Michigan football heads to Wisconsin this weekend seeking its first win at Camp Randall since 2001 and its first win as a road underdog under Jim Harbaugh.
"Just winning the game – by one point, even! – that's what matters," Harbaugh said Tuesday on the Stoney & Jansen Show.
The Wolverines were smacked by the Badgers in their last two trips to Wisconsin, not to mention last year at the Big House in the most lopsided loss of the Harbaugh era. They return on Saturday as 1.5-point underdogs.
"Looking at past history, no, we haven't done well at Camp Randall playing Wisconsin on the road," Harbaugh said. "They've been a darn good football team and they are again and we'll see how our guys rise to that challenge."
Former Heisman winning quarterback Matt Leinart will be in the TV booth for for the Big Noon Kickoff on FOX, and he's eager to see No. 14 Michigan for the first time this season. He believe it's an opportunity for the Wolverines to make a statement, despite Wisconsin's 1-2 record.
"I still think Wisconsin is a really good football team," Leinart said. Their defense is outstanding and you know they're desperate for a win. "Michigan, this is a game, even though Wisconsin is not ranked, if they win this game on the road maybe the tide is turning a little bit. Maybe this team has taken that step in what they're doing this year."
It's hard to know what to make of Michigan so far. The Wolverines dominated their first three games, before getting exposed in a near-loss to Rutgers. Leinart, for his part, has been impressed, particularly with the team's rushing attack.
"This is the thing I love about this Michigan team so far. The last couple years it's like, what's the identity? What are you trying to be on offense? Early on in Harbaugh's years it was smash-mouth, the old Stanford days, and then they hired Josh Gattis and they tried to spread it out a little more with Shea Patterson and you just never really (knew), who are they as an offense? Well, this year they have an identity, man, and it is run the ball down your throat for four quarters."
We'll see how that works on Saturday. Michigan looked unstoppable on the ground before the second half against Rutgers, and Wisconsin has the No. 1 rushing defense in the country. Something's gotta give: the Badgers are allowing 1.0 yard per carry and 23 yards per game, the Wolverines are averaging 6.3 yards per carry and 291 yards per game.
Four games into the season, Michigan's on much firmer ground than it was a year ago. The Wolverines were 1-3 at this point last year, coming off a 49-11 drubbing by the Badgers. Saturday is another chance for Harbaugh to prove that he's righted the ship. The ship just sunk at Leinart's alma mater under Clay Helton, who was fired by USC two games into this season.
In Leinart's view, the Wolverines are in better position than the Trojans moving forward.
"Just because they have stability in Harbaugh," he said. "People can knock him all they want, but he's won a lot of football games there."
And eventually, Leinart believes Harbaugh will "beat the teams he has to beat," including the team he's yet to beat in five tries.
"The ranked teams, the top 10 teams, that big game that can eventually propel them into a Big Ten championship and potentially a playoff," Leinart said. "And look, Ohio State is one of the top three, four teams in the country every year and these rivalries have ebbs and flows. It goes through (stages) where Ohio State will win a bunch and then Michigan will win a bunch and it just changes all the time. I know it hasn't changed in a while, but it will. I believe that. I think Michigan will get to that point where they're at least getting into Big Ten championship games and competing at that level."
They can take a step in that direction Saturday.
