Michigan football back to dominating, but doubts from sign-stealing scandal linger

The Michigan football team played for the first time in two weeks Saturday night. Michigan Stadium was full, as usual. The band played the national anthem. The crowd sang "Hail to the Victors." And the neighborhoods near the corner of Stadium and Main streets were full of the usual mirth.

On the surface, anyway.

Because underneath?

Nearly everyone is frustrated, or at least disappointed, and unless it’s always about winning and nothing else, and the final score is all that matters, then the haze that's settled over Schembechler Hall is hardly purple.

Yet even for those who argue that the allegations of sign-stealing within U-M's program are all noise and no heft, and that even if they are true, they are nothing more than little games within the big game, have to concede that their beloved program is tainted.

This is the perception, anyway, and the assumption that Jim Harbaugh’s team cheated will stick with it the rest of the season. Few will watch them play without thinking about the scandal. Every game is now a referendum.

Oh, did the Wolverines complete that pass because they knew the defense before they lined up?

Or: that was a nifty interception. Was the defensive back told where the ball was going by someone on the sideline?

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Ridiculous?

On some level, sure it is. Not every J.J. McCarthy completion should be litigated, not every interception questioned.

Will Johnson deserves credit for picking off Hudson Card, as he did Saturday night when U-M beat Purdue, 41-13. The sophomore cornerback is a future first-round draft pick in the NFL. He’s talented enough to track a ball and snag it.

But the whispers aren’t going anywhere, which is understandable in the context of Michigan’s history of preachy moralism, yet too bad for the players who had nothing to do with this mess.

"I feel like it's something that's brought us closer as a unit," said McCarthy, after throwing for an easy 335 yards despite being, by his own admission, a little off.

In some corners the whispering has turned into bellowing, and as much as the players dismiss the increasing decibels — "I see it," said receiver Roman Wilson, "It don't bother me." — Jim Harbaugh is convinced the skepticism toward his team will ultimately help it.

"The guys are such stalwarts," he said. "The comments keep coming about why they’re good, how they’re good, I mean, they’re just good. If you know football, and you watch our guys play … I’ve said it before, there’s 20, 22-23 guys that’ll be playing on Sundays next year. I truly believe there’s another 30-35 right behind them that will return and others will be developing. Watch the game, turn on the tape."

Few would argue this is a talented roster, stuffed with pros at every position group, none more gifted than McCarthy, of whom Harbaugh said is the best college quarterback he's ever seen play at U-M. Yet the skepticism is here for a reason, and while the program deserves due process, and the players aren't responsible for hiring Connor Stalions, the evidence against him doesn't look good.

Stalions was working as a football analyst when he allegedly scouted games in person — or hired others to do it for him — in an attempt to steal sideline signals. He resigned late this week and released a statement through his lawyer, Brad Beckworth, stating that he hoped his resignation would diffuse the distraction he had become.

He also said Harbaugh had no knowledge of any advanced, in-person scouting or, for that matter, any coach on staff. And that no one told anyone to break the rules or were “aware of improper conduct regarding the recent allegations of advanced scouting.”

If you’re inclined to parse these sorts of lawyerly tell-sort-of's, then you’re likely to zero on the highlighted words in this part the statement. Stalions, according to Beckworth, “wanted to make it clear that, to his knowledge, neither Coach Harbaugh, nor any staff member, told anyone to break any rules …”

The key phrase, of course, is: “... to his knowledge.”

Who knew what when, or who knew anything at all other than Stalions has yet to play out. It will take a while, and waiting for that to sift through is the argument U-M's president Santa Ono made late this week when he sent a letter to Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti, urging him to wait for due process before deciding on consequences.

“It’s precisely at these times — when all key facts are not known but others are all too comfortable offering strongly held opinion — that it is essential for everyone to ensure that investigations are conducted fairly and that conclusions are based on what actually happened,” Ono wrote. “The reputation and livelihoods of coaches, students, and programs cannot be sacrificed in a rush to judgment, no matter how many and how loudly people protest otherwise. Due process matters.”

Of course, due process matters. And the NCAA should wait until its investigation is complete to mete out consequences, if it decides they are warranted. The Big Ten, however, can act under an unsportsmanlike conduct clause, and, reports suggest, could suspend Harbaugh well before the NCAA concludes its investigation.

Petitti has talked with other presidents and chancellors in the conference about the allegations and has talked with coaches and athletic directors. Other coaches want something done.

It’s hard to blame them.

For while due process is critical, as Ono argued, the evidence that Stalions worked for U-M and was involved in advanced scouting seems nearly incontrovertible.

Why else would he resign?

Why else would U-M suspend him before he resigned?

Whether the Big Ten suspends Harbaugh for more games this season is just another question swirling around the program. There are lots of questions, more by the day it seems. And even more opinions, and they aren’t going away anytime soon.

Earlier this week, for example, Purdue head coach Ryan Walters didn’t hide his contempt for what he thinks U-M has been up to.

“They aren’t allegations,” he told reporters. “It happened. There’s video evidence. There’s ticket purchases you can track back. We know for a fact they were at a number of our games.”

As you can imagine, the postgame handshake between him and Harbaugh was cursory at best, though Harbaugh insisted it was like any other. Maybe so. Maybe it's a matter of perception.

Perception is critical though, and it's not been kind to the university and its faithful, nor its big block brand. I asked Harbaugh how his team is handling those who think the brand is tarnished because of the allegations.

They are stalwarts, he said of his players, "savage warriors. Yeah, go ahead and question them on why they’re good, how they got good. I mean it’s practically a priceless gift, you know, to get to where we want to go."

A gift?

That's one way of looking at the last couple of weeks. Here's another: these Wolverines are really really good, and still, the outside noise isn't going anywhere. As linebacker Michael Barrett pointed out, he heard the noise on the field.

"Hey, where'd your guy go?" a fan sarcastically asked.

Barrett smiled as he recounted the trash talk. Donovan Edwards, who was sitting next to him, chuckled, too, then later added:

"We don't have to prove nothing to nobody."

No doubt he believes that, and the team believes that, but his coach wouldn't call the questions from cynics a "precious gift" unless this team were desperate to prove the allegations have nothing to do with why they are here — 9-0, eyes on more titles. No, they want to prove they are winning because of their talent, because they are good at football.

Which means that they must keep winning, and hope that their play makes the loudest statement of all, and eventually quiets everything else.

Contact Shawn Windsor: 313-222-6487 or swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him @shawnwindsor.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football back to dominating; doubts from sign-stealing linger