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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — It’ll be a tough matchup for Michigan football on Saturday as the Wolverines travel to Minneapolis to take on Minnesota in primetime.
It’s a ranked-on-ranked matchup, with the maize and blue coming in at No. 18 in the AP Top 25, while home team Minnesota is No. 21. There’s something of a misnomer that the Wolverines under Jim Harbaugh can’t win big games of this ilk, but that’s not entirely true.
Yes, Michigan has lost six games in Harbaugh’s tenure where the Wolverines have been the higher-ranked team, with three of those coming on the road (2016 vs. unranked Iowa, 2018 vs. Ohio State and 2019 vs. Wisconsin), two at neutral sites (2016 vs. Florida State and 2018 vs. Florida) and one at home (2017 vs. Michigan State). Of Harbaugh’s 13 ranked-vs-ranked games where Michigan was the lower-ranked team, nine have been losses, but there have been four wins — though all of those were at home.
Additionally, the Wolverines are 1-7 when ESPN College GameDay is on the campus of where Michigan is playing, with the sole win coming in 2018 at home vs. Wisconsin.
That said, there’s a lot of skepticism whether or not the maize and blue can pull this game off, considering the challenge Minnesota presents.
So what does Harbaugh see in the Golden Gophers? Really, their strengths start on the offensive side of the ball.
“Really good, good football team,” Harbaugh said. “So many good players, really well-coached. Rashod Bateman really jumps out to me. He’s so strong, made so many strong, contested catches. I believe he averaged over 20 yards per catch in 2019. He’s terrific. Kind of a real alpha-type of guy and football player. Got a real challenge for us in the secondary – and other playmakers on offense, no question about that.
“Really like their quarterback. Tanner Morgan is a very gifted, a really savvy quarterback. Excellent line. Daniel Faalele, a very big human being, but super athletic as well. Really good running backs.”
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But it’s not just on offense that Minnesota has an opportunity to be formidable.
Last year, the Golden Gophers were No. 10 in the nation in total defense, one spot ahead of Michigan. While the Gophers lose five starters from a year ago on that side of the ball, Harbaugh says that you can tell just how good they are, regardless, by watching the film.
“A defense that really understands their scheme, plays it really well,” Harbaugh said. “They lost some starters on defense, but every time you turn on the film, both sides of the ball are really good at playing the concepts.”
With all of that in mind, realize Michigan isn’t entering this game as the underdog, and it’s no slouch on the playing field either. If it executes, there’s still a good chance the Wolverines emerge with a road victory on Saturday.
“That has to be really important for us to be mentally sharp and playing us as well as we possibly can,” Harbaugh said. “If we play good, I think we’ll be tough to beat as well.”
No. 18 Michigan and No. 21 Minnesota kickoff on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. EDT with the game nationally televised on ABC.
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