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The Michigan Wolverines are currently the No. 4-ranked team in the country according to the AP Poll. The Wolverines are riding high after a 41-17 demolition of Penn State in Week 7 followed by a bye week.
Michigan and coach Jim Harbaugh are now ready for a stretch run highlighted by an inevitable showdown with Ohio State that will likely determine a College Football Playoff spot. But Harbaugh, a unique character, isn’t quite done with Penn State or Nittany Lions’ head coach James Franklin.
That’s because the two teams got into a skirmish at halftime of their game with Michigan holding a narrow 16-14 lead at that point. Franklin blamed the incident on the layout of Michigan Stadium and said that the Nittany Lions aren’t the first team to have a problem there.
"The one tunnel is a problem and has been," Franklin said with regards to the tunnel in Ann Arbor. "We're not the first team to get into a jawing match in the tunnel."
— Audrey Snyder (@audsnyder4) October 18, 2022
No punishment came from the altercation. And Penn State seemed to bounce back pretty well with a 45-17 victory over Minnesota on Saturday. But Harbaugh wasn’t just going to let Franklin’s comments go unchecked.
Jim Harbaugh Calls Out James Franklin, Says Halftime Skirmish Was ‘Sophomoric’
Few coaches do petty quite as well as Harbaugh does petty. So it came as no surprise that he had a response to Franklin’s comments. A media member asked the Michigan head coach about it on Tuesday and his response was nothing short of incredible.
Jim Harbaugh on the tunnel: “I really got bigger fish to fry than James Franklin’s opinion”
“All they have to do is go into the locker room.” Called it “sophomoric,” and said Franklin “looked like the ringleader of the whole thing”
“I’ve got bigger fish to fry than … whining”
— Zach Shaw (@_ZachShaw) October 24, 2022
Jim Harbaugh on PSU taking issue with Michigan’s tunnel:
“I’ve got bigger fish to fry than Coach Franklin’s opinion on our tunnel a week ago… Such a sophomoric ploy to keep us out of our own locker room. Looked like he was the ring leader of all of it.”
— Anthony Broome (@anthonytbroome) October 24, 2022
“I’ve got bigger fish to fry than Coach Franklin’s opinion on our tunnel a week ago,” Harbaugh said. “Such a sophomoric ploy to keep us out of our own locker room. Looked like he was the ring leader of all of it.”
To his credit, Harbaugh does now have bigger fish to fry. Though you wonder why he even offered up a response at all. Michigan made its first College Football Playoff a year ago. Now the Wolverines are looking to make it back-to-back appearances.
But Harbaugh isn’t going to let that get in the way of his petty wars.