Every Saturday night, Ari Wasserman and David Ubben react to the weekend’s game schedule on “Until Saturday.” On Mondays they revisit the biggest takeaway from The immediate reaction on Saturday evening. This week: Ari praises Michigan for its big win over Penn State, but makes it clear that no one feels sorry for the Wolverines.
Many of us saw the short clip of Sherrone Moore collapsing on the field during her postgame interview after Michigan’s win at Penn State on Saturday afternoon. It was intense.
In case you didn’t, Michigan’s offensive coordinator-turned-head coach started yelling at the television. He began by thanking God, then continued to profess his love to Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, with the help of some F-bombs. Moore thanked Santa Ono University President, Athletic Director Warde Manuel, his players and former students of the school. But the most pointed message was directed at Harbaugh.
“I fucking love you, man,” Moore told Harbaugh through the cameras. “I love you to death, man. “We did it for you.”
Sherrone Moore’s postgame interview is everything. Chills
— PFF College (@PFF_College) November 11, 2023
It’s understandable why Moore would be so emotional. He was given this role for the second time this year, and this time it was done at the eleventh hour. Michigan was on the plane to State College when news broke that Harbaugh would be suspended amid this fraud investigation. The Wolverines were playing on the road against a one-loss Penn State team that was still trying to make its way into the Big Ten Championship Game.
Despite all of this, Michigan proved unequivocally that they were the better team and handed Penn State a demoralizing 24-15 loss.
No one is telling Moore not to be emotional. It was his team and his players who won a hard-fought game on the road. They should be ecstatic. And Michigan fans have every right to feel an added sense of pride in their team.
But the rest of us? Let’s not let the tears and emotion emanating from Moore and the rest of the Michigan team blind us to an indisputable truth: This is Michigan’s fault.
Moore acted as if Harbaugh was in the hospital or dealing with some sort of tragedy beyond his control. No. Harbaugh was down the street from Beaver Stadium, sitting in the hotel and watching the Michigan game on television.
Michigan may say it’s winning for Harbaugh while wearing T-shirts that read “Michigan vs. Everyone,” but this situation isn’t one of the Wolverines fighting through adversity or winning despite some terrible, random circumstance. Michigan is paying the consequences for breaking the rules, and there’s an ongoing investigation into this sign-stealing scandal to see how deep it runs. Some might tell you it was a marginal competitive advantage, but others will tell you the Wolverines openly cheated to win games this year and in the past.
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Michigan is not a heartwarming story as it fights a legal battle to get its coach back on the sidelines in time for the Ohio State game in two weeks. This is the Big Ten holding the program accountable for transgressions, imposing a penalty on the coach as the point figurehead of the entire program.
Ono, the university president, posted on his public X (formerly Twitter) account Sunday morning: “Countless members of the University of Michigan family reached out to me over the weekend and I wanted to express my appreciation. Like every community, we face our share of challenges and adversities. There have been many similar moments in our history. But as our team clearly demonstrated yesterday, we will respond to any challenge head on with the belief to do better and emerge even stronger. Go blue!”
Challenges and adversities? I guess so, if the challenges and adversity can be self-inflicted. This is the kind of social media post you would expect from a university president after a tragedy.
Yes, there’s some debate about whether the Big Ten should have suspended Harbaugh on Friday. I wrote after the announcement late last week that my preference would be for the Big Ten and/or the NCAA to punish Michigan once the investigation is complete. The counterargument was that the Big Ten unequivocally had enough evidence to regulate the program against cheating, but the punishment — agree or disagree — was weak. Harbaugh is suspended but will he still be able to recruit and coach the team during the week? Anything.
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Michigan is deploying lawyers to fight this issue in court. While I understand the idea that the sanction was premature — again, I wrote that it was four days ago — I’m not sure the public should take the bait that Michigan is a victim here. You know how you don’t get punished? Not having a staff member develop an illegal signal-stealing scheme that included purchasing tickets for colleagues to record future opponents’ signals. Or not having that staff member (probably) dressed in Central Michigan’s coaching attire and standing on the sidelines for the Michigan State game.
The questions that still need to be answered are solid. How much did Harbaugh know? Did anyone else on staff know? How much of a competitive advantage has Michigan gained this year? I need the answers to these questions before the hammer comes down.
But Harbaugh is not a victim.
And Michigan is not a victim.
Don’t let the tears fool you. Michigan is no longer the lovable underdog trying to win a national title despite not having recruits like Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State. At least one person on the Wolverines’ staff went outside the rules in an attempt to get onto the field.
For this reason, Michigan is a bad guy.
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(Photo: Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)