COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND — “Michigan vs. Everybody.”
For the second week in a row, Wolverines players and coaches wore gear with that mantra across the chest in the lead up to a game without head coach Jim Harbaugh, who was suspended three games in connection to his program’s sign-stealing scandal.
After barely surviving as 18.5-point favorites over Maryland Saturday, it seems they might be too focused on the “Everybody” side of that slogan and not focused enough on the “Michigan” part.
Michigan players and coaches arrive for today’s game at Maryland. Lot of “Michigan vs. Everybody” shirts and at least one “Free Harbaugh.” pic.twitter.com/6epXHQlagI
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) November 18, 2023
I made the drive down Route 1 to SECU Stadium expecting to see one of the best teams in college football handle a middling Maryland team with relative ease. Instead, I was treated to a College Football Playoff title favorite pushed to the brink of a massive upset. Michigan escaped with a 31-24 win, but it was the Wolverines’ smallest margin of victory all season and the most points they’ve allowed to an opponent since giving up 27 to Maryland last September.
The Terps had scored just 28 points combined over their previous two games.
Michigan interim coach Sherrone Moore credited Maryland for fighting back from a 23-3 deficit after the game and said the Wolverines knew it would be a fight going in.
“I think we needed something like this going into the next game,” Running back Blake Corum said. “I think it was good for us.”
If there was ever a sign the biggest story to consume college football in quite some time might also be swallowing the team caught at the center of it, this was it.
Case in point, Michigan’s leading receiver Donovan Wilson departed from the preferred pre-game fashion choice of his team to instead wear a shirt that said “Free Harbaugh,” the same message that was on a sign players held after last week’s win over Penn State. Never mind, Harbaugh himself accepted the Big Ten’s three-game ban Thursday, and Michigan dropped a legal challenge of the suspension.
A Michigan player is wearing a 'Free Harbaugh' shirt during warmupspic.twitter.com/Rtotm51rRA
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 18, 2023
The university said in a statement it was accepting the sanction “to return the focus to our student-athletes and their performance on the field.” But after seeing how those same student-athletes arrived, and the performances that followed, it was hard not to think it’s their focus that’s divided.
Maryland fans didn’t make things any easier by breaking into chants of “Where is Harbaugh?” at one point.
It’s easy to dismiss Saturday as a typical trap-game performance for Michigan, with a meeting against rival Ohio State awaiting the Wolverines next week. Especially coming off that emotional win over Penn State that strangely left Moore in tears. It’s also hard to quantify the impact of a head coach’s absence. But it’s not like this game was without importance. Aside from keeping their title hopes alive, the Wolverines were also playing for their 1,000th win in program history.
With those stakes, J.J. McCarthy played his worst conference game of the season, completing 12-of-23 passes for 141 yards and one interception. Surviving Maryland by seven points after being spotted 11 by the opposing offense can’t inspire the most confidence ahead of Michigan’s biggest game of the season.
Oddsmakers reacted by elevating Georgia over Michigan as betting favorites to win the national title, with the Wolverines going from +225 odds at BetMGM to +275 after the game.
Yes, that’s still very good and Michigan is still undefeated at 11-0, with every it wants still ahead of it. But if this team keeps feeding into the noise and playing the victim rather than moving on playing good football, those title dreams will stay just that. Dreams.
