A few comments as a Michigan fan. Kirk Ferentz is all that is right about college football. I make a point to watch as many Iowa games as I can. I watch Iowa football because, the game is played right in Iowa City. I'm not talking about the tactics of success or not, but attitude of conduct. Long after college P5 football disbands all conferences for a premier league, I will happily watch Iowa verses whomever. It is a pity that offense is so difficult to figure out. As an outsider I still enjoy watching Iowa football because the question just comes down to how are they going to win this game, which they inevitably do. Understood extremely unlikely against a team like Michigan that has a functioning offense paired with a defense equivalent to Iowa.
I don't really care about all time record. I care about one thing. We have beaten OSU three times in a row in an era where I thought UM would never win against OSU again. OSU will always have better talent then us. Harbaugh figured out a scheme and strategy that works. PSU is trying to beat OSU by being more OSU. Michigan figured out a way to beat OSU by being more Michigan. That means doing boring things like running the football between the tackles, running four plays to get ten yards, and shortening the game. Marvin Harrison Jr, had only three opportunities in the 2nd half before having to pull out a miracle with one minute left in the game. If UM had been tiny bit more aggressive prior to kicking the FG, they might have run the clock out and give a team only three chances in one half. For me Harbaugh is the best UM coach since Bo. Carr won some games. But he did not adjust to the changing landscape. Harbaugh did make a change to beat OSU at their peak. Carr was insisting a linebacker could defend a wide receiver when OSU went spread.
Which brings up the discussion of cheating. College football is a cesspool of corruption. Those that do pay for play, have refined their trade so its not "shame on you" for cheating and paying but "shame on you" for being sloppy. It is a well known fact that the Clemson's Georgia's, Bama's, and OSU have fully weaponized bagmen networks in place for decades. NIL just makes it easier and expands the pool of schools. We all see recruits who had no interest in school X suddenly choose school X. Schools like Texas A&M, Miami, and Florida are trying to break in to the top, by throwing as much money Steinbrenner style. The OSU AD implied that five star recruits were demanding and being paid 5K, just for the privilege of them visiting. It is rumored that the WSU QB has been offered over 1M NIL by a dozen different schools. Poaching is rampant. The concept of amateurism is an illusion.
Despite this mountain of filth that we willfully ignore to retain a utopia of what college athletics is supposed to be, oxygen is wasted on the greatest scandal since Shoeless Joe Jackson was thrown out of baseball. Michigan's entire success is not because of reform but because of the sordid work of an unpaided intern whose work was so outstanding he was rewarded with a salary that rivaled waiting tables in Ann Arbor. This is no different than election fraud. For those who parrot these ridiculous declarations, its on you to show via the plays on tape that Michigan had any teams schemes figured out. It should be self evident that Michigan, especially on defense was always in the right formation. No one has presented any statistical analysis of this.
If Connor Stalions was a code whisperer, he would have been paid a lot more than 50K. Regardless if what he did was technically illegal or not, I don't think it moved the needle, which is why he was only paid 50K. He probably had some idea that this gave him an edge, and did not. The NCAA even admitted to the irrelevancy of the rule. It is admitted that is perfectly okay for any of the tens of thousands of fans with phones to post footage of film on the internet or perhaps anonymously to be consumed by a football staff. It is perfectly okay for one football staff to present the polished product to another football staff. The in game footage from over a dozen vantage points is also available. The NCAA could have resolved this ages ago by going to wireless which has been used for three decades by the NFL and is in use by High Schools. The NCAA retained the current rules because many college coaches would lose out on gaming the system. What is the difference between gaming and cheating? Is this no different than history where the winner is an emperor and the loser a bandit?
For those who parrot the shrill accusations of Pettiti, I laugh at you.
