Jim Harbaugh made one decision late in the first half against Washington that left Michigan in a bad spot.

Facing a 4th-and-2 with 4:43 left before halftime, Michigan originally lined up for a punt from plus territory at Washington’s 38-yard line. Instead, Harbaugh called timeout, and the Wolverines wound up going for it.

The ensuing play was an incomplete pass with JJ McCarthy’s pass to Roman Wilson broken up. It was one play call in a string of questionable offensive decisions for the Wolverines in the second quarter as Sherrone Moore dialed up more passes instead of leaning into the dominant ground game.

Heading into the locker room, Harbaugh admitted the Wolverines were simply playing the percentages by going for it on 4th down. He knows it didn’t work, and the head coach even admitted it put Michigan’s defense “in a bad spot” after building a 17-3 lead.

“It’s playing the percentages. They played great defense, we didn’t quite get it done. Put our defense in a bad spot there, but we’ve got to get the momentum back now,” Harbaugh explained.

Washington capitalized, mounting an 11-play drive that covered 4 minutes of game time. Michael Penix Jr. eventually found Jalen McMillan for a touchdown on 4th-and-goal as the Huskies trimmed the lead to 17-10 entering the break.

We’ll see if that decision comes back to haunt Michigan with Washington holding momentum and getting the ball coming out of the break.