UM’s Harbaugh downplays Ohio State rivalry

Jim Harbaugh the head coach of the Michigan Wolverines watches the action against the Indiana Hoosiers at Memorial Stadium on November 14, 2015 in Bloomington, Indiana.(Photo: Andy Lyons, Getty Images) Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh knows the importance of the Ohio State rivalry game. He’s the one who guaranteed a win against the Buckeyes in 1986 and understood the intensity having grown up around it as U-M’s starting quarterback. But leading up to this Saturday, when the No. 8 Buckeyes come to face No. 12 Michigan at Michigan Stadium, he sees it as just another week. Asked today if he follows Bo Schembechler’s mantra of preparing for Ohio State every day, Harbaugh waved it off. “You know exactly how we go about things; we’re trying to be better today than we were yesterday, better tomorrow than we were today,” he said. “It’s been our approach.” Despite repeated attempts by reporters today, Harbaugh – who removed all references to the rivalry in Schembechler Hall, including countdown clocks and ‘Beat Ohio’ signs — wasn’t biting. Asked about treating this game differently from others when he was a player, he said: “I have no frame of reference what you’re referring to.” Asked about his guarantee, he repeated that it was a long time ago and, if Schembechler had a problem with it, he figures he would have heard about it. Even when asked for stories about the rivalry and its importance, he deferred those “nuggets for later in the week” in his upcoming interviews. The closest he got was to reference the 1969 week. “Today, I’m most reminded of a time when I wasn’t even here, I just reads about it and heard players from the 1969 team talk about the practice, the preparation, there was snow,” he said, drawing a comparison to the winter weather that hit this past weekend…

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