Ohio State 42, Michigan 13
Bryan Fuller/MGoBlog
One team came prepared.
Ohio State's coaches prepared for Michigan's soft edges with an attack heavy on the power read. The Buckeye defense prepared for every wrinkle the Wolverines could conceive to utilize Jabrill Peppers and stopped them.
Michigan looked unprepared to deal with the Buckeye running game. The scheme was too passive and the adjustments ineffective, especially a move to a 3-man line. The linebackers weren't prepared to tackle Ezekiel Elliott in the gap or track JT Barrett in space. Nobody was prepared to block Joey Bosa.
For the tenth time in eleven years, Ohio State won The Game. The Buckeyes ran at will; Michigan couldn't trust its run game enough to even use it without ample trickery. While Michigan's 9-3 record and obvious team-wide improvement stand as a testament to the remarkable work of Jim Harbaugh, today's game showed just how much ground the program must make up on their chief rival.
Unlike last year, Michigan will get a full slate of bowl practices to work on their issues, and they'll face a quality opponent in a decent bowl game. Much like two years ago, there's a good chance they'll have to play that game with their backup quarterback, as Jake Rudock exited the game with an apparent shoulder or collarbone injury after taking a huge hit from Bosa.
Ohio State looked like a playoff team today. Michigan looked a long way off. That's exactly what we expected heading into the season; it's still hard not to be disappointed after seeing how the last few months have played out.
November 28th, 2015 at 4:09 PM ^
An up-tempo, run-oriented offense against a banged-up DL and overmatched LBs is just a brutal matchup. This blog's commitment to analysis is great, but sometimes the search for someone to blame goes too far.
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November 28th, 2015 at 4:22 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 4:30 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 4:12 PM ^
November 29th, 2015 at 9:59 AM ^
Is your first sentence sarcastic? It must be.
November 28th, 2015 at 4:16 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 4:17 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 4:22 PM ^
The coaches are trying to upgrade the talent as quickly as possible.
November 28th, 2015 at 4:20 PM ^
I predicted 9-3 in August, so I got that part right. But I thought we'd beat Utah and ohio.
Our sole win over a ranked team was Northwestern.
We just got seriously curb stomped by our arch rival and our D looked entirely gassed in the second half after we dominated time of possession in the first. This and the Indiana game have me questioning our fitness/endurance. Yeah, sucks to lose some key guys on the line, but we need players to be able to play a full game.
Rudock was Rudock. I saw two plays where he went through a full progression and countless plays where he was staring down receivers. Whatever. He wasn't awful but down 18 in the 4th there's just no chance with him at QB. None.
And I've seen enough of Smith stutter-stepping in the backfield while little holes close and linebackers and DBs crash down onto him.
It's one thing to lose this game. But this was an anihilation; total domination and destruction and our D was either walking dead or at least a few of them gave up- more than once saw guys give a half-effort block and then just stop playing in the 4th. Just not at all what I expected in terms of effort and toughness and resiliency in this game.
Oh, and that call to go for the block in the 1st quarter was awful. Our D was holding and it was a field position game at that point. Terrible decision and the game changed tone after the roughing the kicker call.
Blech. Bad, bad taste in my mount.
Edit to add: Bolden, oh my. That's going to be an UGLY UFR number there.
November 28th, 2015 at 4:26 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 4:40 PM ^
A loss is a loss and we totally screwed up that punt AND hadn't coached up O'Neill enough that he knew to fall on a bad snap.
BYU isn't ranked now, and the end of November rankings mean a whole lot more than wild guesses in week 2.
November 28th, 2015 at 4:17 PM ^
and asked to build a playoff caliber team. OSU's talent is just years ahead of UM's at this point in time. We can thank Tressel, RichRod, and Hoke for this obvious deficit.
Additionally, OSU played their best game of the season today. Unfortunately, OSU's best game is far better than UM's best game (and for obvious reasons).
Jimmy will get the team there, but it will take time.
November 28th, 2015 at 4:20 PM ^
mobile qb's and spread offense's are Michigan's worst nightmare. On the other end, our offense isn't meant to come from behind, despite how well the passing game was towards the end of the season. I don't think we will see many more 7-6, 6-6 types season anymore, but for Michigan to take the leap from 9-3 and good to 11-1, 12-0 and great, there just has to be more talent, hopefully with a NFL QB leading the way.
November 28th, 2015 at 4:21 PM ^
Honestly, venting and vitriol aside...I do have faith in Harbaugh and co for next season. He's a great recruiter/motivator and program builder . We are still light years ahead of where we were last year in so many ways. We will beat them next year. The future is bright, though today hurts like hell. Go Blue always.
November 28th, 2015 at 4:21 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 5:52 PM ^
Exactly what I was trying to explain to my kids. Coaching can only get you so far. Harbaugh will be fine once he gets his players in, but at the moment, our talent level is not even close to OSU's.
November 28th, 2015 at 4:21 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 4:23 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 5:44 PM ^
But, you know...Michigan difference
November 28th, 2015 at 4:23 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 4:24 PM ^
last weekend in November our lack of depth became pretty apparent. Harbaugh and staff were able to cobble together nine wins essentially through smoke and mirrors. It caught up with us today. No doubt in my mind that things will get much better within the next few years. I still think that Harbaugh should be considered a strong candidate for coach of the year. Talk about making chicken salad out of chicken shit.
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November 28th, 2015 at 4:28 PM ^
When do we realize that the days of glory are long gone? This game was absolutely pathetic. This is the new norm and even Harbaugh is not changing it. Totally out classed and out coached. God rest his soul but Bo is not walking through that door and as good as Harbaugh is, we will be lucky to sniff a B1G Championship in the next 5-10 years!!! We are going to be haunted by our ghosts of glory past for years to come!!! I will be forever MICHIGAN BLUE through and through but there is a reality out there and it must be faced. We are what we are and it is going to be that way for years to come. Neg all you want but the truth hurts. A overated defense and a offense more predictible than that of LSU. What hope do we hold out for next year? IMO....nothing but the same. The more things change...the more they stay the same!!!!
November 28th, 2015 at 5:37 PM ^
Go PSU
Go Iowa
November 28th, 2015 at 8:00 PM ^
of the Mods canning your account right away, let's see how much lower you can go first.
November 28th, 2015 at 4:25 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 4:25 PM ^
Although Michigan has greatly exceeded expectations this year, in my opinion by a lot given our wretched performances in recent years, this humiliating, RichRod-scale beatdown ends the whole season on an awfully sour note. All the more so since even Hoke managed to make the OSU game competitive. This time around, our mediocre running game and our mediocre linebacker play really came back to haunt us. These have been glaring weaknesses all season long, and against talented teams like Ohio State (esp. when they are angry after an embarrassing loss of their own), there is simply no way to conceal or overcome those weaknesses. I don't understand why Durkin didn't follow the very same defensive formula that worked so well for the Spartans last week, even granting that our LBs aren't nearly as good, since I think our D line is comparable and our secondary is better than those of MSU. (Having said that, I don't understand the nasty comments in this thread about Durkin, who has done a great job most of the year. I think we're lucky to have him.) But we definitely need to recruit some big fast LBs ASAP, and we also desperately need to recruit some bruising, shifty, speedy RBs like Elliot. As I've said before, it's embarrassing when lesser teams like Indiana, Northwestern, Minnesota, and Illinois all somehow manage to recruit better RBs than we do. (How is that even possible?) Worst of all, our wretched performance today in the greatest rivalry game in college football is probably going to deter several of our top recruiting targets from coming to Michigan. When we lay an egg in front of lots of potential recruits, it isn't going to help us land them.
November 28th, 2015 at 4:34 PM ^
Imagine being recruited by both schools and in attendance at this game. Who then is the logical choice? Probably the bad guys.
November 28th, 2015 at 5:30 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 4:27 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 4:33 PM ^
No, this is a sign of nothing. It was a really bad game, but that's it. It's a sign of nothing.
November 28th, 2015 at 4:37 PM ^
It is a sign of the continued dominance of ohio over MICHIGAN. Have you not been paying attention?
November 28th, 2015 at 5:31 PM ^
Say what you want, Harbaugh is our coach and everything is going to be OK. Excellent first season, given various circumstances.
BTW, it's a shame your team lost to MSU last week - no repeat title for you this year
November 28th, 2015 at 7:01 PM ^
You are a troll hardon40. If you had a basic 3rd grade reading comprehension level you would know I am MICHIGAN BLUE! BTW...Thanks for making staee students look like Rhodes Scholars though!
November 28th, 2015 at 8:34 PM ^
Too bad your team couldn't get it done AT HOME cause an MSU that didn't even have Connor Cook
November 28th, 2015 at 4:46 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 8:52 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 4:29 PM ^
Was ridiculous to say the least. It was as if they had never seen it before.
November 28th, 2015 at 4:29 PM ^
Continually out of position, and when they were in position could not tackle... our defensive linemen could not shed blocks and could not penetrate... I don't remember Henry's name being called all day.
Still a successful season! Just didn't end the way we wanted...
November 28th, 2015 at 4:30 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 4:31 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 4:34 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 4:35 PM ^
because you are a pathetic fan. It was bad game in Harbaugh's first season, yet you are giving up already. Just pathetic.
People got on me for being a negative, but no one comes close to you. You are the worst fan on here by a huge margin.
November 28th, 2015 at 5:26 PM ^
Seems like a pretty good bet that they will
November 28th, 2015 at 4:32 PM ^
Harbaugh did a great job considering the talent on our team. The problem is OSU has serious talent at every position while we are deficient in several key areas. I like the effort given by our linebackers but they are simply not athletic enough to win against a team like OSU. Furthermore, as a team we are not deep enough to be able to lose players like Mone, Omejudia and Glasgow. OSU knew this which is the reason they went with the up tempo offense. We were not deep and did not have the athletes at certain position to contain them. Harbaugh understands this and is addressing it with this recruiting class. It was a tough pill to swallow today but the future is very bright for UM football.
November 28th, 2015 at 4:32 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 4:33 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 8:26 PM ^
November 29th, 2015 at 6:28 AM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 4:36 PM ^
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