58 days until Michigan football: Jim Harbaugh's most underrated win
There’s much anticipation heading into the Michigan Wolverines football season, and TheWolverine.com is counting down the days until the Sept. 2 opener against East Carolina. We’ll discuss current Michigan events, the upcoming season and/or take a look at a significant number that correlates with how many days remain until kickoff, whether it be a player’s jersey number, a year, a date, a score, etc.
Michigan football was able to turn its fortunes around over the last two seasons thanks to a 25-3 record, a pair of Big Ten titles and two trips to the College Football Playoff. Some might argue one of the biggest turning points was the teams’ 21-17 win over Penn State in 2021. The victory was the 58th of Jim Harbaugh’s tenure in Ann Arbor.
Penn State went up 3-0 in the first quarter with a Jordan Stout 42-yard field goal with 9:56 on the clock. That would be it for the scoring until the 5:49 mark of the second quarter when Cade McNamara hit Roman Wilson for a 21-yard touchdown catch to go up 7-3. Stout hit a 52-yard field goal just before halftime to cut Michigan’s lead to 7-6.
McNamara hit Wilson from one-yard out with 11:50 left in the third quarter to put Michigan up 14-6. Penn State scored the next 11 points, leading to the Wolverines facing a 17-14 deficit with 5:55 remaining.
One of the defining drives of Michigan’s season followed on a six-play, 75-yard scoring march that was concluded with a 47-yard reception by tight end Erick All to the endzone on a bum ankle. Jake Moody’s extra point made it 21-17 with 3:29 to go, and the Wolverines would hold on to take the victory.
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These types of wins eluded Harbaugh for the first six years of his tenure, but it was a gut-check moment that helped Michigan reset a few weeks after losing to Michigan State. They would ultimately take down Ohio State and win their first Big Ten title since 2004.
“I think it’s just — it happens. It’s a ball team,” Harbaugh said after the game. “But I don’t know about all that stuff. This is a great win. No doubt this team is full of all the championship qualities in guys, football players — they were born to do this. They approach like, ‘Yeah, we were born for these kind of days. Let’s go have at it! Go have good days and then go play the game.’ They enjoy it. They’re having a lot of fun, the energy’s high, it’s time to go! That’s the stuff that I see and I hear and then they go and have at it. It’s great to be a part of.”
Michigan football countdown to kickoff
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