Happy Thanksgiving to everyone from all of us here are GBMWolverine.com and with that in mind, here are five things to be thankful for as a Michigan football fan.
It’s hard to believe that Thanksgiving is already here and that the 2022 Michigan football season is nearly over.
Hopefully, the Wolverines have a few more games to play but if they don’t beat Ohio State on Saturday, U-M likely won’t play again until the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.
I know there is a decent chance Michigan football can still make the playoff as a one-loss team, depending on how “The Game” goes but if it’s similar to the result we saw in 2016 or 2006 — close losses, then it’s possible.
But I don’t want to see Michigan football back into the playoff, especially when the reward is going to be a rematch against the Georgia Bulldogs.
I’d love the opportunity, for sure. But it would be better to see Michigan football beat the Buckeyes and win the Big Ten again.
The national championship is the ultimate goal. That’s what Jim Harbaugh said he wanted to do now that he’s past his goal of winning the Super Bowl and frankly, winning a national title at Michigan is probably harder than a Super Bowl, especially in this era.
At any rate, this isn’t about looking ahead to Saturday. This is about looking back on the past year, Michigan football fans have a lot to be thankful for, and here are the top five things.
1. Finally beating Ohio State
This past year has been glorious, hasn’t it? I don’t know how many times you’ve just randomly blurted out 42-27 but I’ve done it constantly.
I’ll never get sick of re-watching Michigan football beat Ohio State in 2021. Aidan Hutchinson’s three sacks were legendary and the moment when David Ojabo did the Lebron dance after sacking C.J. Stroud is something that still gives me goosebumps (SACK TIME!).
It was just one win and Ohio State fans are right that we have gotten a lot of mileage out of it. But beating the Buckeyes and winning the Big Ten title was a dream come true. The reign of terror ended and while a new one could start on Saturday, it seems the tenor of the rivalry has changed.
Hopefully, it has changed for good.
2. Jim Harbaugh and his return
There were some nervous moments after the 2021 Michigan football season and for a few days, it looked like Jim Harbaugh leaving for the NFL was a very real possibility.
Harbaugh completed his seven-year contract and always said he was interested in going back to the NFL. He was upfront about that. But when he left to interview with the Minnesota Vikings, it seemed as though he was as good as gone.
However, things didn’t work out in Minnesota and Harbaugh called Warde Manuel and said, “I’ll be at Michigan as long as you’ll have me.”
Essentially, he was saying that he was done with the NFL dalliance. Not everyone believes him. I do. Harbaugh is a man of his word. He’s also a Michigan man through and through.
Regardless of what happens this weekend, he needs a big fat raise and my hope is that Harbaugh coaches Michigan football until the day he retires, many, many, many years from now.
Nothing could be better for the future of the program. I said that Harbaugh saved the program, even before the win over Ohio State, but now there is no debate.
Harbaugh is elite and I’m thankful every single day I wake up with him as Michigan head coach.
3. Thankful that Tuck isn’t coming
We all know about the bad blood between Michigan football and Michigan State. The rivalry boiled over this year as a number of Spartans assaulted Wolverines in the tunnel after the game and were charged with crimes on Wednesday.
That was ugly. But what happened on the field was beautiful as Harbaugh and the Wolverines silenced all the talk about Mel Tucker with a 29-7 win.
You have to give Tucker credit. He beat Harbaugh twice and did so with inferior teams. That’s what good coaches do. But it was hard to see that being sustainable, especially with the model of transfer portal additions.
The Spartans made it somewhat competitive and the rivalry isn’t going anyway. But for one year at least, it’s going to be great to have those bragging rights over Sparty and its delusional fanbase.
There is work to do to say that Michigan owns the state of Michigan again, but not allowing Tucker to go 3-0 against Harbaugh was a good place to start.
4. Jesse Minter
Going into the offseason, one of the biggest questions facing Michigan football was whether or not the Wolverines would be able to replace Mike Macdonald.
Macdonald was the defensive coordinator that finally was able to slow down the Ohio State offense. You could tell how important he was as Jim Harbaugh walked right to him after the game.
Macdonald went back to NFL to be the DC for Jim’s brother John and the Ravens. However, John Harbaugh also recommended Jesse Minter two years ago which made him a no-brainer this time around.
And just this past week, he was nominated to win the Broyles Award for the top assistant coach in college football and I’m excited to see what he has in store for the Buckeyes on Saturday.
I’m also really excited about the future of the defense, which should be elite for years to come, especially with Minter in charge.
5. A perfect season
Michigan football’s biggest game of the season awaits on Saturday. Hell, it feels like the biggest sporting event in Western Civilization to me, but win or lose, this 2022 season has been one for the ages already.
At the very least, Michigan has proven that it’s back for real. The 2020 COVID year — that was a fluke and this, well this is exactly what we expected when Jim Harbaugh was hired.
Michigan football has now won 11 games in back-to-back seasons and at the very worst, will play in the playoff or the Rose Bowl.
In seven full seasons, Harbaugh and the Wolverines have won at least 10 games five times. He’s also never won fewer than eight games in a full season. For the fourth time, Harbaugh will lead Michigan into what’s essentially a Big Ten East title game against Ohio State.
My stated goal for this team at the start of the season was to have a chance to defend its Big Ten title going into the Ohio State game and that’s where things stand.
Of course, we all want Michigan to win the game and I believe the Wolverines are fully capable of doing just that. But so far, this has been a dream season and another thing to be thankful for.