Five things Michigan football fans have to be thankful for this Thanksgiving

It’s Thanksgiving Day, and despite some recent adversity off the field, Michigan Wolverines fans have a lot to be thankful for. On this day of reflection, we break down five things U-M fans are grateful for.

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‘The Game’ being for all the marbles

The first step to having a successful football season at Michigan is ensuring that ‘The Game’ against Ohio State is for all the marbles. Michigan has been able to do that more times than not under ninth-year head coach Jim Harbaugh. He’s taken on the Buckeyes seven times, and the Wolverines would have advanced to the Big Ten title game with a win on four of those occasions (2016, 2018, 2021, 2022). Make it six of eight this year. In 2015, too, Michigan entered the day with a chance to make it to Indy but needed help from the results of other games.

“This game is a championship,” Michigan senior running back Blake Corum said this week. “It’s a championship for the East [Division]. Championship game that we’re coming up on Saturday, Nov. 25. We’ve just gotta be locked in, be where our feet are this week, prepare really well and then just play our ball, man.”

Extra motivation

The national media, rival programs and the Big Ten/NCAA have blown the situation regarding Michigan’s alleged “off-campus scouting” allegations way out of proportion. Those who know football understand just how good Michigan has been, and that its wins are deserved, but competitors and hostile media members have an agenda — they’re seemingly coordinated, and they’re pushing it anywhere they can.

All that has done is galvanized Michigan — from president Santa Ono, to the board of regents, to athletic director Warde Manuel, to Harbaugh and the players and so on. It’s “Michigan vs. Everybody,” they say, and “you’re either with us or against us.”

The Wolverines have chosen to block out some of the outside noise, but they’ve used some of it as fuel, too.

Michigan taking the high road

It’s not clear there were scouting rules broken, and so far there has been no reported proof that head coach Jim Harbaugh or any assistant coaches were involved with former junior staffer Connor Stalions‘ alleged actions (which, again, may not have violated the rule in question, NCAA bylaw 11.6.1). Big Ten rookie commissioner Tony Petitti issued an unprecedented suspension for Harbaugh for the remainder of the regular season.

Through all of that, Michigan players and coaches have taken the high road, handling themselves with class and continuing to focus on the task at hand.

“One thing about the noise — it starts to be tolerated and it just gets blocked out,” Harbaugh said this week. “Staying on course, staying on the high road. keeping the priorities right — faith, family, football. … Keep those priorities straight and other things become irrelevant.”

Incredible stretch of success

Michigan beat Maryland, 31-24, last weekend, and some fans were beside themselves. They couldn’t believe Michigan, a 19-point favorite, won a game by only one possession for the first time this season.

That only speaks to just how elite this program has been in recent years, and how spoiled the fanbase is.

Michigan has won 36 of its last 39 games dating back to the start of the 2021 season. It’s been victorious in 27 consecutive regular-season tilts, without a loss in over two calendar years. It’s 11-0 in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1901-02.

The senior class and a final send-off

Michigan’s senior class came to Ann Arbor in 2020. They didn’t have spring practices due to the pandemic and were freshmen during perhaps the most unique college football season in history. They endured and came out the other end stronger.

Corum, right guard Zak Zinter, defensive tackle Kris Jenkins, wide receiver Roman Wilson, EDGE Jaylen Harrell … we could go on and on and on. These guys have made major impacts and carried themselves with class the entire way through. The fifth- and sixth-year players who stuck around, too, have meant a great deal to the Michigan program – wideout Cornelius Johnson, defensive back Mike Sainristil, linebacker Michael Barrett (the winningest player in program history with 57 victories) and others.

Many of them decided to come back an extra year and continue Michigan’s incredible success.

Saturday will be the final game at The Big House for many of them. It’ll be emotional, and and it should be a great environment for the clash with the Buckeyes.

“It was cinema. It really was just a movie, with the snow falling, with the crowd,” McCarthy said of Michigan’s 42-27 win over Ohio State in 2021. “I felt like the crowd, it was really one heartbeat that was meshed with the team. Everything about it was just magical, and I don’t expect anything less this weekend.”