Jim Harbaugh weighs in on Big Ten title matchup with Iowa: 'It’s an image of heat-seeking missiles after the ball'
The Michigan Wolverines have put Ohio State in the rearview mirror and are on to title hunt season with a Big Ten Championship game against Iowa on Saturday. The 10-2 Hawkeyes have pulled off the unthinkable during a year that has been marred by injuries and offensive ineptitude.
But the Hawkeyes survived the Big Ten West and won enough football games to set up a second title game matchup with Michigan, and the two programs’ third meeting in the last three years.
Wins are the only stats that matter to head coach Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines, so Iowa’s ability to get back to Indianapolis for the second time in three years has them on high alert.
“The key word there is wins,” Harbaugh said during a teleconference on Sunday. “Any time you win, it’s a team effort. Your team was able to make the plays they needed to make, stop the drives, needed to cover the kicks that needed to be covered, and Iowa does that. They win.
“Our team’s really good when we don’t turn the ball over. I think we’re undefeated when we don’t turn the ball over since I’ve been coaching here. That’s one of Iowa’s specialties, tips and overthrows. We’ve tried to adopt that as the best we can, but nobody does it better than Iowa.
Y”ou have to earn everything that you get and it’s going to be a tough physical game. We have got to get ourselves in that mindset, which now more than ever, more than the last two years, I really think our team [knows] there’s more to do. There’s the mindset of, of onward and, we understand the task of the championship game.
“Both teams really want it. It’s an opportunity for Iowa to be champion, an opportunity for us to be champion. That’s going to have to get earned and we’re going to have to do what we always do every single week. Plan, practice, and then go execute. And it’s going to have to be good. If it’s not, then, we’ll have a good chance of getting beat. If we play well, then we’re going to have a good chance of winning. That’s how we go into every single week.”
Iowa is known for its stout defense and special teams and head coach Kirk Ferentz’s ability to have them play sound, fundamental football. This will be a game that tests Michigan’s discipline coming off an emotional end to the season and a euphoric win over Ohio State.
“They have really good players and a really great scheme,” Harbaugh said. “Always in the right place. The way they adjust to motions, the way they adjust to shifts, they can adjust the tempo. They’re in the right place at the right time. Then, there’s a mentality to go after the ball and the nose for the ball, it’s at a very elite high level.
“The ball’s in the air, but the tips, the overthrows… it’s just an image of heat-seeking missiles after the ball. You have got to be really precise offensively. When you’re running the ball, the blocks have to be, crisp, they have to be sustained, throws have to be accurate and they have to be on time.”
“You have to play really good, disciplined football.”
Michigan has a third-straight Big Ten Championship on the line after finishing off a 12-0 regular season for the second year in a row, which is a first in program history. But Harbaugh and the Wolverines know there is more on the table. Saturday is the next step.
“It would mean a great deal [to win it again],” Harbaugh said. “This team is a true team and selfless. They play for each other. If you’re wondering what’s in another man’s heart on this team, it’s about each other. So many things… 12-0 in back-to-back seasons, we’d like to make that 13-0.
“So many things about this team and they all talk about it. There’s more to do. I know our focus will be on going out and giving it our very best and, and taking a shot at that third championship.”
Saturday’s Michigan vs. Iowa Big Ten title game from Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis kicks off just after 8 p.m. ET on FOX with Gus Johnson and Joel Klatt on the call.
