Michigan wins biggest win with Jim Harbaugh against Northwestern

Jim Harbaugh's Michigan Wolverines had their biggest return under his watch.

In the first half of Saturday's Big Ten final at Ryan Field, things did not look very promising for Jim Harbaugh's team.

Michigan Wolverines of Harbaugh lost 17-0 to the Northwestc Wildcats in the first period. If history had held up, it would be another disappointment on Michigan's disappointing road against a team they should not have much trouble beating.

But the Wolverines slowly but surely began to defeat the Northwest to win a 20-17 victory.

It was a historic victory for Harbaugh, and even for Michigan for the most part. It was the first time in Harbaugh's career as a college football coach that his team overcame a 17-point deficit to win the match. Previously, he was 0-31 in these situations, and 0-3 in Michigan.

More so, it's only the sixth time in the 139 years of Michigan history that they have returned after gaining 17 points. The return of the Wolverines is tied for the third biggest comeback in the history of the school and the biggest return of the team since 2011 against Notre Dame.

In the first half, Michigan looked more or less like a no-show. The defense gave fast points to Northwestern, and despite the remarkable efforts of quarterback Shea Patterson, the Wolverines could not move. The end of the game Sean McKeon even dropped a wide pass that hit him directly in the chest, which would probably have been at least a 20-meter gain.

Fortunately for Michigan, the defense then recovered and the Wildcats were eliminated for the rest of the game, which allowed Patterson to slowly get rid of the deficit of 17 points. Finally, Karan Higdon grabbed a five-yard touchdown with a 4:06 lead to give Michigan a 20-17 lead, and the defense again held firm.

Finally, Harbaugh can finally say that he overcame a deficit of 17 points to win a match. It was a long and difficult day for the Wolverines, but nonetheless, a bad victory still counts as a victory.