Signs of Michigan football’s collapse were visible last year. Almost everyone ignored them

Rainer Sabin, Detroit Free Press

·4 min read

The signs of Michigan football’s collapse were visible a year ago, although many ignored them. The cracks in the foundation of a shattered program began to form long before it suffered another miserable defeat Saturday against Penn State and fell to 2-4.

Throughout history, there is always a tipping point that catalyzes the fall of a regime, a nation, an empire, an era.

For Michigan and coach Jim Harbaugh, that point can be traced to Sept. 21, 2019. On that day, Wisconsin annihilated Michigan, 35-14, tearing through the Wolverines’ defense, suppressing their offense and crushing their will.

The Badgers blew the Wolverines off the line of scrimmage and amassed 359 rushing yards and five touchdowns on the ground. They pressured Shea Patterson on 15 of 36 dropbacks and forced four turnovers. They built a 28-0 lead at halftime, dominating an opponent ranked a few spots above them.

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Under Harbaugh, Michigan had suffered resounding defeats. But they usually came at the hands of superior programs stocked with better talent or tricked out with more advanced schemes, such as Ohio State and Florida. Wisconsin, on the other hand, resided in the same sphere as Michigan, and relied on the same physical style that Harbaugh espoused.

To lose to the Badgers in that fashion was troubling.

“We were outplayed,” Harbaugh said afterwards. “Out-prepared and out-coached. Outplayed in the whole thing. Both offensively and defensively. It was thorough. … We’ll come back and got a lot to fix.”

Wisconsin Badgers running back Jonathan Taylor leaps for a first down during the first quarter against the Michigan Wolverines at Camp Randall Stadium, Sept. 21, 2019.
Wisconsin Badgers running back Jonathan Taylor leaps for a first down during the first quarter against the Michigan Wolverines at Camp Randall Stadium, Sept. 21, 2019.

Harbaugh started by moving offensive coordinator Josh Gattis from the box to the field, citing a communication breakdown as a reason. Days later, Harbaugh revealed some of his team’s struggles that manifested themselves on the field in Madison were the result of a disconnect that impeded Michigan from transferring its performance in practice to game days.

The admission then was stunning because it exposed organizational problems that had interfered with the operation and seeded dysfunction. But few rang the alarm bells because an experienced Michigan team rallied to win seven of its next eight games.

By last November, the humiliating defeat to Wisconsin was seen as an aberration.

Now, 14 months later, it’s clear it was a harbinger of this season.

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Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh reacts to a call during the second half of the 27-17 loss to Penn State at Michigan Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 28, 2020.
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh reacts to a call during the second half of the 27-17 loss to Penn State at Michigan Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 28, 2020.

As was the case during that miserable afternoon last year in Madison, Michigan’s defense has been trampled, its offense has been feckless and its coaching staff has been outmatched throughout much of 2020. The issues that torpedoed Michigan in its first Big Ten game of 2019 continue to derail the program in present day.

Earlier in November, after the Wolverines’ first loss to Indiana in 33 years, Harbaugh again expressed concern they were underperforming based on how they had practiced. A week later, they were stampeded by the Badgers, who tore through Michigan’s front and quashed its passing game for the second straight year.

Then came Saturday, when the Wolverines didn’t muster much fight to beat back a winless Penn State team.

Instead, the Nittany Lions carved through them with a depleted stable of running backs and a quarterback previously benched because of poor play. There were missed tackles, an absence of fundamental execution in all disciplines and no real strategy, as Gattis’ game plan seemed disjointed and defensive coordinator Don Brown’s stubbornly misguided.

Michigan, in so many ways, resembled the team that lost so convincingly against Wisconsin in 2019.

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But these Wolverines are even less equipped than that outfit because of roster attrition and recruiting mismanagement. They don’t have nearly as much talent and experience. More disconcerting is the possibility they might have less spirit, too.

“It’s frustrating,” defensive end Taylor Upshaw muttered afterwards.

It’s more than that though.

It’s worrisome because there is nothing stopping Michigan from sliding farther into the abyss.

“It’s tough to be in this position,” right tackle Andrew Stueber said. “It’s not what we imagined.”

But if history is a guide, it was easy to envision the decline. The signs were there last year, even though many chose to disregard them until it was too late, and things had already begun to fall apart.

Contact Rainer Sabin at rsabin@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @RainerSabin. Read more on the Michigan Wolverines, Michigan State Spartans and sign up for our Big Ten newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Signs of Michigan football’s collapse were there last year but ignored