Michigan players back Jim Harbaugh ahead of Ohio State game - ESPN

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — When Michigan plays Ohio State on Saturday, both teams will be playing for a spot in the Big Ten championship game and a potential berth in the College Football Playoff.

But the Wolverines will be doing it without head coach Jim Harbaugh on the sideline.

For the sixth game this season, Harbaugh will be serving a suspension that will prevent him from coaching the third-ranked Wolverines. This, however, is the biggest game of the season with the most at stake, as undefeated Michigan hosts second-ranked Ohio State.

Harbaugh's absence hasn't impacted the confidence from Michigan's players and coaches, though.

«A lot of us would run through a wall for [Harbaugh], so it's definitely been tough, and going into the game without him, this is kind of just like adding fuel to the fire,» Wolverines running back Blake Corum said Monday.

«We're going to play — not that we weren't going to play hard at all, but might play a little harder for him and make sure at the end of the game, we give a game ball to him. And you give a game ball to someone, you say you're going to give a game ball to someone, you must win; so we'll make sure we do that for Coach.»

Harbaugh is serving what will be the third game in his three-game suspension from the Big Ten Conference amid allegations that former staffer Connor Stalions manned an in-person scouting scheme to steal play signals and calls.

Harbaugh also missed the first three games of the season from a self-imposed suspension stemming from an unrelated NCAA investigation that has yet to finish.

Rather than viewing Harbaugh's absence as a negative, the Wolverines are using it as a chip on their shoulder and embracing a «Michigan vs. Everybody» mentality.

Corum wore those words on a