Recapping Ohio State

Well, the regular season is over. And it ends with a loss to Ohio State.

Agony, pain.

When I was watching the game, the first thing that struck me was how predictable the Michigan offense was. It became pretty clear against Iowa that when Denard Robinson and Devin Gardner are in the game at the same time, it's hard to stop.

But Al Borges played them separately (for the most part) against the Buckeyes, and it obviously gave Urban Meyer the advantage. Both Gardner and Robinson still made plays; there is no way to completely shut them down. But something has to be taken away from this performance. Even a mediocre defense can get around the combination of those two electric players if they aren't in at the same time.

Something else that popped out to me was it looked like Gardner maybe folded under the pressure towards the end. I realize that's when the game is on the line, and he was being asked to do a lot. But he had proven himself worthy of the situation throughout the past couple of weeks.

Preview And Prediction: Ohio State

"The Game" is here. We've waited so long so one of the greatest rivalries in sports to kick off once again, and the wait is finally over.

This chapter of Michigan - Ohio State takes place in Columbus, and that is bad news for a Michigan team that hasn't traveled particularly well this season. But, as Brady Hoke put it, "it's almost personal," talking about what this game means to him. In other words, it's not your average hop-on-a-bus-to-play-football kind of game. It's hop-on-a-bus-to-play-Ohio.

Here are the keys to the game.

Michigan

The Wolverines have looked like a completely different team these past few weeks, compared to what we were seeing earlier in the season, and it all has to do with the play of Devin Gardner. He has revived the Michigan offense into something to be feared. Couple with that with the play-making ability of Denard Robinson, and you have one of the most electric offenses in the Big Ten.

Ohio State Player Watch

For those fans who are interested in reading more about the Maryland-Rutgers additions to the Big Ten, this column won't touch on that. Neither will it address bowl projections for each eligible team--that will come soon. No, this one is about "The Game." Michigan fans are well aware of what happened last season--snapping the Buckeye's seven game winning streak with a 40-34 victory at home. Denard Robinson threw for 67 yards and three touchdowns and running for 170 yards and two more scores. Obviously, things won't go the same way this season. Urban Meyer is in his first season as head coach, and the Nuts are coming to the game undefeated. Maybe some would say it's contentious--they aren't spectacular on defense, especially with narrow victories over Cal and Indiana. However, they seem to have gotten the job done every week. No matter what the state is of football in the Big Ten, fans of either side can depend on a brutal, hard hitting game. Watch out for these guys:

Week 8 BCS/AP/Big Ten Rankings

Week 8 is over with, and I think my blood pressure is finally starting to come down. The Paul Bunyan Trophy is home where it belongs after a hard fought Michigan victory over Michigan State. Yes, it was a great game by two very well matched teams, and the  better one prevailed. Drew Dileo had a great game catching passes when they needed to be caught, and Brendan Gibbons and Matt Wile were clutch as well. The Michigan State offense was just as anemic as we previously thought, and Michigan's defense held Le'Veon Bell in check. That's not the only game that was better than advertised--look at Purdue and Ohio State. After leading for much of the game, Purdue knocked out Braxton Miller in the 3rd quarter (symptom free and out of the hospital later that evening) and still lost the game in overtime to their backup QB.

Week 8 Predictions and Notes

It's Friday now, and it's time to focus on one of the bigger games in college football this week, and not our Detroit Tigers going to the World Series (insert big smile here). Michigan currently holds an advantage over Michigan State by a record of 67-32-5 with the last 4 won by MSU. This year, that will change. The tide will turn.

I am confident that after Saturday's matchup that I can spend a year gloating over Sparty fans, and make them long for basketball season---in which we'll beat them there again. Michigan State still has a good defense, but their offense is woefully inept to the point where it's no longer reliable. Dantonio has painted himself into a corner this week by saying the media is at fault by goading him into making anti-Michigan comments. After this game, I'm sure that "evil" alter ego will emerge yet again.

Previewing Big Ten Football: Ohio State

Ohio State football will be ushering in a new era in 2012. The Urban Meyer era. Gone now is Jim Tressel and his notorious sweater vest. Also gone is Luke Fickell, as the head coach who coached the Buckeyes to a surprisingly disappointing 6-7 record last season, which was their first losing season since 1999 (He is staying on as LB coach and co-defensive coordinator). The free tattoo scandal is trying to be viewed in the rear mirror as they move on, ironically, to a spread offense. I say ironically because they laughed at Michigan when they hired Rich Rodriguez, saying that brand of football is not going to work in the B1G Ten. Along with this, due to NCAA sanctions, they will not be able to participate in a bowl game or even the second B1G Ten Championship game.


2011 Record: 6-7, 3-5 Big Ten

Returning Starters: Offense – 7, Defense – 9

The 5 Toughest Michigan Games For 2012

A lot has been made of Michigan's 2012 schedule.  Some are calling it the nation's toughest and CBS has even placed it at #4 in terms of schedule difficulty in the entire country.  With non-conference opponents like Alabama, Air Force, and Notre Dame, there certainly aren't a lot of easy games on the slate for 2012.  Add in some tough road games against teams like Nebraska, Purdue, and Ohio State and next year's schedule becomes one of the toughest in recent memory for Michigan.


Despite Michigan's tough schedule throughout the season, fans are still wondering about which games will be the toughest. For instance, Michigan has to go on the road to Notre Dame, Nebraska, and Ohio State, but Michigan beat all three teams last year.  Results from last year don't guarantee anything for this season, but this has to be something going through the minds of Michigan fans and the teams.  Yes, there are some tough challenges ahead, but how tough?  What I've done is list the games that I believe are the most difficult for Michigan to win in 2012.

The Game 2011

When Braxton Miller lined up on 4th down and less than a minute to play, seven years of torture flashed before the eyes of Michigan fans. They could see the finish line. It was sitting there, staring them in the face. No more torture, no more misery, no more losing to "that school in Ohio" as many have started to refer to them. When Miller scrambled for a first down by about a football's length, it felt like Ohio State was going to drive for a touchdown and win 41-40. Another heartbreaking loss. If Michigan couldn't beat Ohio State here, when would they?

Why is this happening to us? Why can't good things happen to Michigan? Fitz Toussaint was in the endzone, they'd all scream, referring to the previous drive where a call was reviewed, a touchdown overturned. A few plays later, Michigan settled for a field goal when they could have delivered the dagger.

Inexplicably, Braxton Miller spiked the ball on 3rd down on his next series of downs, setting up another 4th down. With the crowd sensing another shot at ending their misery, the noise level rose to ear-piercing levels. Miller dropped to throw. The crowd waited. The ball sailed through the air. Michigan's Courtney Avery, an Ohio native, deflected the pass.

Images came flooding back, one after another. There was Jim Tressel, saying how proud Columbus would be of their Buckeyes in the 2001 version of the game. There was Lloyd Carr, punting the ball in the 4th quarter from OSU territory, with a lead and a chance to deliver a dagger in the 2005 game. There was Bo, passing away the night before the epic 3-point 2006 loss in the #1 vs #2 Game. Henne with his shoulder falling off, not literally of course, in the 2007 game. There was all of 2008-2010, perhaps the most humbled Michigan has ever been in a three year period of The Game.

Then the ball fell into Avery's hands. With that, a new image replaced those nine defeats in the past ten years. No more would we need to watch highlights of the 2003 Game to get a glimpse of Michigan defeating the enemy. That game could be put to bed, just a distant memory of victories past. No, we now had a new image to possess in our memories.

Fans leaping to the air in a joyous celebration. The Victors blaring all over the Big House. Players running to the student section to meet their classmates. Fans of all ages, young to old, running on the field in a spontaneous, emotional display. Michigan had finally vanquished its demons.

In 2011, Michigan wins The Game, 40-34.

Bullet Points

• Denard Robinson played a terrific game, completing over 80 percent of his throws and rushing for 170 yards.
• Fitz Toussaint and Denard both finished the regular season at over 1,000 yards rushing, the first Michigan duo to do so since 1975 and only the 2nd to ever do so.
• The defensive backs did not have a great game. Several times OSU receivers were able to get open deep. Fortunately, Braxton Miller doesn't possess the accuracy to hit them.
• Bo Schembechler, Gary Moeller, Lloyd Carr, and now Brady Hoke all lost to Michigan State in their first seasons while beating Ohio State.
• Michigan's 40 points ties for 4th all-time most that the Wolverines have ever scored in The Game trailing 1902 (86), 1943 (45), and 1946 (58).
• The 40 points was also more than Michigan scored in the last four editions of The Game combined (they managed just 27 combined points from 2007-2010).
• The "days since Michigan has beat Ohio State" clock at the Columbus Dispatch website went from 2,926 to non-existent.

Photo Credit: Gregory Shamus

Previewing "The Game"

Michigan fans often debate with each other about who their biggest rivals are. Many of our opponents consider us their biggest rival while we don't feel the same we back. (I'm looking at you Illinois). We debate amongst ourselves whether we would rather beat the Golden Domers or Sparty more. One thing is certain amongst us all. Nothing tops "The Game."

The 4 W's

What: #15 Michigan (9-2, 5-2) vs Ohio State (6-5, 3-4)

When: 12:00 p.m. EST

Where: Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Mich.

Weather: 50s with a 10 percent chance of rain. Wind at about 15 mph

Series History

Michigan leads 57-44-6 (includes vacated wins by Ohio State).

Last 5 meetings:

2010: Ohio State 37*, Michigan 7 @Columbus

2009: Ohio State 21, Michigan 10 @Ann Arbor

2008: Ohio State 42, Michigan 7 @Columbus

2007: Ohio State 14, Michigan 3 @Ann Arbor

2006: Ohio State 42, Michigan 39 @Columbus

When Ohio State has the ball

Ohio State's offense has struggled with true freshman QB Braxton Miller taking the majority of the snaps for the Buckeyes. They rank as the nation's #67 offense in FEI and average only 315 yards per game. They pass only when they deem it to be absolutely necessary. Miller has completed under 50 percent of his passes this season and only gets 7 yards per pop when he puts the ball in the air. Only one Buckeye has managed even 200 yards catching the ball this year, but they did just get star WR DeVier Posey back last week (4 catches, 66 yards). Posey at least affords Ohio State the ability to keep Michigan from loading the box to stop the run, at least until so long as they prove they can actually utilize Posey.

While they struggle to air it out in the rare events that Miller actually does put the ball up, the Buckeyes offense does have some strengths to it. Miller is very good at taking care of the ball (just 3 Ints all year), and they do manage to run to some degree of success. Miller has put up 595 yards this season (4.6 ypc). Don't expect a running style like we see in Ann Arbor on a weekly basis though. Miller likes to improvise. He is very dangerous when trying to create on his own. Often, he won't even follow the design of the play. You can see great examples of this is the front paged story by BlueSeoul over at MGoBlog. Teaming up with him is Boom Herron. Boom has put up 565 yards on 5.2 ypc in just 5 games after returning from his tatgate suspension.

Defensively, Michigan features the country's #10 rated FEI defense. While sometimes it struggles with the pass, the Wolverine defense has been pretty good against the run lately, completely smothering Illinois on the ground and limiting the dangerous Nebraska duo of Taylor Martinez and Rex Burkhead.

The keys for the Michigan defense are to stay locked onto OSU's mediocre WRs (and Posey) for as long as possible to avoid Miller improvising his way into open targets. Maintaining gap integrity is absolutely essential if you want to avoid Miller busting a long run. Boom Herron will likely get his yards, but that's okay. Michigan needs to stay on Braxton Miller from the opening kickoff and make the true freshman try to beat them on his own in his first trip to Ann Arbor for "The Game."

When Michigan has the ball

While the OSU offense has struggled to adjust to life in the post-Tressel/Pryor era, the defense has remained stout. Ranking 12th in America in FEI, they go up against Michigan's #14 rated offense. This is likely to be one of the toughest defensive lines the Wolverines have seen all year. John Simon is a dangerous end and mountain Jonathan Hankins (who would be a Wolverine had the previous staff offered him), is a sophomore who has over 60 tackles and 9 TFLs. He'll be someone Michigan will want to avoid. In the linebacking corp, Ohio State might be without star player Andrew Sweat. If he can't go, or if he's limited in what he can do, the Bucks may be staring at a freshman manning one of the linebacking spots. This hasn't worked out so well for them. If this happens, look for Al Borges to attempt to expose this spot with some misdirection to see if he can get a freshman moving the wrong direction. If Michigan can get Denard and Fitz Toussaint into the 2nd level and past an inexperienced linebacker, OSU's mediocre safeties are susceptible to missing tackles. Keys here are as usual. Take care of the ball, avoid putting Denard under center (stay in the damn gun!), and run the ball as much as possible.

Special Teams

The Buckeyes feature a strong special teams, rated #11 in FEI compared to Michigan's #71 ranked unit. Jordan Hall is the dangerous man returning the ball. He averages 28.6 yards a return on kickoffs. Compare that to Michigan's top kick returner. Tay Odoms averages just 22.3 per return. Field goal kicker Drew Basil has connected on 13 of 16 for the Bucks, including 4-7 from over 40. While Michigan has improved on FGs this year, Brendan Gibbons has a career long of only 42 yards. Special teams figures to be a big advantage for OSU.

Five Keys to winning The Game

1. Maintain gap integrity and edge contain vs. Braxton Miller running the ball

2. Al Borges fights the temptation to want to bomb it deep and run plays from under center. You will not win by running power at Jonathan Hankins.

3. Attacking Andrew Sweat's backup and the Ohio State safeties. David Molk against some linebackers to get Toussaint into the secondary plz!!

4. Avoid getting bombed in special teams. Michigan has been much better here of late, but Ohio State does still have an advantage. If Ohio State can win the field position battle, it can limit the Michigan offense and set its own offense up with short fields.

5. Get an early lead and force Braxton Miller to win in the air.

What's on the line for Michigan

By now, we've all seen the projections saying Michigan is playing for a BCS bowl bid, perhaps to the Sugar Bowl. So there's that, but there's so much more in a game like this. The pride of not letting your arch-rival come into your stadium and win (again). This would be their 4th straight win in the Big House and 8th overall in the series that Michigan leads. So not only is the BCS on the line, but so is our pride. If this streak doesn't end now, when Ohio State is down and Michigan is playing well, when will it ever end?

Five predictions sure to backfire because I'm not a football coach and don't know what I'm talking about

1. Denard throws at least 1 bad interception

2. Toussaint gets 27 carries for 126 yards

3. Jake Ryan makes a momentum changing play

4. Brendan Gibbons makes a 40+ yard FG for the 2nd week in a row

5. Luke Fickell coaches his only game in Ann Arbor

Finally, the score

Michigan, 21-17