ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh called Penn State coach James Franklin "the ringleader" of a halftime discord between the teams in the Michigan Stadium tunnel less than a week after Franklin described the tunnel as a "problem."
At least two videos surfaced from the Michigan-Penn State halftime incident on Oct. 15 and it's clear there was a lot of yelling. In one video, Franklin was visibly becoming irate with security as both teams tried to separate toward their locker rooms on opposite sides.
Michigan was leading 16-14 at that point and went on to win the game, 41-17, to improve to 7-0, 4-0 Big Ten. There is only one tunnel that allows access to Michigan Stadium and at halftime the visitors leave the field first, followed by the game officials then Michigan. Ironically, the tunnel was dedicated that day as the "Lloyd Carr Tunnel" honoring the longtime football coach who led the 1997 Michigan team to the AP national championship.
Harbaugh on Monday met with media for the first time since that Penn State game and to talk about the upcoming rivalry game with Michigan State. He asked about Franklin's comments made during a news conference last Tuesday.
"Really got bigger fish to fry than Coach Franklin's opinion on the halftime tunnel from a game ago, but all you've gotta do is walk into their locker room," Harbaugh said. "I think you saw pretty clearly that they completely stopped. They weren't letting us get up the tunnel.
"It seemed like such a sophomoric ploy to try to keep us out of our locker room. He looked like he was the ringleader of the whole thing. But no, I've got bigger fish to fry than worry about that kind of whining."
Franklin was asked last Tuesday at his weekly news conference what transpired at halftime.
"I prefer to talk about these things in the off-season, but the one tunnel is a problem," Franklin told reporters. "It's a problem and has been. To me, we need to put a policy in place from a conference perspective in my mind that's going to stop — we're not the first team to kind of get into a jawing match in the tunnel. For me, I want to focus on getting my team into the locker room and not jawing back and forth. Get my team get in the locker room and their team get in the locker room.
"There really should be a policy that first team that goes in, there is a buffer. If not, this team starts talking to this team, they start jawing back and forth, and something bad is gonna happen before we put in the policy. There has to be a two-minute or minute buffer in between the two teams. This team is in before that team gets close and however we want to do it. But we're not the first team that's had issues like that. To me, under the current structure we won't be the last. To me, there is a really easy solution. We got to do it. But for me, I want to get our team in the locker room. That's my concern."
It hasn't been the first halftime tunnel issue at Michigan Stadium. After halftime of last season's Michigan-Ohio State game, videos, including one shot by ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit, that shows the Ohio State players ahead in the tunnel going to their lockers and turning around to look at the Michigan players apparently yelling at them. Before the 2013 Michigan-Ohio State game, the Buckeyes were heading out of their locker room when Michigan players, pounding on the locker room door, emerged and players from both teams began jawing at each other.
In a Twitter post last Monday, Abigail O'Connor, Michigan football's performance dietitian, said she found a few peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on the floor outside of the locker room.
"I thought it was an unsuccessful attempt to sneak food to the sideline," O'Connor wrote. "Turns out they had been thrown at our players."
In the video where Franklin is promiment, there appears to be something thrown from the Penn State locker room toward Michigan's.
"I didn't get a sandwich thrown at me," Michigan left guard Trevor Keegan said while laughing last Tuesday, "but R.J. (Moten) came up to me and said, 'I just got hit with a PBJ in the face,' so I guess they were. I didn't see that, but that's what he told me."
Michigan tight end Erick All will not be available after undergoing surgery. All posted on Instagram last Friday that he was having surgery in Tampa, Fla., but did not offer specifics. He has not returned a request for comment.
All, a co-captain, played in three games this season.
"He won't be back this year," Harbaugh said. "He had a surgery he needed that was successful. We look forward to rehab for Erick. Won't be able to play this year."
Quarterback Cade McNamara has been out since the Connecticut game last month and has had a brace on his right leg. Harbaugh was asked Monday if McNamara is closer to coming back this season.
"I don't really have any update on that right now," Harbaugh said.
Harbaugh over the weekend attended a reunion of the 2012 San Francisco 49ers team he coached to the Super Bowl where they lost to his brother John Harbaugh's Baltimore Ravens.
It was the first time he had been back since parting ways with the organization after the 2014 season. He took over at Michigan shortly after that departure. Harbaugh was asked Monday if the reunion gave him closure for the way things ended in San Francisco.
"The closure was right away," Harbaugh said. "I don't get bitter, I get better; that's what I always strive to do."
Michigan's game next Saturday at Rutgers will start at 7:30 p.m., it was announced Saturday.
