On Saturday, the Michigan Wolverines fell 51-45 in a thriller against the TCU Horned Frogs in the Fiesta Bowl College Football Playoff Semifinal. While the loss ended the Wolverines’ season, it also highlighted a troubling trend for the program under head coach Jim Harbaugh.
After Saturday’s loss, the Wolverines have dropped six consecutive bowl games with Harbaugh at the helm.
Hired by Michigan ahead of the 2015 season, Harbaugh led the Wolverines to a 41-7 win over Florida in the Citrus Bowl in his first year. However, since then, Michigan has found little success in bowl games, falling to 1-6 overall under Harbaugh following the loss to TCU.
This bowl game loss, in particular, will be remembered mainly for Harbaugh’s play-calling and lack of clock management down the stretch. The play that may stand out most happened on Michigan’s opening drive. Instead of taking the easy three points, Michigan ran the “Philly Special” on fourth-and-goal from the TCU two-yard line, which failed miserably.
Speaking with reporters after the game, Harbaugh took “full responsibility” for the play not working.
“Put that one on me,” Harbaugh said. “They had it wired and they had it well-defended. Sitting here now, definitely wish I would have called a different one.”
While Michigan trailed by six with 45 seconds to go, they still had a shot at pulling off an improbable comeback victory. But, the Wolverines’ offense failed to get going, looking almost sluggish during the game’s most significant moments. The team’s lack of urgency even seemed to Harbaugh’s father, Jack.
