU and PSU back to back will always stick out. Chase Winovich will always stand out to me as one of the greats who believed and prepared, long before we got the breakthrough on the field
Top 25 Harbaugh Game Moments
25. Rutgers 2016 - The Rutger is born
24. MSU - 2018 - Devin Bush ruins Sparty logo
23. MSU - 2018 - DPJ - Paul Bunyan pose
22. MSU - 2016 - Jabrill Pepper’s game
21. Indiana - 2022 - Blake Corum run
20. Penn State - 2021 - Eric All crossing TD
19. Wisconsin - 2016 - Jourdan Lewis Interception
18. Minnesota - 2015 - Ryan Glasgow goal line stand
17. Colorado - 2016 - Khalid Hill double block
16. Penn State - 2022 - The QB can run
15. Notre Dame - 2019 - RUN, Run, run
14. Penn State - 2023 - BET - 32 straight runs
13. OSU - 2022 - CJ, wide open deep
12. Alabama - 2024 Rose Bowl - Roman Wilson catch
11. Washington - 2024 National Champ - Game ending Int
10. Wisconsin - 2021 - Jump Around… finally
9. Iowa - 2021 Big Ten Champ - JJ block for Corum
8. OSU - 2023 - Rod Moore pick
7. OSU - 2022 - Jim Knowles vs. Jim Knowles
6. OSU - 2021 - Aiden Freaking Hutchinson
5. OSU - 2023 - Corum “65” run
4. Washington - 2024 National Champ - Duo
3. Alabama - 2024 Rose Bowl - Overtime
2. OSU - 2022 - Sainristil pass breakup
1. OSU - 2021 - Hoot hoot, they believe
January 31st, 2024 at 4:29 PM ^
Pizza toppings - ranked
11. Pineapple (should be illegal to put fruit on a pizza)
10. Olives (These belong in martinis, not pizzas)
9. Anchovies (I dont know a living soul that likes these things)
8. Mushrooms (I used to like these a lot, not anymore)
7. Green peppers (they take over the pizza IMO)
6. Meatballs (Meatballs belong on spaghetti, not pizza)
5. Mild sausage (what's the point?)
4. White onions (good but there's a better option)
3. Red Onions (mmmmmm, delicious)
2. Spicy sausage (now we're talking)
1. Peperoni (thick cut obviously)
I did not include extra cheese because technically that's just more of one of the base items on the pizza. But I could be persuaded to include it.
January 31st, 2024 at 4:31 PM ^
Throwing a neg vote your way for the egregious oversight of not including green chile on your list! For shame, sir!
January 31st, 2024 at 7:00 PM ^
Burqueños(as) represent!
January 31st, 2024 at 4:32 PM ^
Missing bacon bits and spinach as some good toppings. Also you considering stuff like Parmesan cheese or red pepper flakes as toppings or add ons? We need to know
January 31st, 2024 at 4:41 PM ^
Are these stand alone toppings or just "on a pizza with other toppings"?
To me, those are completely different lists.
Green Peppers as a stand alone topping is near the bottom of the list. I'd NEVER order a pizza with just green peppers, but Green Peppers complementing a two meat combination like Pepperoni/Bacon is in the top 5 for sure.
#ImportantQuestions
January 31st, 2024 at 4:46 PM ^
I like ham and onions. I go ham over pepperoni to cut down on the grease. Plus it ensures nobody in the family will eat my leftovers.
January 31st, 2024 at 4:50 PM ^
Damn, I thought you were going to rank your top 10 in-flight memories from the Rose Bowl.
January 31st, 2024 at 4:57 PM ^
Y'all seriously sleeping on garlic as a topping
January 31st, 2024 at 5:25 PM ^
Favorite 2 toppings on pizza are pepperoni & pepperoncini - try it. Jalapeno not so much.
Mushrooms - yes
Onions - nah
Too many meats on a pizza way not necessary.
One tiny slice of olive can ruin the whole fucking thing. But if you insist I will spend 5 min picking every last one of them off.
Pineapple and ham are interesting the 1st couple times you try it. Then you're over it.
January 31st, 2024 at 5:35 PM ^
Love anchovies on pizza and cesear salad. Hook me up.
You omitted gravy, however, which is an MgoBlog requirement for all food based discussions.
January 31st, 2024 at 5:45 PM ^
Banana peppers! Way better than green peppers. Artichoke hearts are a nice touch at times.
January 31st, 2024 at 5:50 PM ^
meat lovers with banana peppers is the best thing anyone can do to a pizza
January 31st, 2024 at 7:07 PM ^
I suspect mGrowOld wouldn't like banana peppers because he said fruit should be illegal on pizza and rated the other fruits on his list negatively.
January 31st, 2024 at 6:06 PM ^
Nobody in the world actually eats anchovies, unless they're just trying to make a point or sicken someone. Next, onions and peppers are disgusting. And toxic. Because you apparently eat them, you're going to die. I'm sorry. But because I don't, I'm going to live forever. Prove me wrong...
January 31st, 2024 at 7:41 PM ^
In the Dominican Republic they put corn kernels on pizza. Most of you are going to say Wwwaaaht? Trust me, it’s good….
January 31st, 2024 at 7:49 PM ^
Agreed on anchovy only insofar as pizza is concerned. They are a must on a good Caesar salad.
January 31st, 2024 at 9:43 PM ^
Bacon, sun dried tomatoes, sautéed onions on oven baked thick crust.
January 31st, 2024 at 4:31 PM ^
My top 10 games from Harbaugh, both from enjoyment, importance, and just vibes:
10. MSU 2019
9. Wisconsin 2016
8. PSU 2022
7. Notre Dame 2019
6. PSU 2023
5. Washington 2023
4. OSU 2022
3. Bama 2023
2. OSU 2023
1. OSU 2021
Amazing how many were in last three years.
January 31st, 2024 at 4:36 PM ^
I go back and forth on whether this year's Rose Bowl or OSU is more fun or a bigger deal to me. Good dilemma to have. Also, I think I'd include Erick All '21 PSU in my top ten. But who would I bump from your list? Maybe Sparty 2019? It's crazy to think that rivalry has in 2 years went from the back and forth it frustratingly was until 2018, and then again in 2020 and '21 - to something that felt very "check the box" the last two seasons, even heading into the game.
January 31st, 2024 at 9:45 PM ^
Rose Bowl for me. Got the Rose Bowl swag over National Championship
January 31st, 2024 at 7:11 PM ^
Good list:
Mine would be:
1. OSU 2023
2. Alabama 2024 Bowl
3. Washington 2024 Bowl
4. OSU 2022
5. OSU 2021
6. MSU 2016
7. Notre Dame 2019
8. Florida 2016 Bowl
9. Florida 2017
10. Penn State 2016
January 31st, 2024 at 4:31 PM ^
ha i was just about to do this. thanks!
it was a fun podcast
January 31st, 2024 at 4:32 PM ^
Man I loved this podcast. Thanks for posting this. It was so much fun.
The Harbaugh era kinda went in 3 acts - 2015 was a prologue where it's like "ok we're respectable again" and '16 to the Revenge Tour felt like a climb And then The Game in 2018 started a malaise that looked like a collapse in 2020. And then came 2021 and a climb to the top.
I also think it's cool to look at our rivalries/benchmarks from this era. In 2016, we beat Wiscy in a top 10 matchup, and the next 4 years sorta traded blows with PSU and Wiscy for 2nd place in the conference. Then in 2021 we stomped Wisconsin and left them in the rearview mirror, squeaked by Penn State in Happy Valley, and then pretty emphatically proved ourselves better than them in '22 and '23 (and ended the "Harbaugh and Franklin are the same" comparison definitively).
Dantonio dominated this rivalry from '08-14, in '15 Harbaugh immediately brought us on par but we couldn't really vanquish them...Until 2018, Devin Bush, DPJ strikes a bunyan pose that's now ubiquitous. 2019 was the end of their era. 2020 was rolled up into a whole lot of other questions about the program, but in '21 there was a "oh man we just cant shake these guys" vibe that definitively ended not with the '22 game but with the pathetic tunnel incident. Until there's a wholesale culture change, I just don't take MSU seriously.
And obviously, with OSU there was the clear gap in 2015, followed up by painful losses in '16 and '17 where heading into '18 it felt like we were about to get over the hump....but found ourselves woefully behind. And then in '21 - delirium and surprise. Until '22 where what started by looking like we were lucky and hanging around suddenly became "OH MAN we are just way better!" and then the delight of 2023 ending their latest excuses of the last 2 years.
And then we capped it off by winning the damn natty. A new chapter starts in '24, and OSU is rip-roaring back to prove they've been on-par with us the last 3 years. But gosh, just thinking about this whole Harbaugh era is glorious. WE ARE THAT TEAM. WE ARE THAT PROGRAM.
February 1st, 2024 at 11:46 AM ^
The Harbaugh era kinda went in 3 acts - 2015 was a prologue where it's like "ok we're respectable again" and '16 to the Revenge Tour felt like a climb And then The Game in 2018 started a malaise that looked like a collapse in 2020. And then came 2021 and a climb to the top.
I find it very cool that you can go even further and kind of bookend Michigan football from like 2000-2023 as a stand alone era
- 2000(?)-2007 is the decline of 'old Michigan' with the 2006 team and the death of Bo as the last breath of that era
- Richrod era as a low point
- Hoke era gives you some false hope of a return before faltering
- Harbaugh era immediately makes Michigan relevant right up to the 2018 revenge tour and then things start heading south thru the covid season
- Then the final climax of 2021-2023 ending with a title
- Now most of that era has rode off into the sunset as the Sherrone era begins
February 1st, 2024 at 5:10 PM ^
My feeling - and hope - is that Sherrone will ultimately feel like a continuation. Like, if Rocky ended at Rocky IV and we didn't have V or Balboa, and Sherrone started off the Creed franchise. (That's the first example I can think of where a new generation comes in and makes and old favorite as good or better)
January 31st, 2024 at 4:33 PM ^
Regarding the revenge tour, it's at least indirectly covered in #s 23 and 24. Notice that most of the list is moments rather than game outcomes. I also think it's fair to say that the OSU game in '18 partly ruined the revenge tour idea. It made sense up until that point.
January 31st, 2024 at 4:38 PM ^
2018 OSU is probably the most devastating loss I've experienced as an M fan, other than the Horror. I don't think I've every entered The Game feeling more confident we'd win, and our #1 D gave up the most points in M history. That game pretty single handedly changed the narrative around Harbaugh and the program until, frankly, Erick All in Happy Valley and then more definitively The Game in 2021.
Before that, everything Harbaugh felt like a slow but steady climb to the top. After that, it felt insurmountable until suddenly, it wasn't.
January 31st, 2024 at 4:51 PM ^
I certainly felt confident about the 2018 game, but lost in the midst of an O’Korn induced crap-storm after the 2017 game was the fact Brown got had by a cold, off the bench, Haskins. The 2017 small sample size from Haskins certainly didn’t prove to be a fluke. Why Harbaugh didn’t can Brown after the 2018 season is one of the more bewildering things from the Harbaugh era.
Since The Horror, I’m not sure if the 2017 MSU or 2018 OSU game was worse. Honorable mention to Wisconsin in 2019. I don’t really count 2015 MSU or 2016 OSU in that category since those games featured a bad moment more so than a bad overall game, if that makes sense. The first three games I listed were just train wrecks.
January 31st, 2024 at 6:49 PM ^
I didn't enjoy the 2017 MSU game, but i think the PSU game was the one where my expectations were re-set for the season. But I think the '18 OSU game, coming at the end of the year where I was already planning mentally for the CFP, was just way more devastating than having your season expectations re-set in October. They took everything from us - like we did from them the last 3 years.
Totally agree on '15 MSU and '16 OSU. Also....what the crap is wrong with us focusing on the dark, doubtful times right now? haha
February 1st, 2024 at 11:49 AM ^
If my memory serves me right, OSU managing to pull 2017 out with Haskins was an early warning sign that the 'meta game' as Brian says was changing and then I recall 2018 Indiana being a big flashing DANGER sign. Didn't they hit us with a ton of crossers in that game?
January 31st, 2024 at 4:59 PM ^
I was at the App State game and had a prime view of the blocked FG at the end ... but I've never viewed it as the horrible trauma that Brian and others apparently do. It was embarrassing at the time, yes, although today it wouldn't be that big of a deal (multiple ranked teams have gone down to FCS opponents since then) and at any rate, it it was the season opener and we still had a chance to make something of that season.
Also, I don't really have anything against ASU. They were a good story, an FCS champ that got its 15 minutes of fame.
2018 OSU was far worse in my book. That had been a fun ride, winning 10 straight games and going on the "Revenge Tour" and it all blew up in smoke. And to have it happen against those fuckers ... ugh.
January 31st, 2024 at 5:20 PM ^
Your post prompted me to look for something like this:
https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/fcs-wins-vs-fbs-teams-all-time-victories-upsets
If it's accurate, there have been six instances of FCS teams beating ranked FBS teams. In terms of ranking, Michigan's was the worst, which is partly why it reliably shows up on worst-upsets-in-history lists. (It also shows up there because ... Michigan.)
I'm with you on 2007 App State vs. 2018 OSU. The Horror was awful, but it just exposed some focused coaching malpractice and -- possibly -- prevented Ron English from taking the reins in 2008. The team rebounded to have a good year.
January 31st, 2024 at 6:47 PM ^
I was also at the Horror. We had entered that year with Henne, Hart, Long and Manningham and Hart said he came back to "beat Ohio State and win a national championship." Right after that game, that hope was half in tatters. The next week against Oregon, we looked completely exposed. Credit to the team for picking it up after that and winning 8 straight, and then sending Carr out with a memorable bowl win. They did salvage the season into something positive. But while today you can come back from a loss like that, back then it really did end our national title hopes, and give us a major gut punch on just how good we were.
January 31st, 2024 at 6:50 PM ^
2015 Staee was the worst because I was there and it was Staee. I just wanted to leave.
January 31st, 2024 at 10:29 PM ^
For me, the Horror was the logical conclusion of a long, sometimes subtle but then sudden slide... however, they did beat MSU, PSU, and Florida that season. At this point I chalk it up to Michigan taking the game lightly, and ASU treating it as their "one shining moment." Kudos to them.
2016 at OSU is probably the most devastated I've felt as a fan in my adult life. 2018 was just icing on that cake.
January 31st, 2024 at 7:49 PM ^
Exactly. That 2018 loss was heartbreaking. I could take a loss, but getting completely smoked like that was beyond frustrating and humiliating. Crossing patterns still give me the willies.
Some comments have been floating around that OSU had our signals in that game is interesting, but doesn’t obviate the frustration of that loss.
January 31st, 2024 at 4:40 PM ^
Now we just need this list with links to each moment!
January 31st, 2024 at 4:41 PM ^
Wilson Rose Bowl catch seems criminally under-rated to my eye. Perhaps that is just a reflection of the bounty of great moments the last three years.
January 31st, 2024 at 4:47 PM ^
Because the Rose Bowl and The Game were both 1 play away from losses in a championship season, I think there are so many moments that all will dominate our memories from both. Those two games, and the '21 Game that really felt like an arrival, are probably the 3 greatest games since 1997, if not since 1969. Heck, Seth ranks the Rose Bowl as the greatest M win ever.
Every moment is underrated. What a team.
January 31st, 2024 at 7:35 PM ^
I think it's about right. There are just so many big plays to choose from.
I am a little surprised that the 4th-down pass to Corum didn't make it. An easy pitch and catch, sure, but that was a do-or-die moment for the season. Given how automatic the Bama kicker was, a turnover on downs there probably ends any chance of getting the ball back down one score.
January 31st, 2024 at 4:43 PM ^
It maybe the notion of revenge jinxed the tour - just like the Return of The Jedi was once The Revenge of the Jedi.
https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2018/original-film-posters-onli…
The Return of the Michigan Wolverines - ending in a triumphant national championship just seems better.
January 31st, 2024 at 4:51 PM ^
Came here to post the “I” formation with 11 guys making the “I”, and you beat me to it, with a picture as well. Well done!
January 31st, 2024 at 5:09 PM ^
You mean "Train."
January 31st, 2024 at 9:31 PM ^
I was visiting in-laws in Ohio and wound up listening to part of the 2016 OSU game on local radio. When Michigan deployed The Train, the announcer called it "The Caterpillar." I mean, why would I expect anything but petty?
January 31st, 2024 at 4:51 PM ^
My top 5:
5. 45-23
4. 42-27
3. 30-24 (The look on Day's face!)
2. Beating Bama
1. Winning it all
January 31st, 2024 at 5:33 PM ^
If anyone wants to put together a highlight reel of the MGOPodcast highlights, I will watch and upvote! I've been watching some of them - the ones I can find quickly. My memory is not good enough to remember many tbh.
January 31st, 2024 at 5:45 PM ^
Anyone who is interested in all my thoughts on the MGoPodcast can go look at my comments in the MGoPodcast post.
But I would like to co-sign on with the OP with regard to the lack of Chase Winovich talk. The reminiscing was incredibly comprehensive and went out of its way to mention specific people or vibes. Winovich was an important player and provided very big vibes. I was surprised by his lack of presence in the pod.
But not as surprised as the fact that TWO podcasts now (the Championship retrospective and the Harbaugh era retrospective) have gone through an extensive list of "Let's remember some plays" and neither of them mentioned Sainristil's pick at the end of the National Championship Game.
Edit: I see OP says that was #11. Pretty sure that was Will Johnson's pick to open the 2nd half they mentioned, not Sainristil. Dammit you're going to make me go back and check.
Yep. It's the WJ pick. They also roll just the whole defense in the game into this, but only specifically mention Grant's sack.
February 1st, 2024 at 8:06 AM ^
Feels like Chase gets unfairly forgotten because he was the face of the Revenge Tour which ended with a resounding splat. The guy would be a program legend up there with Hutch and Ojabo if we’d won in 2018