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Jim Harbaugh shares halftime message ahead of dominant second half vs Penn State

On3 imageby:Andrew Graham•10/15/22•

AndrewEdGraham

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ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN - OCTOBER 15: Head coach Jim Harbaugh of the Michigan Wolverines looks on in the first half of a game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Michigan Stadium on October 15, 2022 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (Photo by Mike Mulholland/Getty Images)

The 16-14 halftime scoreline in the Michigan–Penn State game in Ann Arbor on Saturday of course didn’t reflect the play-to-play dominance that the Wolverines had exhibited in the first half. Head coach Jim Harbaugh said postgame that his halftime message reflected as much.

Outside of a 60-plus yard keeper from Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford on a read option and a hardly-replicable double-deflection pick-six, Michigan had eviscerated the Nittany Lions. With 18 first downs to their opponent’s one at the half, Harbaugh harped on his team to keep it rolling and ignore those couple plays.

“And at halftime, yeah, just two big plays,” Harbaugh said postgame. “Everybody knew what the deal was. There was a mistake we made on offense that resulted in a touchdown for them and they got a big play on their quarterback read. It was just those two plays and we’ve got 30 more minutes of football here and let’s keep doing what we’re doing.”

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Michigan retook the lead right before half with a methodical field-goal drive — though settling for field goals was part of what hung up the Wolverines in the first half. Michigan kicked three field goals from inside the 20 in the first half. On the third, Harbaugh just wanted to snag the lead.

“Yeah, I wanted to take the points there,” Harbaugh said. “What I said to the team at half was, they were playing great. I just love when the team — and they played with a lot of joy and gusto. And that’s when our guys are playing their best. And just letting it rip.”

Michigan did just that in the second half, keep on the gas and burying Penn State behind a 25-3 second half.

By the time the Penn State walked off the field with its first loss of the season, the Michigan had rushed for 7.6 yards per carry and held the ball for nearly 42 minutes of game time.