|
Michigan
drops
first
game to
Utah in
Harbaugh
debut,
team
shows
promise
SALT
LAKE
CITY -
Jim
Harbaugh
was
first to
greet
Jake
Rudock
on the
Michigan
sideline
after he
threw
the
pick-6
that
pretty
much
ended
any hope
the
Wolverines
had of
winning
the
much-hyped
debut of
their
much-hyped
coach.
The
coach
put an
arm
around
his
player,
told him
that the
Utah
defensive
back
made a
great
play and
gave the
forlorn
quarterback
a pat on
the
helmet.
Michigan
fans
will
need to
have the
same
type of
patience
with
their
team.
Harbaugh
has
restored
hope to
the
proud
program,
but as
the
24-17
loss to
the Utes
on
Thursday
night
showed,
a return
to glory
is going
to take
some
time.
"A lot
of
positives,"
Harbaugh
said.
"Some
things
to build
on."
After an
offseason
filled
with
Harbaugh-mania,
it was
time to
play
some
football,
but in
many
ways
Harbaugh's
Michigan
Wolverines
looked a
lot like
the ones
coached
last
season
by Brady
Hoke,
who was
fired
after
going
5-7.
Too many
turnovers
by the
quarterback
(Rudock
threw
three
picks).
Little
production
from the
running
game (76
yards on
29
carries).
A
defense
that
played
OK, but
got
little
support.
"I
thought
we had a
great
game
plan,"
said
tight
end Jake
Butt,
who had
eight
catches
for 93
yards
and a
touchdown.
"We just
didn't
execute."
Linebacker
Joe
Bolden
echoed
that. "I
sound
like a
broken
recorder,
but we
didn't
execute,"
he said.
Harbaugh
gave a
little
laugh
when he
was told
how the
players
harped
on lack
of
execution.'
"I think
they are
being
too hard
on
themselves,"
he said.
Since
that
January
day in
Ann
Arbor
when
Harbaugh
was
introduced
as coach
of his
alma
mater,
he has
been the
most
interesting
man in
college
football.
An
internet
sensation
to rival
the
Kardashians.
He has
inspired
Michigan
fans to
put
Gatorade
on their
cereal,
proclaimed
his
profound
admiration
for
Judge
Judy and
pulled
off the
interstate
to help
two
women
who had
been in
a car
wreck.
He has
made
wearing
khakis
cool in
Ann
Arbor.
Harbaugh
appeared
at ease
before
the
game,
roaming
the
field to
chat
with
assistants
and
watch
his team
warm up.
It was
90
degrees
in Salt
Lake
City,
but that
didn't
change
the
Harbaugh
uniform:
Dark
blue,
long-sleeve
shirt,
tucked
into his
khakis.
Blue
baseball
cap with
a big
maize
block M.
Business
as
usual.
Or maybe
not.
"I feel
a little
bit
more,
personally,
nervous
about
this
beginning
than any
other,"
said
Harbaugh's
wife,
Sarah,
before
the
game. "I
think
there's
a
tremendous
amount
of
pressure
on him
right
now."
Michigan's
recent
past
belies
its
status
as the
winningest
program
in
college
football
history.
Three
years
under
Rich
Rodriguez
and four
under
Hoke
produced
one
season
of
double-digit
victories.
Harbaugh
has
brought
success
everywhere
he has
been,
and at
Stanford
and with
the San
Francisco
49ers,
he took
over
much
worse
situations
and
built
championship-level
teams.
He was
the only
coach
Michigan
fans
really
wanted.
"It was
definitely
a
national
holiday
in our
house
when we
heard
that Jim
Harbaugh
was
going to
be the
next
coach,"
said
David
Spitzley,
who made
the
8-hour
drive
from
Denver
to Salt
Lake
City
with his
wife and
three
young
daughters.
"...
Really
want to
see
signs
that
things
are
going in
the
other
direction
now. The
win
total's
probably
less
important
than the
product
on the
field
and what
does it
look
like. It
was
almost
unwatchable
recently."
Sarah
Harbaugh
understands
the hope
her
husband
has
inspired
in
Michigan,
but she
would be
happy to
hear
about
those
modest
expectations.
"Hopefully,
they
don't
have to
be too
patient,"
she
said.
Harbaugh's
debut
turned
into one
of the
biggest
home
games in
Utah
history,
drawing
a record
crowd of
47,825
to
Rice-Eccles
Stadium
and more
media
members
than
could
fit into
the
press
box.
FS1 was
televising
the game
and
treated
it like
a bowl,
bringing
its
studio
to
Rice-Eccles
and
providing
five
separate
feeds
for
viewers
to
follow
the
game.
"Someone
told me
there's
going to
be a
camera
that's
just on
his face
the
whole
game.
Who does
that?"
Sarah
Harbaugh
said.
Yes,
khaki
cam, as
Fox
called
it, was
all Jim
Harbaugh
all the
time.
Michigan
hung
around
against
a good
Pac-12
opponent
until
Justin
Thomas
stepped
in front
of
Rudock's
sideline
pass and
returned
it 55
yards
for a
score to
make it
24-10.
Rudock
led a
late
scoring
drive to
keep the
score
respectable,
but
Harbaugh
saw more
than a
garbage-time
touchdown.
"He
shook
off that
play and
came
fighting
back. As
did all
of our
team,"
Harbaugh
said.
Next
week
will be
another
milestone
of sorts
for
Harbaugh:
His
first
game
coaching
in the
Big
House,
where he
played
quarterback
for Bo
Schembechler.
Oregon
State is
the
opponent,
but
there
will be
no easy
games
for the
Wolverines.
Hoke
often
tried to
spin the
positive
side of
the
losses,
but it
fell
flat
with
fans.
Harbaugh
comes
with
more
credibility.
So when
he says
he was
impressed,
Michigan
fans may
have
reason
to
believe
him. |