Jim Harbaugh grew up in the shadow of the Big House during the glory years of The Game. He was nine when his father Jack joined Michigan's coaching staff under Bo Schembechler in 1973, the same year that the No. 4 Wolverines and No. 1 Buckeyes battled to a 10-10 tie in Ann Arbor.
The Game featured five straight top-10 matchups to kick off Jack Harbaugh's seven-year tenure at Michigan, for the first and only time ever. Four of them were decided by single digits. It was part of a stretch in which the Wolverines and Buckeyes met nine straight times as top-20 teams, seven times as top-10 teams and four times as top-five teams. They split those games down the middle.
On Saturday in Ann Arbor, Harbaugh will lead No. 6 Michigan into a clash with No. 2 Ohio State, with everything on the line. Just as it should be.
"My feeling, as it is with a lot of our players right now, is this is like being young," Harbaugh said Tuesday on the Stoney & Jansen Show. "This is like being a kid when you couldn’t wait for Saturday to come to play that Pop Warner game, or Friday night to come to play that high school game under the lights, the pep rally and everything. It’s just a real excitement. A bounce in in the step."
If the 57-year-old Harbaugh really wants to turn back time, Michigan will win. At the very least, his team will keep it close. This is the fourth top-10 clash between the two rivals during Harbaugh's tenure at his alma mater. There's been no shortage of good matchups. There's only been one good game.
That was 2016, a 30-27 OT thriller in Columbus. This is in Ann Arbor. It's the biggest game at the Big House since No. 5 Michigan vs. No. 4 Ohio State in 2003, a replay of No. 5 Michigan vs. No. 4 Ohio State in 1977. A 13-year-old Harbaugh watched the Wolverines prevail that day, 14-6. They won't win with 14 this time. They could win with 35, as they did in 2003.
"Really looking forward to playing at home and being in our stadium," he said. "Getting all kinds of texts and messages from former players, from people that love Michigan and are great fans of the university and the football program. They can’t wait. They promise that they will be there in full support, and I believe them. I can’t wait."
Related
Other highlights from Harbaugh's interview on 97.1 The Ticket:
On Donovan Edwards' performance against Maryland: "You look at the stat line and see the 10 catches and 170 yards of receiving, and then you go back and watch the tape and it seemed like more. He was all over the field. He made big play after big play. He’s so dynamic and really good catching the football. It was just fun to watch, it really was, from the sideline and watching the tape."
On not saving trick plays for Ohio State: "The kickoff return for a touchdown (against Maryland), that was something you game-plan against a specific team. Maryland does a cross-field kick once or twice a game. That’s something our special teams coaches brewed up and I thought it was a fantastic concept. So that’s a play where somebody can say, 'Why didn’t you save that?' Because that doesn’t take place against the next opponent you’re playing. That’d be like saving timeouts before the half or the end of the game."
On The Game meaning more this year given the stakes: "It’s always a 10 out of 10, no matter what the records are. OK, now you add in that it’s also for the Big Ten championship, it's for the playoffs, it’s essentially the first round of the playoffs. So also, 10 out of 10. It’s all those things.