Since 2008, Northwestern is exactly one game better than Michigan.
From Rich Rodriguez’s first season until now, the Wolverines are 77-54, while Pat Fitzgerald has led the Wildcats to a 78-53 mark, including three bowl victories.
This serves as just another data point explaining the severity of the Jim Harbaugh’s recovery project coming into Ann Arbor three years ago. With a win this Saturday in Evanston, he accomplishes a few things.
One, his eighth different road win in conference since 2015. Two, the program’s sixth consecutive triumph over the Wildcats. Three, an end to another ignominious reminder of the last decade’s struggles.