Ohio State at Michigan: It’s time for Jim Harbaugh to deliver
By Martin Rogers
FOX Sports Columnist
The hype is here, it’s rarely been bigger, and Jim Harbaugh is buying into it. No nonsense about this just being another game, no blathering pretense about staying calm and treating things as a normal week.
Harbaugh said in July that Michigan was going to beat Ohio State and win the Big Ten title or "die trying." Well, Michigan’s head coach is not backing off now.
‘’It’s here," he told reporters this week. "It’s happening."
The stakes are monumental this Saturday, for all kinds of reasons. The first, most obviously, is just because it’s "The Game," one of the most storied rivalries in sports.
The next is that it’s essentially a play-in tussle for a position in the Big Ten Championship and a virtual eliminator for a potential spot in the College Football Playoff.
There really isn’t much need for elaborate commercials for this clash at the Big House (12 p.m. ET on FOX), not when you’ve got a built-in hype man who has been setting the stage for this slugfest for months. All the way back in spring practice, Harbaugh changed the name of a Michigan training drill to "Beat Ohio" and made zero attempt to keep it a secret.
So yeah, it’s going to get spicy. And he wouldn’t have it any other way.
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Nick Wright shares his thoughts on Jim Harbaugh leading up the Ohio State Buckeyes- Michigan Wolverines matchup.
Because, for Harbaugh, there’s more up for grabs than the Big Ten East title and the opportunity to extend the season (plus bragging rights).
"A lot on the line," Harbaugh said. "It’s a true playoff in that sense. In the College Football Playoff world, this is the start of the playoffs. The team that wins will advance. The team that doesn’t won’t. It’s that, and it’s also the big game, The Game, the rivalry."
It’s time to deliver, Jim, because here comes your moment. One chance to make all that ugly history of never beating the Buckeyes as Michigan’s coach seem that much less significant.
One shot at providing the defining win of your Wolverines legacy, one tilt to make everyone feel like, despite some ups and downs and frustrations, that you were the right hire after all back in 2015.
And every reason to believe with totality that a triumph in Ann Arbor would have the delicious dual effect of bouncing Michigan into the CFP top-four rankings at just the right time while bumping their hated foe just outside it.
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RJ Young discusses the importance of "The Game" this weekend between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Michigan Wolverines, and its implications on the Big Ten Championship race as well as the College Football Playoff.
Harbaugh’s contract was altered drastically when it expired at the end of last season, heavily cutting his guaranteed pay in favor of a year-to-year arrangement seen by many as a kind of "prove it or lose it" ultimatum.
Michigan has been good enough this season that he should be given another chance regardless of what happens this weekend, especially coming off a 59-18 win over Maryland last week.
However, you feel like Harbaugh’s pride could scarcely survive yet another loss to Ohio State, not after five defeats for him and eight straight (as well as 15 of 16) for the program. Not after the embarrassment of last season, when they finished 2-4 and endured sneers of derision that they’d ducked the Buckeyes — despite the real reason for the rivalry game’s cancellation being a COVID-19 disruption.
Ohio State is listed at -7.5 with FOX Bet. The Buckeyes were particularly emphatic last weekend, crushing the souls of Michigan State and sending the strongest possible signal of intent.
Behind coach Ryan Day and quarterback C.J. Stroud, the Buckeyes have won nine straight and, far from being bothered by Harbaugh’s big talk, you get the sense they’re kind of enjoying it.
"We always have one eye on them, it’s just the way we do business," Day said. "We certainly don’t need extra motivation for games like this."
Many are calling this the most important college football game of the season. It is, according to FOX Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt, "sucking all the air out of college football — and rightly so."
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On Breaking the Huddle, Joel Klatt breaks down the x's and o's of Week 13's intriguing matchup between the Ohio State Buckeye's offense and the Michigan Wolverine's defense.
No argument here. It’s a blockbuster, a heavyweight tussle, a showdown for the ages and one not to miss.
Wait a minute, I’m starting to sound like a hype man. Let’s leave that to Harbaugh.
Martin Rogers is a columnist for FOX Sports and the author of the FOX Sports Insider Newsletter. You can subscribe to the newsletter here.