‘We are that team’: U-M wins 3rd straight vs. OSU
-
Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior Writer
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — When suspended Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh addressed his team Friday night, he recited Bo Schembechler’s famous line — “The team, the team, the team” — but personalized it to the men in the room.
“Coach said last night: ‘This is the ultimate team,'” said Sherrone Moore, Michigan’s offensive coordinator, who led the third-ranked Wolverines as acting head coach for the third consecutive week. “We’ve got each other’s back on the field, off the field, and we know that we’re always going to respond.
“The guys don’t flinch.”
Michigan continued to make its case Saturday as the nation’s most resilient team, if not its best, with a 30-24 win over No. 2 Ohio State, the Wolverines’ third straight in the rivalry. Despite Harbaugh’s suspension, the ongoing NCAA investigation into prohibited off-campus signal stealing and several key injuries, the Wolverines haven’t flinched or lost as they now advance to the Big Ten championship game with a chance to win three straight outright league titles for the first time in team history.
“The whole mantra: the team, the team, the team,” said quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who completed 16 of 20 passes for 148 yards and a touchdown. He said Harbaugh told them before the game: “We are that team.”
After jumping ahead 14-3, Michigan saw its lead vanish midway through the third quarter. But the offense responded by scoring on its final three possessions — six of its final seven before a kneel-down to end the game — and junior safety Rod Moore, a native of Clayton, Ohio, sealed the win by diving to intercept an underthrown Kyle McCord pass at Michigan’s 22-yard line with 25 seconds left.
The Wolverines have won three straight against Ohio State for the first time since 1995 to 1997, after dropping 15 of the teams’ previous 16 meetings.
“It was a dream come true, making the game-winning play on one of the biggest games, probably, in college football history,” Rod Moore said. “I was on the field, just looking like, ‘I just called game. I did that.'”
Harbaugh watched from his Ann Arbor home, serving the final game of a Big Ten-imposed suspension for Michigan’s program, stemming from the scouting operation led by former U-M staff member Connor Stalions, who resigned on Nov. 3. The Wolverines improved to 6-0 without Harbaugh, who missed the team’s first three games after Michigan self-imposed a suspension for the coach, due to an NCAA investigation for recruiting violations. Harbaugh will return to the sideline Dec. 2 against Iowa in Indianapolis.
“Whether [Harbaugh] is here, whether players are hurt, it doesn’t matter, the job has to get done and the job will get done,” said senior running back Blake Corum, who rushed for 88 yards and two touchdowns against Ohio State. “It’s been great, a little adversity, feeling like everyone’s against you, Michigan versus everybody. … Obviously, we wish [Harbaugh] was here, but he’s done a phenomenal job preparing us all week for Saturdays.”
Moore’s final pregame interaction with Harbaugh was twofold. Harbaugh told the 37-year-old that he loved him, and to be himself in calling plays for the biggest game of his career. Two weeks after Michigan ended its road win against Penn State with 32 consecutive run plays, Moore kept the pedal down.
The Wolverines went 3-for-3 on fourth downs and opened the fourth quarter with a halfback pass, as Donovan Edwards connected with tight end Colston Loveland for a 34-yard gain, setting up the second of James Turner‘s third field goals.
“It goes back to the kids, how they prepare, how they attack things and how they work,” said Moore, who improved to 4-0 as Michigan’s acting head coach. “I’d be doing them a disservice if I try to be conservative. When they’re going out there running 150’s In the summer, blood, sweat and tears, working their tails off in the weight room, doing everything they can, they put the trust in me as a play caller on offense to be aggressive in these games.
“That’s what they want, so that’s what we gave them.”
Michigan never trailed in a game where it lost All-Big Ten guard Zak Zinter to a gruesome lower-leg injury — the senior was carted off the field late in the third quarter and taken to a local hospital — and cornerback Will Johnson, who set up the Wolverines’ first touchdown with an interception deep in Ohio State territory.
Corum, playing in his final game at Michigan Stadium, broke Hassan Haskins’ single-season team record for rushing touchdowns with his 21st and 22nd scores. He did it against an Ohio State defense that had allowed only three rushing touchdowns all season before Saturday.
The Wolverines became the first Big Ten team to win 30 consecutive regular-season games, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. The team’s recent surge, though, has come under greater scrutiny because of the NCAA investigation. Moore said he would like to weigh in on the perception of Michigan’s success, while adding that the Wolverines have proven they’re as good as any team in the country.
“The thing that I just think of is, we only care about us, we only care about what we’re doing and how we feel and that fulfillment internally,” said McCarthy, who could end his college career 3-0 in The Game. “Everyone else can have their opinions, and we’ll just keep doing us.”
Michigan continued to tighten its grip on both the Big Ten and the Buckeyes, who will have their longest drought without a conference title in a decade. Asked if Ohio State’s emphasis on increased physical toughness showed up, Wolverines wide receiver Roman Wilson replied, “Definitely not.”
“You want to put on the Louie V, the $1,000 outfit, like, you want to act hard, but when they’re out there, they’re not hard,” said Wilson, who had a 22-yard touchdown catch. “I see the film. You’re not tough. I don’t think I’m the toughest guy in the world, but I’m out there, I’m getting physical.
“I don’t think they wanted it like how I wanted it.”
Michigan’s next want is another Big Ten championship, with Harbaugh back on the sideline, and a return to the College Football Playoff.
“When you say something, you have to stand on it,” Corum said. “I put it out there before the season that we’re going to do all these things. I knew I was going to have to back it up. My team came together and we all backed it up.
“But it’s like Kobe Bryant said: The job’s not finished, man. We have a lot of work to do.”
NEW YORK — Bryce Harper and the Philadelphia Phillies clinched their third consecutive playoff appearance Friday night with a 12-2 victory over the New York Mets.
Assured at least a National League wild card, the Phillies can secure their first NL East title since 2011 with one more win this weekend against the second-place Mets at Citi Field.
With the division crown so close, Philadelphia planned a mellow celebration following Friday night’s game — hoping to let loose soon with a boozy clubhouse bash after locking up first place.
Seeking their third World Series championship, the Phillies overtook Atlanta for the division lead on May 3 and haven’t trailed since. Their victory coupled with the Braves’ 4-3 loss in Miami eliminated Atlanta from contention for the NL East crown — ending its six-year reign atop the division.
Alec Bohm had four hits and four RBIs, including a three-run homer, in Friday night’s blowout. Nick Castellanos had three hits and two RBIs, J.T. Realmuto added a two-run homer and the Phillies extended their NL East lead to seven games over the second-place Mets (85-69) with eight to play.
Philadelphia stole five bases — four in a six-run fourth inning capped by Bohm’s homer off reliever Adam Ottavino. Johan Rojas had a two-run double off starter David Peterson (9-3), who was pulled after just 64 pitches and 3 2/3 innings — his shortest start of the season.
Cristopher Sanchez (11-9) overcame a shaky start and five walks in five innings for the win. Philadelphia outhit the Mets 17-4.
Philadelphia (92-62) has the best record in the major leagues and is on track for a first-round bye in the playoffs. It’s the third time the Phillies have reached the postseason three years in a row (1976-78 and 2007-11).
Philadelphia won five straight NL East titles from 2007-11, then went 10 years without making the playoffs. A wild-card entry each of the past two postseasons, the Phillies put together consecutive October runs that ended in heartbreak.
They reached the 2022 World Series, losing to Houston in six games, and dropped a seven-game NL Championship Series to Arizona last year after leading the underdog Diamondbacks 2-0 and 3-2.
So this time, the Phillies are looking to go all the way and finally finish the job.
Philadelphia’s only World Series championships came in 1980 and 2008.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
-
Tim Keown, ESPN Senior Writer
OAKLAND, Calif. — The A’s began their final homestand of their final season in Oakland on Friday night, and nobody can predict what might take place over the next six games and seven days.
After 57 seasons in the Coliseum, there will be emotion, but how that emotion will manifest itself is the main question on everyone’s mind.
“We’ve heard some rumblings, and we’re going to have some more meetings about it,” said left fielder Seth Brown, who, in his sixth season, is the longest-tenured Athletic. “The fans have always supported us, and we just hope they support us in a positive manner. We want everyone to come out and enjoy the time and give it its last hurrah, and at the same time we’re hoping it’s done the right way.”
The A’s will play three games against the New York Yankees before finishing the home portion of their schedule with three games against the Texas Rangers. The final game, on Thursday afternoon, will be the final major professional game in Oakland, which has lost three major franchises — the Warriors, the Raiders and now the A’s — in five years.
Beginning next spring, the A’s will play a minimum of three seasons in a minor league ballpark in Sacramento before making a permanent move to Las Vegas.
The A’s have been forced to deal with one off-the-field distraction after another over the past two seasons, from the Las Vegas announcement last April to the Sacramento announcement this April.
“This isn’t really new for us,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “But the emotion last year was a lot greater in terms of the anger. This year has been really, really calm, and I don’t know if that’s because they’ve gotten the anger out. There’s still going to be that emotion as we near Thursday, but that’s part of whenever the healing process starts.”
Fans in Oakland have staged numerous protests aimed at owner John Fisher, who pulled out of a massive development deal in Oakland in April 2023 and announced the move to Las Vegas. There was a highly publicized “reverse boycott” last year and an Opening Day parking lot boycott — where fans congregated in the parking lot but refused to enter the stadium — this season.
Before Friday, the team had drawn 738,438 fans, the worst in Major League Baseball.
“The last three games are going to be pretty epic for us and the fan base,” outfielder JJ Bleday said. “I’m kind of looking forward to it, though. It’ll be exciting to play some games with a crowd. Obviously, I feel bad for the fan base, but we’ll be a part of history.”
The A’s have instituted some precautions for the final homestand, alerting the players to be aware of their surroundings in case fans decide to take the field. Players have also been told not to gather for photographs with family on the field after games.
“Just get on out of there,” Bleday said.
Before Friday’s series opener against the Yankees, fans taped the ubiquitous “SELL” signs to the railings in the right- and left-field bleachers. Another sign — “VIVEK REPENT” — was a reference to Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadive, who also owns the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats, who will share Sutter Health Park with the A’s.
Ranadive, a friend of A’s owner Fisher, engineered the deal to provide the A’s with a temporary home, rent-free.
“I wish we were staying here,” Bleday said, “but it’s not up to me. I do have a jar ready to fill up with some dirt, though.”
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports6 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports11 months agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Environment1 year agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Environment1 year agoTesla advances Powerwall pilot project with German electric company