Michigan is Not Dodging Any Opponents

Michigan had to cancel their game this Saturday due to a rise in COVID cases within their football program.

I could see this coming from a mile away. The moment they announced that Giles Jackson was out last week with an "undisclosed injury", I thought that it seemed fishy. Michigan was one of the few programs that was handling the virus okay, but time finally caught up to them. I figure it was going to go through most teams, and it has gone through a ton of teams already. Michigan was a ticking time bomb.

The reason this feels different to me is, this is my team. I had faith in them to be able to finish their season uninterrupted. That is on me because this virus could care less who you are. It attacks everyone. But the way Jim Harbaugh talked all year, and how vocal the whole program was prior to the cancellation, and then restart, I just assumed they would make it through eight or nine games unscathed. They did not. And now, along with the Maryland game being cancelled, they may not get to play the University of Ohio State next weekend. The Big Ten has built in rules that are not the same as other conferences, and those rules put that game into question now.

I would be bummed if they do not get to play the University of Ohio State, as I am bummed they aren't playing this weekend. But next week's game is the big game, the rivalry game. And I know that Michigan had little to no shot to win this year. Hell, they haven't won in nine years, and I believe they are 1-14 in the last fifteen games against the University of Ohio State So maybe it isn't really a rivalry game anymore. That's right all you university of Ohio State fans that read my blog, I just admitted you are a much, much better football team. That is not even negotiable at this point.

But, for Kirk Herbstreit, who I very much like, to come out and suggest that Michigan and Jim Harbaugh would use COVID as an excuse to duck this game, that is as wrong as Dabo Swinney suggesting FSU did the same thing two weeks ago. Now, Herbstreit immediately backtracked, issued a very well thought out apology, and I think he just said something in the heat of the moment. He went to school at the University of Ohio State. That is his alma mater. But, with him putting that out there, now no matter what happens next week, the rest of the media is going to assume that Michigan and Harbaugh are looking for an excuse to not play the university of Ohio State. That is not cool, and it is flat out wrong. Michigan has been bad, real bad this year. I have said as much on multiple blogs. They got their butts kicked by Wisconsin. They had to go to three overtimes to beat Rutgers. They let a zero win Penn State team run all over them on their way to their first victory last week. They were shut down when MSU visited Ann Arbor. They have had as rough a year as I can remember in my fandom. But to suggest Harbaugh wouldn't put his players out there if healthy is wrong. Harbaugh is a competitor. That dude lives and eats and sleeps football. He is an eccentric guy, I will be the first to admit that. But to suggest that he would duck an opponent, no matter who that opponent is, that is not in his DNA. He will go out there and play anyone anytime. And lately, he gets beat. But still, his teams are on the field if they are healthy. This year is the biggest exception year ever. The US is being ravaged by COVID right now, and games get canceled or postponed every weekend. No one said the university of Ohio State ducked Illinois last week when they had to postpone. No one said Maryland ducked Ohio State when they had to postpone due to COVID. I haven't seen PJ Fleck's name dragged through the mud, and his team has had to cancel two games, and Michigan beat them. No one has trashed any of the SEC, ACC, Big 12 or Pac 12 teams that have had to cancel or postpone games. But, because Harbaugh is such a big personality, and he shows that with pride, people in the mainstream media look for anything to use to attack him. I am sure all the college football people, save for maybe Desmond Howard, are just champing at the bit if they have to cancel next week. I am sure the writers for Bleacher Report or Go Blue Wolverine or Sports Illustrated are praying for a cancellation so they can immediately start writing Harbaugh's Michigan football coaching obituary. They are foaming at the mouth I imagine. But, whatever happens, just deal with it.

This season is so weird. These kids, as happy as I was when they announced a restart, shouldn't be playing football right now. I was saying this weeks ago too. I have felt gross watching since they started because these kids are risking their lives to play a game for free. So if Michigan plays or doesn't play next week, it doesn't matter to me. But if more people come out and say that Harbaugh is trying to avoid the university of Ohio State, that will piss me off. Yes, Michigan is a bad football team, but they are not afraid. Not at all.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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