Jim Harbaugh: Michigan Must 'Push Forward' After Moving to 1-2 with Indiana Loss

Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh preached perseverance after the No. 23 Wolverines fell 38-21 to No. 13 Indiana on Saturday.

It may have been the only message left to convey after his team dropped to 1-2 after once again opening the season with hopes of a College Football Playoff berth.  

"Every single guy here, every single player here, every single coach here has experienced that in our life where they have taken the adverse and turning it into an advantage," Harbaugh told reporters. "The thing you have to do is push forward, keep going."

Harbaugh is coming under increasing pressure to deliver wins after falling to 48-20 overall since taking over the program in 2015. 

Saturday marked the first time Michigan has opened a season 1-2 since 2008, the first year under head coach Rich Rodriguez. Now in his sixth year since returning to his alma mater, Harbaugh is working with a new quarterback in junior Joe Milton and an offensive line with just one starter from last year. 

That's made this more of a transitional season for Michigan—though a 27-24 loss to rival Michigan State last week did the coach no favors—and Harbaugh can see the incremental progress hasn't translated to the scoreboard. 

"Personal feeling is we're close to doing it," Harbaugh said. "You see it done [in practice], you see it happening and then it's gotta take the next step of happening in the games. There's guys that are doing it [in the games] and others will get it and you just keep coaching. 

"As a coach, that's what you do, you keep coaching and players keep learning, and they get the experience of they can do it."

His players will get even more experience against top talent next week when they host No. 10 Wisconsin. A victory could go a long way toward helping Harbaugh's case, but the Wolverines are likely to fall out of the Associated Press Top 25 this week and open as underdogs to the Badgers.