It took Jim Harbaugh 7 years to solve the riddle of beating Ohio State which enabled him to win the Big Ten East, and then beat Iowa which enabled him to finally win a Big Ten title (Michigan’s first Big Ten title since 2004).
And with a Big Ten title in hand, it enabled Michigan to earn an invitation to the College Football playoffs, but while Harbaugh was staring his legacy in the face, he lit a dud and got embarrassed by Georgia 34-11 in the semi final of the College Football playoff.
Of course, Harbaugh was 7 years late getting to the Big Ten title party, after all the media declared in 2015 (namely Bruce Feldman who writes for the Athletic) that Harbaugh would dominate the Big Ten and win National Championships for years to come.
But not so fast: Harbaugh is still not ready for Prime Time and the niche in Michigan’s Trophy Case for National Titles under Jim Harbaugh is still vacant.
In 7 years, Harbaugh is 1-5 vs Ohio State and 3-4 vs Michigan State with only one Big Ten title as return on Michigan’s robust financial investment. Hardly the stuff from which legends are made.
But wait, there is more: not only hasn’t Jim Harbaugh won a National title, Jim Harbaugh hasn’t even won a Bowl Game since beating Florida 41-7 in the Citrus Bowl on Jan 1, 2016. Since that time, Jim Harbaugh is 0-5 in Bowl games.
Take a look at Harbaugh’s dismal Bowl record (of course Michigan didn’t qualify for a Bowl game after 2020 season):
- Dec 31, 2016 #6 Michigan lost to #11 Florida State in the Orange Bowl, 33-32
- Jan 1, 2018, Michigan lost to South Carolina in the Outback Bowl, 26-19
- Dec 29, 2018, #7 Michigan lost to #10 Florida in the Peach Bowl, 41-15
- Jan 1, 2020, #14 Michigan lost to #13 Alabama in the Citrus Bowl, 35-16.
- Dec 31, 2021, #2 Michigan lost to #3 Georgia in the CFP Orange Bowl 34-11
Let’s count it up: with more than a month to prepare for Bowl games, and in spite of being favored in every Bowl game with the exception of Alabama, Jim Harbaugh is 0-5.
Most notably, in the last 3 Bowl games, Jim Harbaugh has been beaten by an average score of 37-14 or an average losing margin of 23 points.
Those losses don’t spell lack of speed, or lack of size or lack of talent, rather it spells “UNPREPAREDNESS”, and Harbaugh’s Hubris hasn’t been able to overcome UNPREPAREDNESS!
Of course, this season, the CFP Orange Bowl was supposed to be nearly an automatic win for Harbaugh given the fact the media declared Kirby Smart to be a country bumpkin incapable of winning a National title, while Georgia QB Stetson Bennett was best suited for D-II…right?
But the media forgot to look at Harbaugh’s Bowl record and so they fed half the information into their flawed calculation…big mistake.
There is one more factoid: Harbaugh’s average finish in the Big Ten East over 7 years is a dismal 3rd place, so when I hear pundits refer to Harbaugh as a great coach, then I ask “what is your definition of Great Coach?”
If they want to refer to Harbaugh as a Good coach…or a solid coach, sure, but, Great Coach? C’mon…the facts say something totally different.
Harbaugh has been drinking the Kool Aid:
Georgia lost to Alabama and Harbaugh drank the Kool Aid.
Of course, after being ranked #1 in the country for the better part of the season, Georgia lost to Alabama 41-24 on Dec 4, while on the same day Michigan mauled Iowa 42-3 and suddenly it was declared Kirby Smart and Georgia were SEC frauds, while Jim Harbaugh and Michigan were suddenly anointed college football elite.
Wrong assumption again…
Yet Harbaugh was ready to drink the Kool Aid. Of course, the premise was flawed, nevertheless the media plodded along collectively singing out of the same Hymn book while selling their half-baked narrative.
Meanwhile, after beating Ohio State and Iowa, Aidan Hutchinson (Michigan’s gifted edge rusher) was suddenly declared the second coming of a combination of some of the best NFL Defensive Ends/Linemen of all time, including but not limited to Gino Marchetti and Gene “Big Daddy” Lipscomb (Colts)…and some who toiled for various “Fearsome Foursomes” over the years including Andy Robustelli and Jim Katcavage (Giants)…Bill Glass, Darris McCord and Sam Williams (Lions)…as well as Lamar Lundy and Deacon Jones (Rams) and I hope those references shine a light upon the enormous hype extended toward Aidan Hutchinson.
Let’s remember, Aidan Hutchinson became one of the biggest stories in the land after Michigan beat Ohio State and Iowa, and while I don’t like to write about college players because they are still students as well as unpaid amateurs, yet Aidan Hutchinson appeared to Drink the Kool Aid as well and thereby forgot to bring his amped up “A” game to Miami. He was by all measures a non-factor vs Georgia.
So, while the odds makers favored Michigan, on the other hand the media declared that Georgia was not up to the challenge of beating Michigan, but c’mon, Georgia completed a 12-0 regular season including victories vs Clemson, Arkansas and Kentucky before losing to Nick Saban and Alabama, but here is a friendly reminder for the media types: Nick Saban has won 6 National Championships in 15 seasons.
So, was Georgia an SEC fraud for losing to Alabama, or did Georgia simply lose to the greatest college football coach of all time? I suggest the latter…and it’s never a good idea to Drink the Kool Aid especially when it’s mixed up and served by partisan media.
At the bottom line (Jim Harbaugh embarrassed the Big Ten):
Harbaugh and his players didn’t look ready to compete.
I can’t get it out of my mind, but prior to playing Ohio State and Iowa, Michigan players were demonstrably “amped up” and appeared ready to “Slay the Dragon”.
But prior to playing Georgia, Michigan players took on a totally different demeanor and seemed disengaged. It was as if they left their “amped up” energy in Ann Arbor.
We all recollect Michigan players arriving in Miami with designer Sun Glasses and all the manifestations of celebrity including ear buds and the newest Michael Jordan “Designer Sweats”.
But instead of being “amped up” the demeanor of Michigan players in Miami was closer to smug and assuming, like they were attending a movie premier, yet there is an old school phrase “too cool for school” and at the Orange Bowl, Michigan players took on the demeanor of entitled Superstars!
Yet football is still played on the Football Pitch and Michigan got punched in the mouth on the first play from scrimmage as Georgia rushed for 9 yards.
Then on successive plays Georgia passed for 16, then 35, then 7 and finally ran for 2 yards prior to calling Timeout. After “Timeout”, Georgia rushed for another 2 yards before throwing a 9 yard TD Pass. And Just like that…after just 4 min and 11 seconds, Georgia led 7-0.
Then after the ensuing Kick Off, Michigan took possession of the football at their 25.
On the first play from Scrimmage, Michigan was called for a “False Start” and got penalized 5 yards, and that pretty much underscored the game.
After a month to prepare, Michigan got called for a “false start” on their very first play from the Line of Scrimmage and that pretty much signaled that Michigan was UNPREPARED to play football.
In fact, Michigan’s possessed the football for just 2 min and 50 seconds on their first possession, advanced the football just 39 yards to Georgia 41 Yard Line, failed to convert 3rd Down, and Harbaugh’s hubris encouraged him to attempt 4th & 4 and failed, so Georgia regained control of the football.
On their second possession, it took Georgia just 3 minutes to score another Touchdown which increased their lead to 14-0 and everyone could have gone home.
Yet the game went on and Georgia led 27-3 at the Half, and finally went on to post a 34-11 victory. Of course, it could have been a greater margin of victory but Georgia took their foot off the accelerator and turned their focus to playing Alabama for the National Championship.
In fact, at the end of the 1st Half, Georgia posted 330 Yards of Total Offense while Michigan posted just 101.
Of course, we all remember the media hype extended to Mike McDonald (Michigan D-Coordinator) and Josh Gattis (Michigan O-Coordinator) after beating Ohio State and Iowa, but where was their collective genius in the biggest game of the season?
Apparently McDonald and Gattis drank the Kool Aid as well.
Nothing spells unpreparedness like Michigan’s Defense yielding 531 Yards of Total Offense for the game (200 Yards more than Michigan’s Defensive avg), while Michigan’s Rushing Offense compiled a meager 91 Yards (or 100 Yards less than Michigan’s Rushing avg).
Meanwhile, Kirby Smart and Georgia were abundantly prepared…
In closing, there is no shame in losing a hard fought Football game, yet there is shame in being totally UNPREPARED and getting totally embarrassed in Prime Time on a National stage.
In that regard, the finger of shame points directly at Harbaugh, McDonald and Gattis who collectively embarrassed the Big Ten!!!
Thank you for reading and Happy New Year to all.
