Ohio State 31, Michigan 20
[Patrick Barron]
Michigan did not lack opportunity, or talent, or coaching. They just lacked a quarterback.
The Wolverines jumped out to a 14-0 lead, held Ohio State to negative-six yards in the first quarter, got 5.5 yards per carry out of their running backs, and had receivers running wide open through the Buckeye secondary all afternoon. The defense forced JT Barrett to be a one-dimensional runner, kept OSU's star quarterback under constant pressure, and eventually knocked him out of the game with an apparent knee injury.
With Brandon Peters and Wilton Speight watching in street clothes, however, John O'Korn missed far too may of those open receivers. When including sacks, O'Korn averaged only 4.1 yards per dropback. His only turnover came at the worst possible time. With 2:47 on the clock and Michigan down four points after a missed Buckeye field goal, Kekoa Crawford settled down underneath OSU's safeties for what could've been a significant first down. O'Korn read the play differently and chucked a deep ball directly to OSU's Jordan Fuller.
"It was an option route," said O'Korn. "[Crawford] did the right thing. It's all on me."
[Eric Upchurch]
There were plenty more reasons the Wolverines lost. The second quarter featured a momentous change in fortune when Josh Metellus let an easy inteception fall through his hands; two plays later, JT Barrett—with, perhaps, an assist from whatever official was in charge of watching Mo Hurst—scrambled 21 yards to make it 14-7.
Michigan's ensuing drive ended with a 23-yard change in field position after an illegal formation penalty negated their first attempt at a punt. KJ Hill returned the next one to midfield—again, with a potential penalty overlooked—and Barrett needed only three plays to tie the game on a 25-yard pass to Marcus Baugh.
The teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter, though Ohio State took a one-point edge thanks to a blocked extra point. That loomed large when Sean Nuernberger hit a 44-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter. It loomed less large when O'Korn threw the interception.
With an average quarterback performance, Michigan wins this game. The gameplan couldn't have reasonably been better; any criticism of Harbaugh or the coaching staff about this game can be mocked with impunity. When it came down to it, Harbaugh couldn't throw the ball for his quarterback, and that proved to be the difference.
"The hardest part for me is you come here to win this game for the senior class and we couldn't do it," O'Korn said with tears in his eyes, before again putting the blame on himself. "It's the worst feeling in the world."
Better days are ahead. This one's still going to sting for a while.
November 25th, 2017 at 6:06 PM ^
November 25th, 2017 at 6:07 PM ^
November 25th, 2017 at 6:07 PM ^
November 25th, 2017 at 6:08 PM ^
November 25th, 2017 at 6:17 PM ^
November 25th, 2017 at 6:19 PM ^
Good teams will take advantage of that all the time. It is unfair to expect the safeties to cover man to man in the slot with the game on the line.
The better teams have the talent to win that every time.
November 25th, 2017 at 6:08 PM ^
November 25th, 2017 at 6:17 PM ^
It's not that he's failing so much as that he's been a disappointment. We should take what we can get after the RichRod/Hoke years, and everybody grants that. But the issues have always been that this regime could be doing so much better than it already is. Objectively speaking, the Michigan football program is doing fine. But we were sold a bill of goods that Harbaugh is the next Saban. In reality, there is only one Nick Saban and one Urban Meyer. In the next tier are just solid, consistent coaches. Harbaugh is in the latter. Lloyd Carr sans a title thus far, if you will.
Until he adjusts the offense, he's in that next tier. I don't care if/when he "gets his QB", this offensive coaching staff puts a ceiling on our potential and handicaps us. And the distinct lack of publicly expressed passion is highly concerning. The dude looks like he's going through the motions and getting used to losing. He's losing his fire as he gets older, at least that's how it looks on the outside. This may not actually be the case I admit.
November 25th, 2017 at 6:10 PM ^
such a depressing state of affairs for our Football Program..Lost faith in JH and could care less about a minor bowl game...Some things NEVER change..EVER...and Next year will be no different around here..lots of road losses coming...for 8 Million a year could we PLEASE find a coach that can beat Ohio St?
November 25th, 2017 at 6:13 PM ^
November 25th, 2017 at 6:10 PM ^
At least Alabama is about to lose as well. It always makes me feel better to see Saban upset.
November 25th, 2017 at 6:19 PM ^
Unfortunately that's going to result in 2 SEC teams in the playoff.
Alabama will not be left out of the playoff, even if they lose to Auburn today or Georgia in the SEC title game.
November 25th, 2017 at 6:12 PM ^
The notion that we can't criticize the coaching staff is absurd. John O'Korn is not good. We know that. They know that. He's especially not good at reading defenses. The play calls should have reflected that. Yet on our do-or-die drive, they do a play with option routes. That's setting him up to fail. And the coaches deserve all sorts of criticisms for that.
November 25th, 2017 at 6:18 PM ^
November 25th, 2017 at 6:21 PM ^
BINGO!
Is Harbaugh even involved in these decisions or is he just playing Michigan CEO like latter-day Bobby Bowden or JoePa? Fire Drevno, fire Pep Hamilton. And it's not just because of today, offense has been garbage all year no matter who was under center. Running it down Rutgers' and Minnesota's throat is fine and dandy, but that doesn't work against an equally physical team. Offense has a low, hard ceiling thanks to those two.
November 25th, 2017 at 6:23 PM ^
November 25th, 2017 at 6:26 PM ^
As I've said in other posts, anyone who ever complains about anything is crazy. Michigan never needs to play zone on third and long. What they are doing is amazing and every team just manages to make great throws game in and game out. It certainly isn't a schematic issue against good teams.
Michigan was amazing at offense this year and deserves no criticism for going 8-4. What could you expect with a backup QB coming in? A comeback victory from down 20-14 against your chief rival on the road? That's crazy talk. That has never happened.
Again, I can't emphasize enough that anyone who thinks the coaches bear any responsibilty for the development of players should definitely be castitaged and probably thrown off this blog. Everything is wonderuful. I expect Michigan to lose 3 games next year, but I bet it's a bunch of clutch throws on 3rd and long and Michigan failing to execute the amazing plays that coaches get them in and if only Hoke had recruited more offensive lineman!
PS O'Korn should throw the ball to his own guys more often.
November 25th, 2017 at 6:49 PM ^
November 25th, 2017 at 6:21 PM ^
November 25th, 2017 at 6:25 PM ^
go all the way to San Diego to play in the Holiday Bowl...
need to start fresh
November 25th, 2017 at 6:28 PM ^
Fun fact: Haskins will be sick and Michigan will go 0-3 over the next three years.
November 25th, 2017 at 6:30 PM ^
3 seasons in:
This team is 9-7 in the past 16 games, losing vs. any team that is decently good.
There has been an inability to develop a solid QB, outside of transfer Jake Ruddock.
There has been an inability to develop a solid OL, which is doubly hurtful due to the slow style of the archaic "NFL" offense.
The team is prone to folding under pressure in big games.
November 25th, 2017 at 6:37 PM ^
Shut up and remain optimistic even though nothing that has occurred has really given justification for this belief, other than some nice recruiting classes that we have yet to see pan out.
November 25th, 2017 at 6:36 PM ^
17 of last 20 yrs w 3 or 4 losses.
Ugh.
November 25th, 2017 at 6:38 PM ^
November 25th, 2017 at 6:39 PM ^
"See! We told you ever since 2015 to just wait for Michigan to best Ohio State, and they finally did! Bet you guys feel stupid now for being impatient ingrates, huh!" - Mgoblog in 2023 after Harbaugh improves to 1-8 vs. Ohio State
November 25th, 2017 at 6:46 PM ^
Actually went out and said there'd be a witch hunt about some of the horrible calls that extended what would have been 3 and outs for OSU, sanctions would have been laid already by the Big10.
But now we have urban blaming some random non-player on (his own) sideline for "injuring" his starting QB and how there will be a serious "all-out" investigation (apparently it was in pre-game warmups). Had nothing to do with him trying to rush into a solid Michigan line 15 times not including backfield tackles after whatever alleged "incident". Also failed to mention anything about this during his halftime interview. But anyhow, just classless.
http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=21557589
November 25th, 2017 at 6:52 PM ^
November 25th, 2017 at 6:54 PM ^
I'm a little coquettish about this, but is anyone on this here blog particular to mashes potatoes and gravy?
November 25th, 2017 at 6:58 PM ^
was a dark night and i was already 5 gins and tonic to the wind, so i decided to return to the white man's paradise that vincent had so decently dropped in my lap.
i struck out along wong nai chung toward queens road and central wanchai. sucking a fresh pack of marlboro lights, i felt cool, crisp, and invincible, much like a jedi.
i stepped up to the bar and before i could even order a drink, the woman sitting next to me reached behind, surveying the contents of my crotch. she had me at that. the question was where, how much, and could i actually get a little sleep afterward.
she was a korean mongol, and very pretty. we cabbed it back to the cosmo, talked about our emotional defeats, and watched whitney houston sing the national anthem. i living-daylighted her and kicked her out several hours later with $100HK and the rest of my cigarettes. a very fond memory.
November 25th, 2017 at 7:01 PM ^
November 25th, 2017 at 7:04 PM ^
Too bad that Delany is deciding the outcome and not the players. That gets you OSU blown the fuck out in the playoffs like last year. THey lost by 5 touchbdowns going away. Don't cheat the student athletes.
November 26th, 2017 at 8:56 PM ^
I love my alma mater and the football pogram and I am in for the duration, and will be a Harbaugh supporter forever. Been attending games for 53 years. Been through multiple ups and downs. Really only one thing bothering me right now. The hype and the hoopla doesn't match what's really going on. You sit through the James Earl Jones Video, clips of Woodson and Howard and hear about national championships and winningest program, and attendance, and on and on. I suggest we shelve all the over the top hype and be humble for a while. Focus on MORE RECENT achievement and reason to be proud of the way they're doing things. Bust out the James Earl Jones video next time they play THE GAME undefeated. Time to be a little humble and stop resting on past achievements. It rings hollow, even to, and maybe ESPECIALLY to, the most loyal fans.
November 27th, 2017 at 5:09 AM ^
Not saying better QB play wouldn't have made a difference. But actually the one player who probably outperformed expectations last Saturday was John O'Korn. I don't think it is fair to blame this loss on him.
Going into this game, everyone knew players and coaches would all have to raise their game for this one. Offense would have to take care of the ball, and Defense and Special Teams would have to get some turnovers, if not score some points themselves.
Admittedly, expectations for O'Korn were exceedingly low and pessimistic, but if you looked at these boards at all the last week or so, most were expecting a blowout, if not a shutout. If anyone had said Michigan would have a chance to beat Ohio State in the last three minutes of the game and JOK would only have one turnover in the game (on a play call/design one might question), they would have been "mocked with impunity".
Michigan started exceptionally well. However, after the first ten minutes of the game, Michigan did not continue to look exceptional. Apart from the one nice punt return by DPJ, special teams were mediocre: the blocked extra point; the muffed kickoff preventing a good return; punts that went into the end zone instead of pinning Ohio State down.
Offensively, the running game came and went- Chris Evans occaisionally seemed to forget he wasn't playing touch football and reverted to going down easily. Higdon (who may still be hurt?) didn't show much explosion. Plays were taking a little long coming in- the play clock ran down a few times, and that wasn't all on the QB. A few nice catches, and yes, some open receivers were missed. But very little stepping up by anyone was apparent.
Most of all the Defense. They were spotted a lead a couple of times and couldn't hold it. "they were gassed because the offense was ineffective" doesn't really hold water. TOP for the game was nearly equal. If they were gassed, it's because they performed poorly on third downs. They couldn't keep contain. They allowed creases and were gashed. They were inconsistent and couldn't stop Ohio State when they needed to, and couldn't turn the ball over.
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