Someone talk me out of letting these next two games Vs #5 Wisconsin & Vs #9 Ohio State define for me whether Harbaugh is a higher paid Lloyd Carr.
I remember it was December 26th 2004 and I was driving my kid brothers from St Louis to their Dad's in Minneapolis. We were halfway there, crossing over an ice sheet known at that time of year as Iowa. Closer to Des Moines our radio signal picked up the Hawkeyes flagship station and one of the featured segments for the local morning guys was aired at every commercial break as advertisement for their AM show. The featured segment that we heard about 9 times before getting north out of the station's reach was a long rant about how "Michigan gets to go 0-2 and go to the Rose Bowl. It doesn't matter if you cream everybody else when you lose to the two name teams on your schedule - Notre Dame and Ohio State."
Obviously they were mad Iowa didn't get the Rose Bowl that year (a 10-2 Hawkeye squad Lloyd beat that year), but to remember their rant, is anything different with Harbaugh? Minus the sympathy Rose Bowls? Losing to Ohio St every year, beating MSU only when they're 3-9, getting blown out by Penn State. Harbaugh's best win is a completely offense-less game against Wisconsin last year. And the excuses - I keep hearing this is a rebuilding year across the roster when it's so clearly misses the point that the QB position is what's holding everything back. The "young" defense ranks 3rd in the nation in Total Defense. They don't need the rebuilding excuse. How does the coach who played QB in the NFL have zero luck stabilizing the position? And I think the post-NFL Harbaugh is stipped of his sense of knowing when and when not to be aggressive on offense. I'm still pissed about netting only 5 or 6 total yards in 4th quarter against the Buckeyes last season.
I keep hearing the experts talk about this weekend's Wisconsin game as if the pressure is on the Badgers. Yes, but looking beyond this season I think the pressure is all on Harbaugh.