Florida coach Jim McElwain describes the task of focusing on the next game and forgetting about the last, win or lose, as "ripping off the rearview mirror."
Jim Harbaugh, for one, hasn't been able to do that.
The Michigan coach has had a bye week to get past the Wolverines' devastating, last-second loss to rival Michigan State, 27-23, in which a mishandled snap by punter Blake O'Neill was returned by the Spartans for the game-winning score on the last play of the game. But Harbaugh told the "Stoney and Bill" radio show on Thursday that he still hasn't been able to put the loss behind him.
"There are people who can leave the game, and the game is over, and they don't think about it. I'm not one of those people," Harbaugh said, per the Detroit Free Press. "There's other people who think it takes 24 hours or 48 hours to get over a game and move on to the next one, whether you win or lose. There's others it takes until the next game or the next win, if you're coming off of a loss, to erase the bad taste in your mouth. I'd probably put myself in that category. There's only one mouthwash for that bad taste in your mouth, and that's playing and winning the next game."
Harbaugh's inability to move past the loss is in stark contrast to O'Neill himself, who put the game in impressive perspective just a few days after his miscue kept the Spartans undefeated.
The next game for the Wolverines and Harbaugh's first chance to turn the page is Saturday at Minnesota, which will play its first game without head coach Jerry Kill, who resigned due to health reasons on Wednesday.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
