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2021 ohio state

MGoPodcast 13.13: Legends and Haybales Comment Count

Seth November 28th, 2021 at 8:41 PM

2 hours and 8 minutes

The Sponsors

Thank you to Underground Printing for making this all possible. Rishi and Ryan have been our biggest supporters from the beginning. Check out their wide selection of officially licensed Michigan fan gear at their 3 store locations in Ann Arbor or learn about their custom apparel business at undergroundshirts.com.

And let’s not forget our associate sponsors: Peak Wealth Management, HomeSure Lending, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, The Phil Klein Insurance Group, SignalWire (use the code MUPPETS), Prentice 4M, where we recorded this, Team Fan Club, and introducing The View from the Cheap Seats podcast by the Sklars, who will now be joining us for the Hot Takes segments. Please go subscribe and like their podcast, and leave your hot takes about this game in the reviews.

1. Offense

starts at 1:00

Reminiscing on legends that faded away in past Ohio State game losses like Khalid Hill's 4th and 1 touchdown, Denard's long run in the Shoe, and Devin Gardner putting up 41 points on a broken foot. This year's performances from the likes of Aidan Hutchinson, Hassan Haskins, and the offensive line will never be forgotten. Message to the fans: you do not have to act like you've been there before. Michigan's 41 rush attempts (including two kneel downs) absolutely dominated this game. What happened to Ohio State mentally? They seemed rattled all game and panicked. Michigan offense goes back to some old school Jim Harbaugh packages and also used the specific skills of their backup quarterback in the biggest game of the year. The offense gave up zero tackles for loss in this game. You watch Michigan's offensive line handle Ohio State's defensive line in person and think "how is this happening?" And then you rewatch the game on tv and think "how is this happening???" Ohio State's cornerbacks do not know how to play press coverage. Brian has decided that flea flickers are underutilized. Cade's interception is really his only major mental mistake. Cameron Brown is now officially on the Fools Hurdled list.

[The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP]

2. Defense

starts at 40:20

Ohio State puts up nearly 500 yards of offense, but this happens to everyone. Michigan was able to tighten up near the redzones. They were only able to get into the endzone after escaping from tough situations, Michigan defense made them work for it. The performance of Michigan's defensive line almost cannot be explained. Ojabo is not-just-a-shooter- wait, NFL scouts if you're reading this, ignore that. Aidan Hutchinson for Heisman, but unironically. According to PFF he had 15(!!!) QB pressures which is the most PFF has ever recorded since they started recording college football. Aidan Hutchinson won Michigan this game. Josh Ross had a critical 3rd and short that he blew up, Michigan scores on the ensuing drive. Rod Moore started as a true freshman against Ohio State and it was just fine. The organization of this Michigan defense is outrageously good. The cornerbacks got hit a few times but overall held up fine and didn't get beaten. CJ Stroud gets in his own head a bit when under pressure and was susceptible to Michigan's pass rush. Macdonald threw a pro style defense at CJ Stroud and he wasn't able to handle it. The offseason reboot worked.

3. Hot Takes, Special Teams, and Game Theory

starts at 1:08:57

AHHHHHHHH. Brian's voice requires a surge protector, has a hot soup take. Is this the most satisfying win ever since the creation of MGoBlog? Realistic talks about a run in the college football playoffs. Ohio State commits THE CLASSIC BLUNDER of not going for two early. Michigan's 4th down decision making made sense. No field goal attempts from Michigan because they didn't need to. Why did the Ohio State player field a kick from the three yard line? AJ Henning muffed a punt but probably should have drawn a kick catch interference call. Not much to talk about with officiating! Brian has a fan experience story.

4. Around the Big Ten, wsg Jamie Mac

starts at 1:35:26

Nebraska finishes 1-8 in conference play with a scoring margin of zero - all of college football twitter was dialed in on it. Nerbaska vs Iowa is a great rivalry - the team that can't punt vs the team that knows best how to punt. It's hard to see Iowa looking like a team that's going to keep up with Michigan in the Big Ten Championship game. Iowa doesn't know who their starting QB is going to be, yet. Jamie says the most Iowa sentence ever. Wisconsin's offense collapses against Minnesota. Wisconsin almost punts from the Minnesota 35 on 4th and 1, takes a penalty, and converts the 4th and 6. If Minnesota didn't blow it against Illinois, they would've been in the Big Ten Championship game and forced a battle for the Jug. Twitter has some strong opinions about punting from the opposing 35. MSU converts a flea flicker - everyone should run a flea flicker at least once per week. Is Penn State in trouble going into next year? They may need to hit the transfer portal hard. Purdue had a solid 8-4 season, Indiana not so much. Nick Sheridan is out at Indiana. Illinois gets The Hat for the first time in years. Brandon Peters claimed to be the only person in the locker room to go 2-0 yesterday. Maryland goes 6-6 and makes a bowl game, Bryan Mackenzie will have to wait another year for Rutgers to make a bowl. The Michigan Rutgers game is really weird in hindsight.

MUSIC:

  • "Linus & Lucy"--Vince Guaraldi
  • "Sweet Revenge"--John Prine
  • "Baby Come"--Cut Worms
  • “Across 110th Street”
THE USUAL LINKS:

You do not , under any circumstances, have to act like you've been there before.

Comments

RedRum

November 28th, 2021 at 10:18 PM ^

 It odd Brian built an amazing product. I’ve lurked 11w and rcmb to see what their fans have it say and those sites are garbage. I like 11ws writing and is a bit organized and over glossy. Rcmb is a shit show. MGBlog has the glossy articles, amazing diaries, and the comments. It really is a perfect site. Glad UM won. Go Blue

Joined: 08/20/2017

MGoPoints: 21512

Blake Forum

November 28th, 2021 at 9:30 PM ^

Really enjoying this and I hope you guys did too. I will say tho, it's no mystery why Michigan's defense was a lot better against OSU than they were against Maryland. It's the difference between zero preparation and a focus on keeping guys healthy, versus a year of preparation (including all of Maryland week) and emptying the entire clip. Which was the right move, and boy am I glad they did it

Joined: 07/20/2020

MGoPoints: 22170

Teeba

November 28th, 2021 at 11:05 PM ^

It’s Holiday season, when the Charlie Brown specials are shown. The 2 that resonated with me most are the trick or treating scene (“I got a rock”) and Snoopy fixing thanksgiving dinner consisting of jelly beans, pretzels and toast.

Yesterday was Charlie Brown kicking the football, getting candy for Halloween and a turkey dinner for Thanksgiving all at the same time.

 

Joined: 09/25/2019

MGoPoints: 3282

LeCheezus

November 28th, 2021 at 9:49 PM ^

Regarding fans not needing to act like we’ve been there- I can assure you, with all my heart, that no Buckeye fan sitting anywhere near Section 4, Row 25 will ever forget the lunatic that I was for 4 hours on Saturday.  Most of them looked like they were prepared for a nice 30+ point win and humble submission from the hosting fans.  Basically as underprepared as their team was.  Hopefully this game gets us back down to 10% from 25%+ OSU fans.

Joined: 06/11/2017

MGoPoints: 9852

TA2

November 28th, 2021 at 10:01 PM ^

Is it weird that I thought about you guys when we won yesterday? If it is, I might read this blog too much.
 

Love the content you provide and thanks for being my go to for all things Michigan! Go Blue!

Joined: 12/07/2013

MGoPoints: 3264

Preacher Mike

November 28th, 2021 at 11:00 PM ^

Great to hear a post-Ohio podcast that actually breaks down the game. Very happy for Brian that he can shed the cloud that has hung over his football fandom the last three (4?) years. Being an in-depth observer and commentator seems to steal the fandom from most that do it for a living. So the fact that Brian has held onto his fandom so tightly while doing what he does is a testament to his love of Michigan, but has also been a curse to him personally. Most of us die-hard fans can walk away from the hurt of a loss and focus on work or family or other priorities to keep the hurt at bay, Brian has to face it in excruciating detail as his bread and butter. So, while I’ve been disappointed in his reaction to the loss of this game the past several years, to the point of seriously being concerned for his emotional well-being, I get and respect why he took the prolonged failures of the program so hard. It’s like having all the devotion of the coaching staff, but none of the ability to control the effort to fix things. Well, this week, there is nothing to fix and only relief and joy and hope and the sight of the ball brushing out from under Lucy’s finger as the collective toe of all UM fans strikes that pigskin true and clean. HAIL!!!!

Joined: 04/06/2014

MGoPoints: 4231

LickReach

November 29th, 2021 at 12:23 AM ^

Not sure we’ve heard that register of Brian’s voice since….2019 msu….”it’s over”. Maybe the big boy defensive td in the Minnesota game in 2020. It was good to hear again. 
 

hawttake: Michigan’s next meta move is mike McDonald bringing a sleeping bag to domani Jackson’s house. We need to be the no fly zone next year bc I feel like osu gets stroud up to speed on being comfy under pressure. 

Joined: 09/26/2015

MGoPoints: 3878

Hannibal.

November 29th, 2021 at 8:57 AM ^

The win still hasn’t sunk in for me.  This is easily the win of the century so far for the program.   Blows 2003 OSU out of the water.  That OSU team was this year’s Iowa.   2006 ND is a distant second to this one.  It has been way too long.  I am a middle aged man with a shitload of gray hairs and two kids.  The last time that Michigan won a game this big, I was a young bachelor two years out of school with only one chin.  The BPONE exists for us because it has been a lifetime (in some cases, literally) since we beat a legitimately great OSU team.  Or any legitimately great team, period.  It’s about fucking time.  

Joined: 09/09/2008

MGoPoints: 9051

XM - Mt 1822

November 29th, 2021 at 9:44 AM ^

that hurdled fool, #26, was also the guy that ripped the helmet off and jacked the referee in the ensuing melee. i can't believe that guy didn't get tossed then, but he paid for that with the 'posterizing' by haskins. beautiful justice there.

Joined: 12/21/2011

MGoPoints: 103058

wile_e8

November 29th, 2021 at 9:51 AM ^

How did 2006 ND not get a mention in the most satisfying victory segment? ND is the #2 team in the country, the Charlie Weis Hype Train* was out of control, Michigan was coming off the Year of Infinite Pain (7-5, surely the worst record possible for Michigan football), and they just went down to South Bend and dominated from start to finish. The column after was extremely cathartic. 

* Yes kids, as unbelievable as it sounds now, the Charlie Weis Hype Train was an actual thing that existed in the summer of 2006. If the Blue Gray Sky archives still exist, they had a number of pieces about opposing coaches cowering in fear of the Decided Schematic Advantage that will absolutely blow your mind to read today. 

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 7381

dragonchild

November 29th, 2021 at 10:05 AM ^

What happened to Ohio State mentally? They seemed rattled all game and panicked.

As I've been saying since Alex's FFFF, they looked soft to me.  Vulnerable to getting punched in the mouth.  Amazingly athletic, but junkyard dogs they are not.

One other thing I'm noticing on replay -- although UFR might correct me on this -- it looks like OSU really studied the tape and realized that holding vs. Michigan just doesn't exist, and went straight to it.  They seemed coached to do it.  They were grabbing arms, chests, jerseys, facemask (not getting called), very quickly giving up on attempts at clean blocking, or even just forming up to hold -- arms out and body turned, not squared up and hands on the chest.

The problem is that holding is something you do when you lose -- when you get beat, you use arms instead of feet.  As a result, they weren't getting much actual push against Michigan defenders.  Michigan was definitely handicapped in pursuit, but that trade-off worked against Stroud's nature as a pocket passer.  Meanwhile, defenders were constantly in gaps to make tackles near the LoS because their blockers often weren't in front of them, but reaching from the side.  In other cases I'm seeing OSU blockers turning around to grab someone as they run by, or falling down in front of the ball carrier because they're not letting go of jersey (still not getting called).  Other plays I'm seeing beautiful blocking so it's not like they can't do it; it's like they were coached to cheat and that messed up everyone's decision-making.

FWIW, I'm seeing Michigan block in the back a lot, and that wasn't getting called either.  (P.S. just saw a Michigan "blocker" straight-up tackle from behind, no whistle.  Great googly moogly, the B1G is so incompetent that college football is just an atrociously ugly sport now.)

Joined: 10/13/2011

MGoPoints: 60910

M-Dog

November 29th, 2021 at 10:05 AM ^

"It's hard to see Iowa looking like a team that's going to keep up with Michigan in the Big Ten Championship game."

Shhhhhhh!

From the 11 Warriors "experts" prediction thread for The Game:

"Has the Wolverines shown any sign of being capable of staying with OSU for four quarters the last few years? No indeed. 

Ohio State by 28."

Be humble before the Gods of Dismissing Supposedly Outmatched Opponents In Big Games.  For they are vengeful as hell.

 

Joined: 07/06/2008

MGoPoints: 257507

M-Dog

November 29th, 2021 at 10:23 AM ^

I always wondered why teams don't usually pass to an intermediate level on flea flickers more.  They almost always go for broke on long bombs that are more difficult to complete.

It seems by the very nature of what a flea flicker does that the intermediate level would be there every time.  

Joined: 07/06/2008

MGoPoints: 257507

dragonchild

November 29th, 2021 at 10:49 AM ^

One other reason is it's actually kind of difficult for the wideouts to do anything else.  It's a very long-developing play, so by the time the QB has the ball again, any receiver on a post/go route is way downfield.  But what else do you run?  If it's a slant the guy's past the sideline and tripping over a bench.  If it's a curl, the receiver is waiting a dangerously long time for the ball to arrive.  If it's an option route, he could be anywhere.

A wheel route is a good alternative because of the time spent running across the field, but you're essentially giving up two blockers by doing so -- who picks up the blitz?  Michigan's version of the 'flicker was a gutsy, statement move.  They saw OSU getting bullied up front and kicked sand in their faces with that playcall.

Joined: 10/13/2011

MGoPoints: 60910

m_go_T

November 29th, 2021 at 10:34 AM ^

This podcast was salvation. So happy for Seth and Brian. I know Brian hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows this season, even as some of us started the approach to  kick the ball; but he’s also been the punching bag from all the haters for the last ten years. Couple that with some external non-Michigan things, and it’s easy to see where the pessimism was coming from. But man, listening to the podcast this morning it sounds like not only is the old Jim Harbaugh back, but so is our fearless leader. Cheers!

Joined: 11/04/2010

MGoPoints: 5453

Reno Drew

November 29th, 2021 at 10:40 AM ^

From a pure game theory standpoint, should Hassan stopped short of the goal line with 2:22 left?  It's impossible to fight that urge when the hole opens up.   Given OSU thinks their only chance of winning is by letting him score, is that the right play?  I think I'd rather be up 15 and give up possession than up 8 with the ball but I'd love to hear the experts

Joined: 10/16/2012

MGoPoints: 1703

Realus

November 29th, 2021 at 11:21 AM ^

No expert, but my opinion is while it may have been OSUs best move, it was really good for UM.  Because being up 15 gives you more cushion from a fluke bounce or a mistake.  Once you are up 15, even a quick bomb gives your O the ball back and you can try to run out the clock then.

Joined: 01/02/2010

MGoPoints: 541

DetroitDan

November 29th, 2021 at 12:23 PM ^

With regard to the game theory question, I think we should recognize that the final score should be a factor.  While very small in comparison to who wins the game, the final score is broadcast around the country and influences perceptions of the teams.  So take the free TD and win by 15, as opposed to falling down, eventually kicking a field goal, and winning by 11.  42-27 > 38-27.  Plus, Hassan Haskins gets his 5th TD, a not insignificant statistic to be broadcast far and wide.

Joined: 01/14/2021

MGoPoints: 4058

dragonchild

November 29th, 2021 at 12:25 PM ^

The Game was at a point where OSU had to pick their poison.  There's no scenario where going up 15 was a bad situation for Michigan.  Even if OSU scored quickly, Michigan could go right back to Haskins, who at that point had eaten the souls of the OSU defense.

I mean, if you wanna chat game theory, a more interesting what-if is Haskins going down in bounds to bleed more clock instead of Hurdling a Fool.  Normally, athletes are pretty hard to rattle, but OSU was particularly snowflake-y, so that was an exclamation-pointed dagger.  It was Haskins' game, he could do what he wanted, OSU was helpless, and the already-loud crowd exploded when they saw it.  So, I think this was a rare case where the psychological damage was far worse than the tactical upside of keeping the clock running.  I'm normally in favor of making the smart move and generally find hotshot plays to be undisciplined and disgusting.  But. . . I don't think that was that.  That was like, "OK, I bought you a little time. . . but what you gonna do with it?  Score and then stop me??"

Joined: 10/13/2011

MGoPoints: 60910

Greg McMurtry

November 29th, 2021 at 2:16 PM ^

I’m not a fan of game theory. If you’re down 9 with 5 minutes left and you go for 2 because some chart says the probability is greater than 50% that you make the 2 point conversion and you utlimately fail—you’ve essentially lost the game for yourself at 5:00 minutes to go. You may as well just go home because the game is over.

Joined: 02/25/2009

MGoPoints: 135480