The Michigan football sign-stealing saga, which already had no shortage of unusual twists and daily developments, has a new layer.
The Big Ten received documents from Michigan that the university claimed is evidence that Ohio State, Rutgers and Purdue communicated about the Wolverines’ signals in 2022, according to a report Tuesday night from ESPN.
The documents − according to the report, which cited unnamed sources − allegedly showed that Purdue got Michigan offensive signals from Ohio State and defensive signals from Rutgers as the Boilermakers prepared to play coach Jim Harbaugh’s team in the 2022 Big Ten championship game.
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The Wolverines went on to beat Purdue 43-22 on their way to a second-consecutive conference title and College Football Playoff appearance. Despite the comfortable final margin of victory, Michigan was outgained 456-386 and led by just nine with 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
Citing a Big Ten source, the ESPN report claimed the conference forwarded the information to the NCAA for possible follow-up. That information is not expected to impact the Big Ten’s possible disciplinary action against Michigan for violating the league’s sportsmanship policy. It’s unclear at this point if sharing the Wolverines’ signals is against that sportsmanship policy.
While the NCAA forbids off-campus scouting in advance of a game, a rule that’s at the center of the ongoing investigation into the Wolverines, it does not outlaw in-game sign-stealing.
Last season, Michigan beat Rutgers 52-17 on Nov. 5 and defeated archrival Ohio State 45-23 on Nov. 26.
