Asked at his Monday press conference about the controversial ejection of linebacker Joe Bolden for targeting that preceded Michigan State's improbable win over his team the last time it played, Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh opted for a unique analogy.
"Not into the 'if this, if that' type of scenarios," Harbaugh said. "If worms had machine guns, then birds wouldn’t be scared of them."
Harbaugh couldn't recall whether he got the line from a book, a movie or, what's most likely, his own imagination. But regardless of where the unlikely comparison came from, it's served as an overriding message to the Wolverines heading into this weekend's crucial matchup with Minnesota, which will play a large role in defining the trajectory of the remainder of Michigan's season.
Because for as heartbreaking as the Wolverines' loss to the Spartans was, with Jalen Watts-Jackson returning a fumbled punt as time expired to give Michigan State a 27-23 victory in a game that was seemingly all but over, Michigan still has—at least—five games left in the 2015 season, and potentially plenty to play for.
And while Harbaugh may not be into "if this, if that" hypotheticals, it's not hard to imagine the path these Wolverines would be following if they were still under the direction their past leadership. In each of the last two years with former head coach Brady Hoke at the helm, Michigan's seasons were marked with obvious turning points, each of which resulted in apparent tailspins, as evidenced by the ensuing results.
Two years ago, it came by way of a 43-40 overtime loss to Penn State after what was an otherwise promising 5-0 start to the 2013 campaign. Those Wolverines, however, responded by losing five of their final seven games to close the season, including a 31-14 drubbing by Kansas State in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl to seal a 7-6 record on the year.
In 2014, Michigan's first speed bump came much sooner, with the Wolverines getting shut out by Notre Dame in a 31-0 blowout in just the second week of the season. Michigan never truly bounced back, losing three of its next four games and three of its final five, including back-to-back losses to Maryland and Ohio State to close its 5-7 season—Hoke's last in Ann Arbor.
With the dramatic fashion in which the Wolverines lost to Michigan State two weeks ago—which was followed by either a timely or untimely bye week depending on your point of view—Michigan could once again see its season take one of two paths.
Under Harbaugh, however, the Wolverines' prospects are much more promising than they were with Hoke, and the first-year Michigan head coach said he liked what he saw from his team in practice during last week's bye.
"It was very sharp and guys were mellowing out," Harbaugh said. "Felt like we improved from where we were on Tuesday and Wednesday."
Not that Harbaugh would state it publicly if the case was otherwise, but at the very least, the former Stanford and San Francisco 49ers head coach has a track record when it comes to his teams bouncing back. In Harbaugh's first three seasons with the 49ers from 2011-2013, his teams lost consecutive games just twice, with San Francisco's 8-8 campaign—which included four losses in its final five games—in 2014 looking more like an outlier than anything else.
But while the NFL game is different from the college one, Harbaugh's resume with the Cardinal also speaks for itself, as his teams lost consecutive games just once in his final two seasons in Palo Alto. In perhaps the most analogous situation to where the Wolverines currently find themselves, Harbaugh's last Stanford team responded to losing a Top 10 matchup to Oregon in the fifth week of the season by reeling off wins in its final eight games, closing the 2010 campaign with a 12-1 record and a victory over Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl.
It may not be an apples-to-apples comparison, but this Michigan team certainly has a lot left to play for, and despite already having two losses on its record, the team isn't necessarily out of the picture for the College Football Playoff.
Harbaugh, however, isn't concerning himself with what remains past this weekend's go-round with the Golden Gophers and the battle for the Little Brown Jug, which Harbaugh remembers well from his playing days as a quarterback with the Wolverines.
"One of the great trophies," Harbaugh said of the reward for the annual meeting between Michigan and Minnesota. "I've always remembered it that way and we'll approach it the same way—that we want it."
Should Michigan—which still possesses the nation's top-ranked defense—beat the Gophers, it could be accomplishing more than obtaining a trophy and ridding itself of the sour taste of its loss to the Spartans. With Big Ten East front-runners Ohio State and Michigan State still yet to play one another and the Wolverines' annual battle with the Buckeyes still ahead, Michigan still has a chance to play itself into conference championship contention.
"We’re looking to define our season over the next number of games that we play," Harbaugh said.
The opportunity to do just that starts Saturday.
If Michigan win out—well, let's stop right there. After all, we already know how Harbaugh feels about hypotheticals.
Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten lead writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of CFBStats.com. Odds provided by Odds Shark. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.
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