The Michigan football team looked like the most consistent and dominant team in the country after nine weeks of the season, but they hadn’t played anyone yet. Game #10 was their first big game of the year as they played at #10 Penn State, and the Wolverines had to do it with Jim Harbaugh suspended. The Wolverines ended up winning that game, but their play-calling was much different than past games. Michigan then got a good fight from a subpar Maryland team before their massive win against Ohio State.
Many people were wondering during that stretch if the play-calling was related to Harbaugh being gone. Before his suspension, the Michigan football team was using JJ McCarthy’s passing ability to dominate teams, and after Harbaugh got suspended, it was mostly the run game. The Wolverines didn’t look as dominant against Maryland, but they picked up two massive wins over Penn State and Ohio State during that stretch
Absolutely (it had an impact),” Quarterback coach Kirk Campbell said, according to an article from Blue By Ninety. “Whenever you’re not 100 percent, especially with the lower body as a quarterback, it’s going to be hard to finish a throw. I just thought that it was definitely bothering him. Now he’s 100 percent, and we’re ready to rock (for the Big Ten title game). It definitely affected his game a little bit. He’s a warrior; he’s a stalwart. He was going to battle and he was going to go out there and play no matter the percentage he was.”
There was nothing that was going to keep McCarthy off the field for that Ohio State game. Next up for Michigan is Iowa football in the Big Ten Championship game on Saturday. The Wolverines are massive favorites and they are expected to punch a ticket to the College Football Playoff with a win. If Michigan does get the win, they will have an entire month before they would play i
