Michigan’s season ended in unspectacular fashion Saturday via a 51-45 loss to TCU in the College Football Playoff semifinal from State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. And although there’s plenty to look to when it comes to Michigan’s massive failure after an incredibly successful season up to this point, Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh is looking to one particular play that he wishes he had gone a different direction with.
Early in the game with Michigan driving and knocking on the door, Harbaugh opted to go with a trick play dialing up a “Philly Special” on fourth and goal from the TCU two-yard line. The play ended in epic failure with the Horned Frogs getting to Colston Loveland for an eight-yard loss and Michigan’s drive stalling for zero points.
If you want to say this play set the tone early on for Michigan, that’s fine, however, in actuality, it really was almost a perfect storm of failure for Michigan from the Fiesta Bowl. The defense was abysmal, J.J. McCarthy looked fucking lost at times out there throwing two pick-sixes, while the offense looked sloppy and ineffective when shit mattered most.
