Mike Valenti didn't buy all the smooth words following a game where the Wolverines managed just 267 yards and 13 first downs, both season lows. There were a couple big plays early, including a 51-yard pass from Shea Patterson to Nico Collins that set up Michigan's only touchdown. That came with 8:33 left in the first quarter.
Asked afterward where the offense can make the biggest strides, Harbaugh said, "I really think we’re hitting our stride, I really do. The way our offense has been practicing, the way they’ve been preparing, I have great faith that they’re hitting their stride."
"If you were getting paid $7 million a year and considered yourself above reproach, how would you act at the podium?" Valenti asked rhetorically. "Harbaugh's gonna say what he has to say ... This is what coaches do."
He went further, saying, "Press conferences are theater, they're not real, they're not actual ... one in 1,000 nets a real legitimate response. They are coached, they are protected, you don't get anything real out of it. You get cliche ... and it's over.
"His comments are throwaway to me, it doesn't mean anything."
Producer Mike "Sully" Sullivan agreed.
"I don't know how any Michigan fan can watch that game and feel good about it," Sully said. "It's so mind-boggling how bad Michigan's offense is."
Sully cast blame at the underwhelming quarterback for lack of offensive productivity: "I'm done with Shea Patterson ... How many examples do we need?"
And if Patterson is the problem, that's Harbaugh's fault too, he said. He's extremely indecisive, he doesn't make plays.
Patterson is an overrated player who's still getting attention for what he did when he was 16 and 17 years old, Valenti said.
There's plenty of blame to go around, Sully added, for the fact they can't move the football. "It's pathetic for lack of a better term, it's absolutely pathetic."
Michigan proved they're not a playoff team, Valenti said, adding now the only question is whether they're any good at all.
"They have two weeks to get a hell of a lot better offensively or they're going to get pounded," Valenti said.