Michigan was on its run of a lifetime in 2023, and hoped to defeat Penn State on the road. The squad was prepared, the drills were on point, and that playbook was waiting to be poured on the field. But even before the team could enter the field in Happy Valley, news came that should have shaken the team’s morale. Head coach Jim Harbaugh was going to be suspended for the infamous sign-stealing scandal for three games, starting from PSU.
“We really embraced it,” former Michigan tight end Colston Loveland said on theBussin’ With The Boys podcast on July 14. “I think he was suspended for six games total that year, the first three. Yeah, it was crazy. I think we all found out on Twitter something, and it was like, man, okay, this is some serious stuff. Yeah, we’re in the back of the bus like, ‘oh, this is crazy.’ But we embraced it, man.”
Loveland, himself a standout player in UM’s 2023 national title run, featured in the PSU game and went on to notch 649 receiving yards in the season. Despite those suspensions, it looked like there was no stopping Michigan. Maybe after the storm, after the suspensions, stability was finally in sight for the Ann Arbor program? Interestingly, though, that was the last season for Jim Harbaugh at UM as he took up the Chargers’ job amid the NCAA investigation that continued…