Breaking:How Michigan embraced disorder, firm furnished sign taking and rose to No. 1

27 December 2023 08sportsnews.com

Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh throws a football before the Big Ten championship NCAA college football game against Iowa, Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)AP

LOS ANGELES — Michigan arrived here in southern California on Tuesday evening, with the sun setting behind the clouds and all the confidence in the world.

Armed with an unblemished 13-0 record, a third straight Big Ten championship and the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff, the Wolverines are the unvarnished kings of the north.

But that success on the field this year has been overshadowed by a wild, nonstop 12 months of carnage off of it, an ugly stretch that has seen two assistant coaches abruptly fired, two separate NCAA investigations for potential rules violations, claims of a sign-stealing operation juicy enough to warrant a future made-for-TV documentary, and a behind-the-scenes feud pitting Michigan brass against the Big Ten.

Meanwhile, Jim Harbaugh — who wound up suspended for six of his team’s first 12 games this season — has Michigan playing Alabama in the Rose Bowl on Monday, Jan. 1 (5 p.m. ET, ESPN), its third CFP semifinal appearance in as many years.

It doesn’t take very long to figure out what this Michigan team is about. Lift up the hood and you’ll find a passionate, dedicated group of players that have bought into the Michigan way of doing things. A collection of guys with a chip on their shoulder for one reason or another. And a system (on both sides of the ball) that fits their skillset.

While Ohio State dominated the Big Ten from 2017 to ‘20 with an explosive, pass-happy offense, Harbaugh and co. quietly began building the infrastructure for a physical, dominant run game to counteract it. And it worked. Winning begets winning, of course, and soon enough the Wolverines found themselves doing a bunch of it.

Before long, it was back-to-back Big Ten titles and CFP appearances — and a devastating 51-45 upset loss to Texas Christian last convinced this year’s nucleus — a group that includes running back Blake Corum, offensive linemen Zak Zinter and Trevor Keegan, and defensive tackle Kris Jenkins and linebacker Michael Barrett — to return for one more season.

To get a better sense of how the Wolverines feel about it all, take defensive back Mike Sainristil’s response to a question last week about feeling like the underdog against the Crimson Tide.

Our schedule wasn’t the best, they said,” Sainristil said. “Coach (Sherrone) Moore stepping in and doing what he did, that wasn’t good enough. We don’t care about that.

We just care about the fact that we just want to prove we are what we say we are.

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