Interesting Harbaugh factoid
Harbaugh has lost his first game at all three college stops and he scored 17 points in each of those losses.
He lost to Asuza Pacific 11 years ago today 24-17.
I got the info from the edge of the internet, yet it was interesting enough to share.
Let's just hope he doesn't repeat going 1-3 to start the season like he did at San Diego and Stanford.
September 4th, 2015 at 8:29 AM ^
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September 4th, 2015 at 8:35 AM ^
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September 4th, 2015 at 8:52 AM ^
September 4th, 2015 at 9:02 AM ^
September 4th, 2015 at 9:23 AM ^
September 4th, 2015 at 10:23 AM ^
September 4th, 2015 at 5:16 PM ^
September 4th, 2015 at 10:22 AM ^
September 4th, 2015 at 11:48 AM ^
September 4th, 2015 at 9:54 AM ^
September 4th, 2015 at 10:10 AM ^
September 4th, 2015 at 5:27 PM ^
September 4th, 2015 at 10:28 AM ^
September 4th, 2015 at 8:59 AM ^
But the edge of the internet probably got it from ESPN.
September 4th, 2015 at 8:32 AM ^
Even if we go 1-3, and I hope we don't, the final product once Harbaugh got those machines humming along was something to marvel at. With a new QB, new system, and players who are learning things for the first time (as was alluded to by a few players comments in older threads) I see last night's performance as a floor rather than a ceiling.
September 4th, 2015 at 8:38 AM ^
People were freaking out last night over the loss. Harbaugh is one of the best coaches in football, but he's not a magician. They've had 30 days of practices and we expect them to be 2010 Stanford?
No. That won't happen yet. It's one game against a good opponent that we made several FIXABLE mistakes against. We'll be fine. Just give him time.
FWIW, several P5 coaches thought Utah was going to smoke us, as unbiased observers. We're too inundated with HARBAUGH to see that this team needs time. Same players, different scheme. Rarely do things change so drastically the first year.
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September 4th, 2015 at 9:04 AM ^
you never got the sense that the kids lost their composure. And the penalty situation was excellent. IIRC no holding penalties, that PI on Peppers looking at the replay, that Tight End did a good job of drawing it (did you see him pull peppers toward him?).
September 4th, 2015 at 9:22 AM ^
Completely different from last year.
Jake makes 2 throws on target and doesn't make one bad decision (or maybe some of that was on Perry) it's a different result.
September 4th, 2015 at 12:02 PM ^
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September 4th, 2015 at 10:11 AM ^
but even outgaining Utah for the second time in two years and losing points out how costly Michigan's mistakes were because they denied the potential for one score near the red zone where the team was 3 for 3 otherwise and directly created the winning TD margin.
Eliminate two of those picks, and everything else was virtually even or better in a hostile road evironment in their first game. This is why coaches would prefer that you play at home and then go on the road the second week. We can thank Dave Brandon for the scheduling lesson.
Look, you can't turn the ball over three times on the road and expect to win. Michigan was in the game all night and moved the ball as well or better than Utah. They stopped the Utes major running threat but were taken advantage of by another mobile qb, who burned them for several first downs and a score.
Going forward, that will have to be addressed and resolved because Michigan will face a dynamic qb again when BYU comes to Ann Arbor.
People were complaining about Bolden, but he led the defense in tackles with 13, as he should. Utah and Michigan each registered 20 first downs and time of possession was equal, almost to the second. Utah was 3-13 on third down conversions and threw for a hundred yards less than Michigan.
The numbers reflect the closeness of the game and the difference which were costly mistakes, the first ending a promising drive that could have netted an early TD and the last one, a door-closing score.
If I had to criticize, I thought the play-calling was very vanilla. But the staff was looking for execution and it was a road game, so I get it. I think there was a seeming lack of urgency in the fourth quarter and Harbaugh squandered some timeouts because of alignment issues.
The outcome was disappointing and the play was up and down as should be expected for a first game. However, there was great effort and some very good individual and unit play. The Dline was very good. Michigan earned the only sack of the game, as the Oline protected well and sometimes opening massive holes that Smith and Green never found.
So, those issues remain.
Brian was right on about Butt and his highlight performance led the receivers though Darboh tied him for total receptions with 8. Both he and Chesson managed to get open repeatedly.
I was hoping we'd see more passing to the backs out of the backfield, which Michigan traditionally rarely does, and continued that trend even when Isaac was open on swing and circle routes and covered by a wayward linebacker.
As Ace noted there was a lot to like and much that needs correcting going forward. That's always true after a first game. We saw the truth last night, and for many of us it's a little hard to handle -- but we'll survive.
September 4th, 2015 at 10:21 AM ^
Utah is a very tough place to play. The altitude effects people coming from sea level differently and you could see some of our players (Bolden!) were out of gas after some plays.
It's not an excuse, but it shouldn't be discounted.
Most troubling to me is Rudock's inability to through deep with accuracy. I think that will severely alter the way defenses play us. Without that threat the running game will also suffer. I'm not completely against letting Shane play some snaps.
September 4th, 2015 at 10:31 AM ^
September 4th, 2015 at 11:05 AM ^
ever going out west to start the season and doing well. Washington, Oregon, and UCLA during the Lloyd Carr era. I don't think we won any of those.
September 4th, 2015 at 11:26 AM ^
Floor rather than ceiling is the perfect way to look at it. It's only going to get better.
September 4th, 2015 at 8:41 AM ^
We were in that game the entire time, and Utah will compete for the Pac12 title. We completely contained Booker. Ruddock needs a bit of improvement (don't always go checkdown, don't stare down receivers), but we looked so much better than last year.
September 4th, 2015 at 9:05 AM ^
Is Utah actually a legitimate contender? Everyone is saying this but if they are, how are they not top 25?
September 4th, 2015 at 9:29 AM ^
I think they're a fringe contender. They're going to ruin someone else's season, but I don't think they're making the P12CG
September 4th, 2015 at 10:07 AM ^
Thats what I was thinking. I think they're as good as a middle of the pack Big 10 team
September 4th, 2015 at 11:07 AM ^
USC will always be considered to be a contender or at least top 25 because it's USC. Utah isn't know for being a powerhouse except for that undefeated season they had where RichRod almost beat them.
September 4th, 2015 at 11:48 AM ^
Exactly this. They'll beat a couple big teams in the PAC12 and they'll lose to several others. USC, Oregon, UCLA, Arizona aren't going to miss those plays where Michigan got behind the secondary, or provide 3 gift int's. Tough at home, but I don't think they'll compete for a conf. championship.
September 4th, 2015 at 8:45 AM ^
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September 4th, 2015 at 8:49 AM ^
Really just the pick six. That was a huge drive, and WE BLEW IT!
Really loved being able to operate a two minute drill though. Team stuck together, and kept me hoping till that onside kick flew out of bounds.
September 4th, 2015 at 11:08 AM ^
you connect on those passes they respect the deep threat and the running game opens up.
September 4th, 2015 at 8:51 AM ^
To only lose by 7 on the road to a good Utah team is not bad. Especially when you consider the 3 interceptions and one returned to the house. Jake had Chesson open twice that could have been touchdowns (the first was all but guaranteed a TD). For how poorly we played, we gave ourselves a chance at the end.
September 4th, 2015 at 8:53 AM ^
September 4th, 2015 at 8:53 AM ^
You generally see your biggest improvement from week 1 to week 2. And Michigan is lucky enough to have a few extra days before their next game to get in the film room, get coached up on their mistakes, and get prepared for their big win against BYU
September 4th, 2015 at 9:01 AM ^
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September 4th, 2015 at 4:57 PM ^
Thank you, sir.
September 4th, 2015 at 8:53 AM ^
What it shows (I hope) is that Harbaugh is truly dedicated to getting better each day, doing things the right way, and not looking for short-term fixes. If over the course of four first appearances Harbaugh's teams lost but then improved over the long-haul, it seems like more than a coincidence.
I think last night's game was an extremely valuable one for Harbaugh and his staff, in that it allowed them to evaluate players in the heat of battle. We'll be OK soon, between the lower level competition of the balance of the OOC season, and the development that will occur over time.
September 4th, 2015 at 9:01 AM ^
last nights game was almost like another practice or a scrimmage...I know, don't blow me up on this (ovbiously it wasn't and nobody approached it that way), but from the standpoint that its the first time they see these guys doing the real thing. Some guys are great practice players and some guys are great gamers. There were some in game adjustments and i would expect a lot of them prior to next week as well. They are going ot get better throughout this year!
September 4th, 2015 at 9:06 AM ^
I wouldn't say the entire game but the last scoring drive definitely had that feel. Utah kind of let up on the defense a bit and Michigan went on a steady scoring drive. I really wanted Michigan to chuck it downfield and get a quick score so that we could go for it again, but that's not Harbaugh's game plan yet. I think he just wanted to make sure that none of our players ever give up and that even in a lost game, we go up till the very last second.
September 4th, 2015 at 10:00 AM ^
harping on Bolden, but for all the (seemingly, maybe it's just me?) hype around this guy - he just doesn't seem to perform that well in games. Obviously has dome something right to be team capt. but very dissapointing last night.
The entire linebacker corp. besides for a few nice tackles by Ross at the end really bummed me out. Slow to the edge, got burned by the QB up the middle that resulted in a TD.. doesn't really seem like people are talking about that today that much but I'm really hoping we see improvement from them this year.
September 4th, 2015 at 10:22 AM ^
September 4th, 2015 at 9:13 AM ^
many need to grasp some reality. Everything is not falling apart. As a team what I saw was a competitive team that needs to grow in some areas, OL/running game, QB play, etc. What I saw was a team that was a couple plays/mistakes away from winning that game. I expect Ruddock to improve as we go. He won't be a Boykin, but he doesn't have to be. I would like to see Issac get more touches as well. I thought Darboh looked capabale on the outside. Butt is going to be a beast. Peppers lived up to the hype in the second half. 2 mnunte Off was run very well. I suspect we will be 5-1 heading into MSU game.
September 4th, 2015 at 9:14 AM ^
I was just so happy to finally see a team come out and play better after halftime. Seems like a Hoke led team would have fallen apart and since that didn't happen, I consider it a major improvement. Keep improving and Michigan is going to have no problems
September 4th, 2015 at 9:37 AM ^
September 4th, 2015 at 9:20 AM ^
I was sure that this was going to be the factoid before I opened this thread.
Also, this team DID NOT give up last night. We even had a shot in the last minute. That is SO awesome and WILL win us some games we shouldn't win.
I left the bar last night (might have been stranded otherwise) when we turned it over on downs with the score at 24-10. I assumed that would be the final. I was shocked when I found out that we had scored again and had an outside chance of tying the game. This is not Hoke's team any longer. Harbaugh does not give up and he will do whatever it takes to win, even if everything is going wrong.
The Harbaugh Era has started, and once you get past some execution mistakes, you can see that it will be a heckuva era.
September 4th, 2015 at 9:37 AM ^
I agree that strangely despite the loss, there was this big positive. The team lost a game that they could have won with one less interception and a few correctable miscues. Much rather see this than having everyone come out amped up and after 10 minutes of adrenaline emotion has worn off, collapse. Hope this is the NFL experience influence of Harbaugh - where week to week a team can lose but it does not put them into a tailspin and they can build on it.
September 4th, 2015 at 11:03 AM ^
...best kind of game to lose: in adverse circumstances, with plenty of correctable mistakes. Weren't whipped, weren't beaten so much as lost. That gives everyone stuff to work on, and lots of hope for the future.
September 4th, 2015 at 9:49 AM ^
I could have made a bundle in Vegas...