[Austroturf]

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Harbaugh went to 1 BCS/NY6 Bowl (and it wasn't a Rose Bowl and he never won the conference). Shaw has been to 4.

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I have two problems with this statement. First, Harbaugh was only head coach of Stanford for 4 years.  Second, he inherited a totally broken program and had to rebuild it from the bottom up.  It is therefore ridiculous to compare Harbaugh's accomplishments at Stanford with those of Shaw, who inherited a top ten program and has had 11 seasons at the helm.  Shaw was masterful in taking over Harbaugh's program and producing some marvelous results in the years immediately following.  That is wholly to his credit.  But he also wholly owns the current decline, which is the result of his leadership, his coaches and his players.  

Also, it makes no sense to compare Harbaugh's current track record at Michigan to anything Shaw has done at Stanford.  Michigan plays in a different conference, has a different schedule and a different history.  No comparison.  I wonder how many times Stanford would have beaten Ohio State in the last 7 years.  Once maybe, in 2015.  

And for what it's worth, I would prefer to be 7-1 after a hard-fought disappointing loss to another top ten program than 3-5 after a miserable and disappointing game vs. another Pac-12 bottom-feeder.  Yes, the natives in Ann Arbor may be calling for Harbaugh's head, but there are worse places to be than 7-1.  Cardinal fans know that.

It's not just the record.  The Michigan-MSU game was an incredibly compelling game . . . one of the best college football games I've seen in a long time.  Tight game; great plays made on both sides; great atmosphere, etc.  Those were 2 teams making plays against pretty good (understatement) defenses.  Stanford was at that level not that long ago.

And now where are things?  (And this coming Friday will quite possibly be worse).

Agree on the UM-MSU game: excellent contest with a compelling ebb and flow.  Unfortunately for Harbs, his players made the mistakes late, and he contributed a few himself.  When the score was 30-14 in the mid 3rd quarter, the game looked more out of reach for MSU than it really was.  Michigan fans are bemoaning the "choke job" of giving up such a dominant lead.  Well, as Sparty showed, it was merely a two-possession lead.  They scored and went for two, closing to within 8 points, then did it again to tie the game in the early 4th quarter.  Down the stretch, the Wolverines got a FG, the Spartans got a TD.  And that was ultimately the difference.  One of the best games of the current season, though Michigan fans are obviously seething right now.  MSU has won 10 out of 14 contests dating from 2008.  Harbaugh is 3-4 against his instate rivals.

And, yes, not that long ago, we could play at that level -- under the current head coach. Somehow the wheels came off the juggernaut.

If Stanford had blown a 16 point lead and then lost late after the second string QB was for some reason brought in and fumbled, in a big game, this board would be going bonkers. Damn, I wish that were the case.  Much better than what we have to talk about.  Which was a game so stunningly boring that I went to bed with 12 minutes left.

Fully agree with this assessment.  However, if you look at the total flow of the game, that 16 point lead was more ephemeral than it appeared.  UM had a 23-14 halftime lead.  After trading scoreless possessions with MSU, UM got the ball and scored to go up 30-14.  MSU answered on the very next possession to shave the lead to 30-22.  The Spartan defense held on UM's next possession, and MSU drove for another TD and 2 pt. conversion.  Tie game.  

The big mistake, as you correctly point out, was putting the true freshman QB (McCarthy) into the game: he had already nearly turned the ball over once in the 2nd half, and this time he succeeded in gifting the ball to the Spartans at the Michigan 41.  Yes, we would be going bonkers about that decision if Shaw had made it.  Bad call by Harbaugh and his OC.  Ultimately, it cost them the game.

[Austroturf]

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Harbaugh went to 1 BCS/NY6 Bowl (and it wasn't a Rose Bowl and he never won the conference). Shaw has been to 4.

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I have two problems with this statement. First, Harbaugh was only head coach of Stanford for 4 years.  Second, he inherited a totally broken program and had to rebuild it from the bottom up.  It is therefore ridiculous to compare Harbaugh's accomplishments at Stanford with those of Shaw, who inherited a top ten program and has had 11 seasons at the helm.  Shaw was masterful in taking over Harbaugh's program and producing some marvelous results in the years immediately following.  That is wholly to his credit.  But he also wholly owns the current decline, which is the result of his leadership, his coaches and his players.  

Also, it makes no sense to compare Harbaugh's current track record at Michigan to anything Shaw has done at Stanford.  Michigan plays in a different conference, has a different schedule and a different history.  No comparison.  I wonder how many times Stanford would have beaten Ohio State in the last 7 years.  Once maybe, in 2015.  

And for what it's worth, I would prefer to be 7-1 after a hard-fought disappointing loss to another top ten program than 3-5 after a miserable and disappointing game vs. another Pac-12 bottom-feeder.  Yes, the natives in Ann Arbor may be calling for Harbaugh's head, but there are worse places to be than 7-1.  Cardinal fans know that.

It's not just the record.  The Michigan-MSU game was an incredibly compelling game . . . one of the best college football games I've seen in a long time.  Tight game; great plays made on both sides; great atmosphere, etc.  Those were 2 teams making plays against pretty good (understatement) defenses.  Stanford was at that level not that long ago.

And now where are things?  (And this coming Friday will quite possibly be worse).

Agree on the UM-MSU game: excellent contest with a compelling ebb and flow.  Unfortunately for Harbs, his players made the mistakes late, and he contributed a few himself.  When the score was 30-14 in the mid 3rd quarter, the game looked more out of reach for MSU than it really was.  Michigan fans are bemoaning the "choke job" of giving up such a dominant lead.  Well, as Sparty showed, it was merely a two-possession lead.  They scored and went for two, closing to within 8 points, then did it again to tie the game in the early 4th quarter.  Down the stretch, the Wolverines got a FG, the Spartans got a TD.  And that was ultimately the difference.  One of the best games of the current season, though Michigan fans are obviously seething right now.  MSU has won 10 out of 14 contests dating from 2008.  Harbaugh is 3-4 against his instate rivals.

And, yes, not that long ago, we could play at that level -- under the current head coach. Somehow the wheels came off the juggernaut.

If Stanford had blown a 16 point lead and then lost late after the second string QB was for some reason brought in and fumbled, in a big game, this board would be going bonkers. Damn, I wish that were the case.  Much better than what we have to talk about.  Which was a game so stunningly boring that I went to bed with 12 minutes left.

Fully agree with this assessment.  However, if you look at the total flow of the game, that 16 point lead was more ephemeral than it appeared.  UM had a 23-14 halftime lead.  After trading scoreless possessions with MSU, UM got the ball and scored to go up 30-14.  MSU answered on the very next possession to shave the lead to 30-22.  The Spartan defense held on UM's next possession, and MSU drove for another TD and 2 pt. conversion.  Tie game.  

The big mistake, as you correctly point out, was putting the true freshman QB (McCarthy) into the game: he had already nearly turned the ball over once in the 2nd half, and this time he succeeded in gifting the ball to the Spartans at the Michigan 41.  Yes, we would be going bonkers about that decision if Shaw had made it.  Bad call by Harbaugh and his OC.  Ultimately, it cost them the game.