Signs of the fall of Michigan football were visible a year ago, though many ignored them. Cracks in the foundations of a damaged show began to form long before he suffered another depressing defeat Saturday in front of Penn State and fell to 2-4.
Throughout history, there is a turning point that catalyzes the fall of a regime, a nation, an empire, an era.
For Michigan and coach Jim Harbaugh, that point goes back to September 21, 2019, that day, Wisconsin eliminated Michigan, 35-14, destroying the Wolverines’ defense, suppressing their offensive and crushing their will.
The Badgers pulled the Wolverines off the punch line and amassed 359 yards on the court and touchdowns. They put pressure on Shea Patterson in 15 of 36 losses and forced four ball losses. They built a 28-0 lead at half-time, dominating a ranked opponent. some puts above them.
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Under Harbaugh, Michigan had suffered resounding defeats, but they came here in the hands of higher systems with greater skill or tricked through more complex systems, such as the state of Ohio and Florida. Wisconsin, on the other hand, resided in the same sphere, as Michigan, and relied on the same physical taste Harbaugh married.
Losing to the troubling Badgers.
“We were improved, ” said Harbaugh afterwards. ” Super prepared and over-trained. Outperformed in general. Both offensively and defensively. It’s thorough . . . we’ll come back and we’ll have a lot to fix. “
Harbaugh began by moving offensive coordinator Josh Gattis from the box to the field, and a few days later, Harbaugh revealed that some of his team’s difficulties on the field in Madison were the result of a disconnection that prevented Michigan from moving its practice functionality to gaming days.
Admission was staggering at the time because it revealed organizational disorders that had interfered with the operation and caused a malfunction, but few sounded the alarm when an experienced Michigan team recovered to win seven of their next 8 games.
November’s humiliating loss to Wisconsin was considered an aberration.
Now, 14 months later, it is transparent that this is an omen of this season.
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As happened on that depressing afternoon last year in Madison, Michigan’s defense trampled, its flawless offense and training staff were overtaken for much of 2020. The up disorders that torpedoed Michigan in their first Big Ten game of 2019 continue to fail the program in those days.
In early November, after the Wolverines’ first loss to Indiana in 33 years, Harbaugh expressed concern about the poor performance due to the practice they had practiced. A week later, they were beaten by the Badgers, who wrecked the Michigan front and canceled their careers. air play for the time being year in a row.
Then he came here on Saturday, when the Wolverines didn’t fight much to defend themselves against a Penn State team with no victories.
Instead, the Nittany Lions went through them with an exhausted team of ball carriers and a quarterback in the past sent to the bench due to poor play. There were failed tackles, a lack of basic execution in all disciplines and no genuine strategy, such as Gattis’ game plan. He seemed disjointed and defensive coordinator Don Brown stubbornly disoriented.
Michigan, in many ways, resembled the one it so convincingly lost to Wisconsin in 2019.
[Stock observation: Hassan Haskins rigidly moored U-M RB rotation]
But those Wolverines are even less stocked than this outfit because of the wear and tear of the list and poor management of recruitment. They don’t have that much skill and experience. More disconcerting is the option they also have less wit.
“It’s frustrating, ” murmured the defensive ending Taylor Upshaw afterwards.
But it’s more than that.
This is worried that nothing will stop Michigan from sliding more into the abyss.
“It’s hard to be in that position,” Andrew Stueber said, “it’s not what we imagine. “
But if history is a guide, it was simple to despise due decline. The symptoms were last year, many chose to forget about them until it was too late and things had already started to collapse.
Contact Rainer Sabin at rsabin@freepress. com. Follow him on Twitter at RainerSabin. Learn about the Michigan Wolverines, Michigan Spartans and sign up for our Big Ten newsletter.