Michigan football has been the center of the college football world for nearly three weeks as the methodology of now-former Wolverines staffer Connor Stalions’ sign-stealing operation is in question. While there have yet to be revelations of other programs employing similar methods, it turns out those pointing fingers toward Ann Arbor may not be fully in the clear, either.
According to New York Times bestseller John U. Bacon, Ohio State and Rutgers allegedly had a full list of Michigan football plays with signs they gave to Purdue in advance of the Big Ten championship game.
FWIW:
Big Ten's Tony Petiti was informed today that the two programs which fed Purdue Michigan's signals before the 2022 BT title game were Rutgers and OSU. Not clear if rules broken, doesn't directly affect UM's situation, but raises question re: relative competitive advantage.— John U. Bacon (@Johnubacon) November 7, 2023
Bacon continues, noting this evidence was presented to the Big Ten by an outside source and that it was not provided by Michigan football.
Also FWIW, since some have asked: the person informing Petiti was not a U-Michigan employee but an independent higher-up in college football, who felt Petiti should be ready to respond. https://t.co/wVNuaxQsTg
— John U. Bacon (@Johnubacon) November 7, 2023
It’s unclear at the moment whether the Big Ten would view this as a violation of the league’s sportsmanship policy that Jim Harbaugh is being accused of violating.
More on this story as it develops.