After Michigan beat Michigan State a few weeks ago, I wrote the following:
In the essence of Dantonio referencing the Bible, I offer this passage from Joel 3:9:
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“Proclaim this among the nations: ‘Prepare for war! Wake up the mighty men, Let all the men of war draw near, Let them come up.’”
“On Saturday, Team 144 embodied this verse and shared a translation that everyone could understand: “Michigan vs. Everybody.”
At the time of writing, the sign-stealing allegations were in their infancy, Pete Thamel had yet to earn multiple unenviable nicknames, and everything felt like static background noise that merely existed to serve as a distraction. But less than 24 hours after writing that, all hell broke loose.
Suddenly, the Michigan Wolverines were leading ESPN, CNN, and every news site in between. “Cheaters!” “Connor Stallions!” “Vast network of spies!” The story was inescapable. Possible punishments were being floated around, and everything except hanging and public castration seemed to be on the table.
For two weeks, it was all anyone was talking about. Any attempt to discuss anything else — Michigan basketball, hockey, the weather — would quickly merit an interjection from @KingBuckNut45345345 or his human counterpart in the office. By the time Michigan faced Purdue in the Big House on Nov. 4, the actual game felt like an escape from the season.
Finally, football was the focus again and it remained that way for about 48 hours.
Early last week, due to external pressure and media folly, the Big Ten served Michigan with a notice of allegations in an unprecedented attempt to punish head coach Jim Harbaugh in the middle of the season before conducting an investigation. Michigan responded with a resounding, “F*** off,” and a response from the conference was expected early next week. But on Friday morning, rumblings began to surface that a punishment was going to be handed down before the Penn State game.
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Minute by minute, time inched closer to the team departing Ann Arbor and nothing had been announced. The Wolverines and Harbaugh boarded the team plane and headed to State College fully expecting any punishment to be delayed until Monday. At 3:30 p.m. with Team 144 high in the sky, the Big Ten leaked the suspension to ESPN and notified the University of Michigan of its punishment, in that order.
Chaos ensued as Michigan’s and Harbaugh’s attorneys scrambled to file for a temporary restraining order (TRO) on a holiday weekend with less than 21 hours until kick-off. If obtained, Harbaugh would still be able to coach in Michigan’s biggest game of the season and everything would be settled in court.
Minute by minute, time inched closer to kick-off and the judge presiding over Michigan’s request had neither granted nor denied the motion. The team buses arrived at Beaver Stadium and Harbaugh remained at the hotel. Michigan was still standing by waiting to bring Harbaugh to the stadium like a wrestler running interrupting a match — “BY GOD THAT’S HARBAUGH’S MUSIC — but time was of the essence.
At 10:22 a.m., less than two hours before kick-off, the judge decided not to rule in favor or against the TRO — gotta love the judicial system — and instead scheduled a hearing for next Friday. With no ruling, the suspension stood.
Believe what you want, but Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti was embarrassed by these sign-stealing allegations and wanted to send a message to Harbaugh, Michigan, and the entire conference. As a first-year commissioner ranting to his lackeys like De Niro in The Untouchables (“I want him DEAD!”), Petitti wanted a show of force. Simply, he wanted Michigan to lose, and Harbaugh to be reduced to a spectator and watch as his team lost, while he was unable to do anything about it.
But what Petitti didn’t intend to do was galvanize a team and fanbase around a singular cause like only adversity — or a tyrant — can. Brian Weir put it the best, “In order to be walked on, you have to be lying down,” and nobody in maize and blue was going to lie down, and certainly not at the behest of a lifelong TV executive trying to prove how tough he is.
With all the uncertainty and pressure in the air, the morning of the game had a different feeling and level of anticipation. It felt like an Ohio State morning. The tension was palpable, fans were nervous, and a lingering sense of doom hung over the potential outcome. Was the former president of Activision Blizzard video games about to do what no team in the Big Ten could do in two years and take down the Wolverines?
On Fox’s Big Noon Kick-Off, Heisman Trophy winner and Michigan alum Charles Woodson voiced his frustrations and spoke for every Michigan supporter: “Am I mad? I’m only mad because I think the whole thing is bull****.” Eloquent, accurate, and perfect, although, the FCC might have some notes.
In this game against Penn State, the phrase “Michigan vs. Everybody” took on an entirely rejuvenated, Super Saiyan-level meaning that echoed more similarly to Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell last season.
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“To me, it means we’ll play anywhere,” Campbell said. “We’ll play on grass. We’ll play on turf. We’ll go to a f***ing landfill. It doesn’t matter. Doesn’t matter if you have one ass cheek and three toes, I will beat your ass.”
To Michigan, it didn’t matter if the game was in Happy Valley against the second-highest attendance in the history of Beaver Stadium. It didn’t matter Penn State was a top-10 team with the nation’s best run defense. It didn’t matter Penn State came in the most prepared it had been all season — last week against Maryland, the Nittany Lions held the Terps to negative 49 rushing yards, and quarterback Drew Allar completed 73.5 percent of his passes (career-high against Power Five) for 240 yards (second-highest in career) and four touchdowns (tied career-high).
It didn’t matter this was a kitchen-sink game where the Nittany Lions would throw everything at the Wolverines to stay alive for the Big Ten title and College Football Playoff. It didn’t matter Harbaugh was suspended mid-flight and forced to watch the game from the team hotel.
Nothing mattered. Michigan showed up and beat Penn State’s ass with a physicality unknown to mankind. Snap after snap, the Wolverines lined up with seven offensive linemen and pounded the Nittany Lions into oblivion. It was a surrendering of signs and schematics, and Michigan embracing being the bully, the villain, the bad guy. After the 30th straight run, it felt like interim head coach Sherrone Moore was going to break the fourth wall and direct a message straight to Petitti reminiscent of The Big Lebowski, “Do you see what happens, Tony?!”
After the elation wore off and the blood and tears dried, a feeling of “What’s next?” began to set in. Is the Big Ten going to rule that, “To effectively combat Michigan’s competitive advantage, the Wolverines must now play with 10 players on first and second down.” Or, “Michigan cannot throw a forward pass for 2.5 quarters in order to give all opponents a chance.” Well, we know the latter certainly won’t help.
Whatever this team is faced with, there is a renewed confidence that they will triumph. Back in September, quarterback J.J. McCarthy spoke about what sets this team apart.
“I feel like this team is different in that aspect. Where doesn’t matter — if we’re on the road, it doesn’t matter, or in The Big House. No matter what, we’re always going to be striving to get better each and every day, and no matter where it is. Coach Herb does a great job of emphasizing no matter what the external circumstances are, it’s not going to change what we came here to do. And I feel like you can, like I said earlier, you can put us out there in the Glick parking lot, you can put us out there on the baseball field over there, it’s not going to change our mindset, our mentality and our strive to be great.”
This team have been focused on itself all year, and even without their general and the barbarians at the gate, Team 144 simply replied, “Bet,” as they ran the ball mercilessly down the throat of Penn State, Petitti, and every non-ruling judge in their way.
Saturday was more than a statement — it was a declaration of war from a team refusing to lie down, and Penn State was the first casualty.
Source: https://t-tees.com
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