Jim Harbaugh Further Stakes Claim as College Football Coach of the Year

If Michigan's 31-0 beating of then-No. 22 BYU two weeks ago served as a way for the Wolverines to measure themselves, then consider their 38-0 walloping of No. 13 Northwestern on Saturday a warning to the rest of the Big Ten.

Jim Harbaugh's Michigan is here.

And it's not only as good as advertised. It's better.

The Wolverines dominated the Wildcats from the start on Saturday—literally—with wideout Jehu Chesson taking the game's opening kickoff to the house to give Michigan a 7-0 lead 13 seconds into the game. The Wolverines found themselves in the end zone both early and often, scoring three first-quarter touchdowns against a Northwestern defense that had allowed just three total touchdown in its first five games.

The Michigan defense held its own as well, allowing just 168 total yards to the Wildcats while pitching its third shutout in as many weeks. The Wolverines defense outscored the Northwestern offense on its own, with cornerback Jourdan Lewis returning a third-quarter interception 37 yards for a touchdown.

"The shutouts are really a team stat," Michigan defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin told the Big Ten Network after the game. "Our special teams are playing great; our offense is doing a great job protecting the ball with long drives and keeping us off the field. It's a team stat, and I'm proud.

But Saturday's game wasn't just about Michigan's dominating performance so much as it was about the culmination of a month's worth of similar showings. With their win over the Wildcats, the Wolverines became the first college football team in 20 years to put together three consecutive shutouts, and Michigan has now outscored its past five opponents by a combined margin of 160-14.

The Wolverines' lone blemish of the year still remains a season-opening 24-17 road defeat at the hands of still-undefeated Utah, who could make the case for having the nation's most impressive resume through the first five weeks of the season.

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That could be enough to land Michigan—who ranked 19th in last week's AP Top 25—in this week's Top 10, a seemingly unfathomable rise for a program that went just 5-7 a season ago.

But the Wolverines' return to prominence is hardly surprising for anyone who's followed Harbaugh's coaching career, as this Michigan squad seems to possess many of the same traits as some of his most successful teams.

Dominating defense aside—last year's Wolverines actually ranked 10th in the nation in yards allowed per game—there may not be a team in the country with individual players who have improved as dramatically as Michigan's have. After all, recruiting was never former Wolverines coach Brady Hoke's issue, but rather the ability to get the most out of his highly touted prospects.

In just six weeks, that's changed under the watch of Harbaugh, whose player improvement in Ann Arbor has already been reminiscent of his previous work at San Diego, Stanford and in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers. The most obvious example of that has been the play of Lewis, who now has eight pass breakups on the season and has emerged as one of college football's top defensive backs.

"He's the best corner in the country," Michigan safety Jabrill Peppers said of Lewis after the game, per Steve Lorenz of Michigan 247Sports.

It's not just Lewis. Running back De'Veon Smith, wide receiver Amara Darboh, linebacker Desmond Morgan and the entire Wolverines offensive line seem to have taken giant steps forward this season. Coupled with the steady play of quarterback Jake Rudock—17-of-23, 179 yards on Saturday—and it's hard to find an area of the Michigan roster that hasn't shown dramatic improvement from a season ago under the direction of Harbaugh.

But while the Wolverines' newfound talent advantage has been one of the key factors in their success over the past five weeks, so too has been the change in attitude in Ann Arbor. Michigan is no longer a team rattled by the first sign of trouble as it was so often under Hoke, but rather the team causing the trouble for its opponents before using its early leads to build lopsided victories.

Carlos Osorio/Associated Press

"That's a good sign that you're building a good callus when you can play physical and not get beat up yourself," Harbaugh said. "That's a good gauge. Probably the best gauge. That callus is hardening."

With two measuring-stick games down, Michigan won't have to wait long for its next one. The Wolverines will welcome No. 4 Michigan State to Michigan Stadium next Saturday for the annual battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy.

Should the Wolverines stifle the Spartans, it will put Michigan on a path where making the College Football Playoff is a legitimate possibility.

That would be a long way for the Wolverines to have come since last season, but the same could be said of what they've accomplished already.

Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten lead writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.