This Weekends Matchup In Madison Is Critical For Harbaugh, No. 14 Michigan
The leading narrative for the Michigan Football program heading into the 2021 season seemed to center around a drastically improved culture.
Speaking at Big Ten Media Days in Indianapolis over the summer, senior defensive end Aidan Hutchinson didn't hold back when talking about the culture issues of the past - while also expressing optimism about the future.
“Clearly in 2018, 2019, something wasn’t right about the culture,” he said. “We shouldn’t be getting blown out by Ohio State if we’re competing at just as high a level as them, and it just didn’t make sense. Coach Harbaugh has been doing a great job of adapting and seeing what our team needs and changing what needs to be changed.”
Leading up to the week one match up against Western Michigan, senior wideout Ronnie Bell spoke about a sense of brotherhood that he's never experienced before.
"The team morale is the highest and best that I've ever seen on any team that I think I've ever been on - counting every basketball team, every baseball team, you name it," said Bell. "This team, and how much we love and care for one another, it's so - it just passes along so well throughout this team."
Much like Hutchinson, Bell gave much of the credit to head coach Jim Harbaugh.
"He's the head of the sword, he's the boss man," said Bell. "I feel like he's always been striving to get this energy. I feel like this has been the overall goal from the standpoint of how he wanted things to flow, team chemistry, team morale and how we love and care for one another."
Though it's hard to quantify just how much of an impact things like "chemistry" and "brotherhood" have on the overall success of a team, all great teams of the past and present will tell you that having it is essential. Through the first four weeks of the 2021 college football regular season, the early results for Michigan look promising so far - save for a horrible offensive performance last Saturday against Rutgers.
The first real test for the Harbaugh and No. 14 Michigan comes this weekend in Madison against the Badgers at Camp Randall.
Through four weeks, the Wolverines (4-0) have built a smash-mouth offensive identity spearheaded by the one-two punch of Blake Corum and Hassan Haskins. At just over 290 rushing yards per game on average, Michigan enters the weekend with the nations No. 4 rushing attack.
On the flip side, the Badgers (1-2) have had a rough start to the 2021 season that includes losses to No. 4 Penn State and No. 9 Notre Dame. While the record is less than ideal, Wisconsin still poses a formidable challenge to Michigan - particularly with the nation's No. 1 rush defense at just 23.0 yards per game.
Also working in Wisconsin's favor is the fact that Michigan hasn't won a football game in Madison since 2001. Sure, the Wolverines have only played five games in Madison during that span - but they still have zero wins. To help put things in perspective, many of the players currently on the Michigan Football roster weren't even born the last time Michigan won a football game in Madison.
That brings us back to all of the talk about culture, brotherhood and its impact on the 2021 season.
As Michigan struggled to move the ball against Rutgers last Saturday, a sense of PTSD began to set in among the Maize and Blue faithful. With the rushing attack struggling and the second half play calling looking questionable at best, fans flocked to social media with the same thought in mind: same old Harbaugh, same old Wolverines.
Based on recent history, the most probable outcome this weekend in Madison is that the Wolverines come up woefully short. In fact, Michigan's last four trips to Camp Randall have resulted in losses by an average of 17.5 points per game.
So, is it just the same old Harbaugh and the same old Michigan - or are things really different this time around? One way or another, we'll find out on Saturday.
