As fans approached Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta for the 51st playing of the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, a fog had settled over the roof. The gloomy setting turned out to be appropriate for Michigan fans.
Despite the dank air outside the stadium, inside Michigan fans were in a festive holiday mood, ready to put an exclamation point on the season for their team in the 2018 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
The Florida Gators had other plans. Namely, playing the role of the Grinch for everyone wearing maize and blue.
Michigan came into the game at a 7.5 point favorite, but that seemed a rather lofty spread for two teams with such similar makeups. As it turned out, the spread was just fine, only it was slanted the wrong way.
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It’s worth noting that Michigan was minus some key players in the game. Most notably the Wolverines leading rusher Karan Higdon and second-leading tackler Devin Bush. But the absence of Higdon, Bush and others can’t explain the second straight defensive no-show for Jim Harbaugh‘s squad.
You could also argue that Michigan was disinterested in playing in the Peach Bowl, despite it being one of the New Year’s Six bowl games. However, there seems little validity to that take, as Jim Harbaugh thinks about recruiting much in the same way Nick Saban does, and making a statement in a bowl game against the SEC would have been a feather in his recruiting cap.
The Michigan defense came into the game ranked second in the nation against the pass, and the number one overall defense, and yet they managed to make Felipe Franks look pretty good, giving up 173 passing yards, 74 rushing yards and two total touchdowns to the Florida quarterback amid the 41 points surrendered.
Florida’s defense was everything Michigan’s defense was supposed to be in this game, and the Florida offense — which had been up and down all season — looked more like the Urban Meyer version of the Gators.
Fitting and ironic at the same time.
The simple fact is that Michigan’s defensive scheme was exposed for the second straight game against a team with some fast, athletic players on offense. That failure falls on both Harbaugh and defensive coordinator Don Brown.
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Between Brown’s inability to properly scheme against speed and the spread formations, and Harbaugh’s refusal to time-travel into the 21st century offensively, Michigan remains stuck in neutral in games which count the most during the Jim Harbaugh era.
In those games, the record speaks for itself.
Versus Ohio State, 0-4
Versus Top 10 opponents, 1-9
In games which could decide Big Ten East, 0-3
In bowl games, 1-3
Those are the type of games Michigan is paying Harbaugh to win.
Not wiping the floor with Rutgers.
Not being the “best team in Michigan” by beating Michigan State and Western Michigan.
Not shooting for a 10-win season every year.
The fine print written in disappearing ink on Jim Harbaugh’s contract simply reads “Get your team to games that matter, and then win them”.
Accumulating a lot of meaningless wins and padding the overall winning percentage is all well and good, but if you don’t beat the rivals and don’t win the meaningful games, you won’t be kept around in modern college football.
Michigan has yet to even play in a Big Ten Championship Game under Harbaugh. The least he could do is find a way to that game. That’s why Harbaugh was hired. That’s what Michigan should expect from him.
When asked if he anticipated making any staff moves during this offseason, Harbaugh gave a curt, dry “No” as an answer.
When asked why his teams continue to struggle in the big games, Harbaugh’s answer seemed almost incredulous.
“We’re beaten by — on those days — we were beaten by better teams.”
Dizzying analysis.
Colin Cowherd can argue until the Chick-fil-A cows come home that Jim Harbaugh is the best coach in the country. But until he coaches his team to wins in some meaningful games, he’ll remain among the long list of woulda-coulda-shoulda college coaches along with Mark Richt, Chris Petersen, Mike Gundy, and others.