What A Win Would Mean For Michigan Football, Harbaugh

With obituaries on Michigan football already seemingly written for this season (despite a 5-1 start), a victory tonight could change the way the Wolverines and their coach are viewed.

I said earlier in the week I couldn't remember the last time the collective Michigan fan base entered a game with such a "defeated" attitude. Perhaps 2017 Ohio State, but that U-M team was 8-3, coming off a 24-10 loss at Wisconsin, unranked, and playing the No. 8 team in college football. 

This matchup with Penn State is between a pair of Top 16 teams, with U-M 5-1 and still in complete control of its Big Ten destiny. And yet, the majority of fans -- taking this from social media, message boards, callers on our radio show and personal conversations - seem resigned that the Wolverines will lose tonight. 

Not only that but the Maize and Blue will lose badly. 

As any Michigan fan not living on a deserted island knows, thanks to the constant media regurgitations this week (I'm guilty), there is reason to be guarded: take U-M's 1-6 record against ranked teams on the road (getting outscored 56-3 in the first quarter of those seven games), its 1-9 mark against Top 10 teams -- Penn State is ranked seventh -- or its 0-7 record as an underdog under Jim Harbaugh. 

Those numbers, and a fresh memory of a 35-14 beatdown earlier this season in Madison in which Michigan trailed Wisconsin 28-0 at the end of the first half, certainly present a case for Maize and Blue fans to lock their hearts and hopes away in a Switzerland-level-reinforced safe. 

I also said earlier this season the loss to the Badgers is when I thought a vocal minority of Michigan fans ready to part ways with Harbaugh became a majority. Those fans are piling on presently, expecting the worst and are ready to register FireJimHarbaugh.com domain names (critical, no-longer-giving-him-the-benefit-of-the-doubt radio show hosts have given those fans a greater sounding board). 

So what does a win tonight mean? It means everything. 

It ends a streak as an underdog (and with a victory, Michigan would probably find itself the favorite in its next four games leading up to THE Game). 

It gives Harbaugh his most impressive win against a Top 10 team (so far that distinction belongs to No. 8 Wisconsin in 2016).

It ends the narrative of struggles on the road against ranked teams (at least until 2020 as U-M won't play another ranked team away from home until the season opener at Washington, and even then, you don't cite a stat meant to downplay a program when the most recent such situation was an accomplishment). 

It keeps Michigan firmly in the Big Ten race, ahead of Penn State in the standings, and setting up the very real possibility that the Nov. 30 showdown with Ohio State would determine who wins the East. 

It allows for the possibility still of a college football playoff berth, where a second loss effectively ends any chance of that. 

And most importantly, it provides hope to a fan base tearing itself apart at the seams, a camp staunchly supportive of Harbaugh and that other half putting together coaching hot boards for December. 

Hope is all fans can ask for (well, hope and results). 

Hope that the program has gotten over one of its major humps. 

Hope that the program is finding its way and can build off its performance to peak in November matchups with rivals Michigan State and Ohio State. 

Hope that expectations for Year 5 of the Harbaugh era were not misguided and foolish (and that it just took a little more time to get on track). 

And hope that the future is trending in the right direction, Harbaugh taking a big step towards proving he is the coach he was thought to be when hired Dec. 30, 2014. 

Even the Michigan fans jumping ship want to believe. They were in offices and living rooms, bars and coffee cafes celebrating jubilantly the day Harbaugh was hired. They wanted more than anything for Harbaugh to be the coach that led U-M to wins over Ohio State, led the Wolverines to Big Ten titles, and led the Maize and Blue to the college football playoff. 

Even the strongest Harbaugh detractor still wants that. They want to believe in him and in Michigan football again. They're dying for a sign, praying for a victory like Harbaugh had at Stanford when he took down USC. 

The fans are asking for it over and over again - hope. 

Tonight, Michigan and Harbaugh could give it to them.