Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh was suspended for this edition of 'The Game' due to a sign-stealing investigation involving his program. Harbaugh claims he had no knowledge of the situation, including that Connor Stallions attended Big Ten road games in an attempt to scout rival teams and steal their signals, which is illegal.
While Michigan was without Harbaugh last Saturday, they still defeated Ohio State for the third consecutive year. If that weren't enough to give Buckeyes fans goosebumps, perhaps this recent comment by Harbaugh will do the trick.
"It's [The Game] not healthy," Harbaugh said on Monday. "It's not healthy for the student-athletes on either side when you're trying to put that much [pressure]. ... That somebody's practically thinking it's life or death ... I would say it's not healthy for the young people."
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh thinks Ohio State game is unhealthy
While Harbaugh has a point that the noise can certainly get to student-athletes, especially on social media...this is much of what they sign up for when they commit to either Michigan or Ohio State. The Game is considered the biggest rivalry in college football. Taking it away or toning it down isn't really an option at this point.
"I'm not going to go as far as to say contrived, but it is hyped up to no ends," Harbaugh said. "And these are student-athletes that are young kids, young adults, that are playing this game. And all we ask them to do is go out there and play the very best. I think that it's very manufactured for the TV show that people want to watch and see."
Student-athletes at Michigan and Ohio State have been dealing with this sort of noise for decades. Perhaps it's a little louder now, but the hatred of said rivalry isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Harbaugh will just have to deal with it.
