Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh didn’t hide his disdain for the officiating during his team’s setback against the Michigan State Spartans two weeks ago. Aiden Hutchinson’s touchdown after recovering the ball following David Ojabo’s sack of Payton Thorne was called back, taking points off the board for the Wolverines.
Since then, he stated that Big Ten officials reached out to him to acknowledge their mistake.
“As we all expected, and all saw, mistakes were made,” Harbaugh said. “That was the response [from the conference], yeah, they made a mistake.”
However, according to Detroit Free Press writer Rainer Sabin, a Big Ten representative was “surprised” that Harbaugh spoke publicly of the alleged exchange:
A person in Big Ten office with direct knowledge of correspondence between Jim Harbaugh and the conference told @freep Harbaugh received a formal response to his questions about officiating in MSU loss but wouldn't confirm or deny Harbaugh's account of the correspondence. (1/2)
— Rainer Sabin (@RainerSabin) November 9, 2021
(2/2) The person in the Big Ten office was a "little surprised" Harbaugh made public comments about the correspondence/conversation because "confidentiality exists there."
— Rainer Sabin (@RainerSabin) November 9, 2021
– – Quotes via ESPN Link – –