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2015 ohio state

Ohio State 42, Michigan 13 Comment Count

Ace


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.

Comments

Mevo

November 28th, 2015 at 5:50 PM ^

Unfortunately we had back to back coaches that set the team back for years.  OSU went from Tressel and had one bad year with Fickle and replaced him immediately with Urban.  They have simply done a better job managing their football program over the past 10 years which is the reason we have struggled against them over this time period.  We finally got serious last year and hired Harbaugh which was a great move.  However, he can't over come 10 years of mediocrity in this first year against a very talented team.  We just don't have enough overall team speed and athleticism to compete against a team like OSU right now.  Harbaugh understand this and will most defnitely address this shortcoming.  Yes, it would have been great to beat OSU but I'm very pleased we are 9-3 in his first year with the opportunity to play in a good bowl game.  I suspect we will be even better next year with the following year being a year we compete for a national championship.  Keep the faith.

Joined: 02/21/2010

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MissMFortheBlockM

November 28th, 2015 at 5:56 PM ^

Mighty mojo - that's just not true. Harbaugh is a phenomenal coach and this school ,this program and this tradition will be back and are well on their way. With that attitude, ya might as well root for the Fuckeyes. Oh wait... Methinks I smell a troll. Be gone! Go blue

Joined: 10/30/2015

MGoPoints: 64

Bertello NC

November 28th, 2015 at 6:15 PM ^

Id rather have continuous growth in all facets of the program from year to year than to have lightning in a bottle for a year then to decline like we endured the last 4-5 years. We are in good hands. We just need a little more talent and athleticism in some areas along with more depth. It's well on its way.

Joined: 09/13/2011

MGoPoints: 958

MacAndBlue2

November 28th, 2015 at 6:38 PM ^

All the Hoke hate and Harbaugh worship is so dumb. You know who took losing players recruited for SOMEONE ELSES system and went 11-2 in their first season? Yes you do, but you want to act like that guy was a horrible coach. I'm happy Harbaugh is our coach, and I believe he's an upgrade for the program but if you think Hoke couldn't have went at least 8-4 with this team you're an idiot. Hoke's biggest failing was that he never put in a quarterback for HIS system/philosophy. I don't blame him for that with Robinson/Gardner being the most talented players on the roster. Then throw in changes in the OC and bad breaks, you wind up with a 5-8 season to send you out the door. But now you want to make excuses about Harbaugh not having enough talent? Hoke was a great recruiter with impressive classes. Harbaugh inherited a top 20 defense, brought in his QB, receivers and TEs who proved to be solid, an O-line who played well, and highly recruited RBs who looked good for the first half of the season. Harbaugh had/has a much better position to build from than Hoke so please stop acting like Harbaugh didn't have talent. You can blame getting blown out today on coaching, but Hoke's not the coach to blame.

Joined: 11/28/2015

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michfn2

November 28th, 2015 at 6:53 PM ^

There's a big difference between the players RichRod left Hoke and the players Hoke left Harbaugh. RichRods players actually improved under his staff, unlike Hoke. He left Harbaugh with what? A broken QB, a baffled O-line, and Joe Bolden. Remember how this staff had to teach these kids basic football fundamentals, because Hoke was too busy being their best friend. Remember what Hoke himself said "Haubaugh's success validates me as a coach"

Joined: 09/12/2015

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MacAndBlue2

November 28th, 2015 at 7:16 PM ^

Lol are you serious? So you're saying our D improved under RichRod? That he left Hoke with a run game that wasn't reliant on the quarterback taking off? Hoke was playing with an O-line full of sophomores and juniors, and now other than Cole (a Hoke recruit) those guys are seniors and juniors and playing better football. And talking about how the staff had to reteach fundamentals is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Every new staff says they have to teach fundamentals. You're either blind or an idiot if you seriously think the talent that was left for Hoke was better than the talent left for Harbaugh. It's not even close. That being said, I expect Harbaugh to take recruiting to a consistently elite level. Top 5 every year.

Joined: 11/28/2015

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SalvatoreQuattro

November 28th, 2015 at 7:22 PM ^

There is absolutely no doubt about that.   Denard, Gardner, Gallon, Hemingway, Roundtree,  and Toussaint all had the ability to create big plays. Who can do that on this team? Peppers and Cheeson. That's it.

Hoke's teams got worse and worse. He left Harbaugh with a paucity of speed on both sides of the ball. His teams could not run the ball either. Defensively they did improve, but as we saw last year and today still no where to being elite.

 

Joined: 11/30/2010

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michfn2

November 28th, 2015 at 7:47 PM ^

Are you serious? This is the worst O-line group I've even seen. Apparently you think Taylor Lewan is still playing LT or something. The depth at every position is atrocious. Morris is little more than a broken shell. If it wasn't for Rudock we'd be lucky for 6 wins. The LBs can't tackle a stationary trash can. Other than Peppers, Lewis, Chesson, And Glasgow with did Harbaugh get? A

Joined: 09/12/2015

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SalvatoreQuattro

November 28th, 2015 at 6:59 PM ^

Mike Martin, Ryan Van Bergan, and Junior Hemingway.They were the reason Michigan went 11-2.Hoke proceeded to get worse and worse as the team took on more of the talented he recruited. That says something about Hoke's coaching ability and "great recruiting".

Hoke's recruiting has proven to be less than what the rankers said it was. Bolden and the OL in particular have not panned out.

Hoke was a good recruiter, but far from a great recruiter. The results show that. 

Joined: 11/30/2010

MGoPoints: 78082

wahooverine

November 28th, 2015 at 7:52 PM ^

HAHAHA this the dumbest shit I've ever read on this blog. If Hoke were the coach Still there's be no Rudock and no Durkin/Drevno. Morris would be our QB and there'd zero player development as we've seen this year. The Oline would be worse due to no Drevno and offensive game planning and deployment of personnel certainly not as clever nor efficient. Don't ever comment again.

Joined: 11/14/2011

MGoPoints: 6799

hazardc

November 28th, 2015 at 6:51 PM ^

Oh calm down... The past three years this game has been decided by one score 2/3 times.. last year was REAL close until elliot ran in a TD after barret went out.  We lost this game by 1 point last time it was in ann arbor. 

 

Shit happened. We lost our best defensive players with thin depth this season. Add depth and we have a good safety net (this defense was elite before that happened) 

 

 

We lost our QB who has been making up for the very obvious decline in defensive ability.  The run game hasn't been great all year against great defenses.  Once Ruddock went out this game was going to be tough. Elliot was on a mission from last week. 

 

Sky is not falling. It sucks, it sucks to see the disparity, but we were playing all season on a house of cards where every injury hurt way worse than it normally would on a team with any depth. 

 

The only thing I'm concerned with is how much this hurts the recruiting class. Hopefully not too much.  I am sure the recruits have been talked to about the lack of depth, the opportunities to get on the field, and have seen how much players that weren't any good turned into great players in the course of 1 year.   This was the worst michigan has played against OSU in a while, but who was going to stop elliot? who would have stopped him last week if they would have used him? 

 

It's pretty obvious now why harbaugh stuck by ruddock through entire games, speight is not ready to play at this level at all. 

 

 

 

Joined: 11/24/2013

MGoPoints: 2366

drjaws

November 28th, 2015 at 7:21 PM ^

Sad about how the game turned out. But happy about the season. 9-3 and decent bowl game. Plus, Harbaugh coached team will not be 5-7, or getting noticeably worse a la RR/Hoke teams.



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OldBlueVa

November 28th, 2015 at 7:29 PM ^

Jim Harbaugh now owns the worst home loss in The Game in 54 years.

The talent disparity is undeniable but there's no excuse for that stat. He had almost 11 months to get ready for this game.

Joined: 11/21/2009

MGoPoints: 813

FLwolvfan22

November 28th, 2015 at 7:31 PM ^

No I didn't enjoy it either but it just exposes what is wrong and what Coach Harbaugh, good as he is, can't fix without recruiting. No big uglies up front, no speedy, fierce LBs and no power running game. We have about 6 RB's and not one is a power guy who can break it wide open, Whatever, nobody like's losing to these clowns but until we beef up with big uglies we're not going to be where we want to be.

Joined: 03/03/2012

MGoPoints: 6707

JTrain

November 28th, 2015 at 8:14 PM ^

Yea. Agree. Our line play needs to improve a lot. And we need someone with FASTER FEET than deveon smith. He can pound but man does he LOOK SLOW. Not that it would've mattered today. We got owned up front on both sides of the ball.



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FLwolvfan22

November 28th, 2015 at 9:36 PM ^

whom were 5 stars and none of them can make it happen, it sucks, the luck of the draw and Mike Weber chose the Buckeyes over Michigan when Tyrone Wheatley himself was promising him he would play day one. Whatever, luck of the draw, I think we get the top RB in the nation this year (( hope) and with coach Wheat and Coach Harbaugh evaluating him I'm sure he actually IS a 5 star and if he's smart he signs with Michigan because with our RB sitaution he starts on day 1.

If anyone wonders where our big uglies and skill players are they only have to look at Sparty who has recruited and taken basically the talent in Ohio and Michigan the last 5 or 6 years that the Buckeyes didn't . If Dantonio can just kindly move on to South Carolina we can take back those guys.

Joined: 03/03/2012

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Mevo

November 28th, 2015 at 7:41 PM ^

Hoke was a horrible coach and I can't believe a UM fan would defend his record.  Yes, he did an ok job recruiting, mainly lineman, but he definitely didn't recruit enough play makers.  Hoke was simply in over his head coaching at Michigan.  His game day coaching was horrific, all the way from clock management to play calling.  Furthermore, he didn't develop talent and his teams rarely seemed prepared to play which is the reason we struggled to beat bad teams like Akron and UConn.  I will give you the best barometer to determine if he's a good coach.  There are at least 10 D1 head coaching jobs either available or soon to be available and I have not heard Hoke's name mentioned once for any of these openings.  If he was remotely a good coach his name would be in the mix for one of these openings. 

Joined: 02/21/2010

MGoPoints: 280

FLwolvfan22

November 28th, 2015 at 9:32 PM ^

Not the blowout part but when Sparty beat them and the internal issues with guys complaining I thought oh boy, now thye're going to do exactly what they were criticized for not doing (giving the ball to Elliot). Bottom line, we've been recruiting far, far behind these guys for years with regards to the linemen, the RB situation is what it is, who knew 4 and 5 stars wouldn't pan out, happens.

And, look at the bright side, with that performance we probably get to keep Durkin for another year (great for recruiting continuity, bad if he leaves now) and most guys will return. We just need to seriously address the offensive and defensive lines yesterday, if we don't get some beefy dudes up there it will just be the same result next season.

Joined: 03/03/2012

MGoPoints: 6707

MaizeAndBlueJay

November 28th, 2015 at 8:00 PM ^

Nothing was more apparent today other than the fact that OSU has so many better athletes than we do. Like way more. We have Jabrill, they have 10 of him who have all been playing in this system for their entire careers. The defense was atrocious, it was as if we haven't defended the read option EVER. It seemed like no adjustments were made. Our linebackers played as they have pretty much all season: horrendous. Countless missed tackles and blown responsibilities. The D-line is depleted. We need bodies, big bodies. Offense wasn't terrible. When things get as rough as they did it's tough for an offense to keep plugging. It's good to have Harbaugh, but the fact is he's 0-2. Plain and simple. Both games on the road next year, plus Wisconsin and Iowa on the schedule, gonna be tough. 9-3 would be more impressive next year. This team has to get better in all facets and keep adding bodies. Today was embarrassing, bottom line. It really sucks, everything sucks. Go Blue.

Joined: 11/26/2013

MGoPoints: 38

SalvatoreQuattro

November 28th, 2015 at 8:05 PM ^

OSU does not ten Jebrill Peppers. They have two NFL talents(Thomas, Elliott) , a good system QB in Barrett, and some good role player(Marshall).  But that does not equate to ten Jebrill Peppers.

MSU and OSU lose a lot next year. Wisky is fading and who knows what Iowa will do. 

This is Harbaugh's first season. Outside of Meyer--who we bequeathed a roster with athletes that fit his system--most of the elite coaches today had so-so first seasons. 9-3 is perfectly fine for a first season.

There is far too much doom and gloom today. They lost badly. It happens. That has no bearing on what happens in the future other than to serve as excellent motivation for the coaches and players to improve.

Joined: 11/30/2010

MGoPoints: 78082

Amaznbluedoc

November 28th, 2015 at 8:23 PM ^

Let's hope that this was really Hoke's legacy and not foreshadowing of things to come. M has to beat quality opponents and while I'll tolerate (but not like) an occasional loss to a B10 opponent, until we start beating quality teams like ohio or SParty I'll reserve judgment

Joined: 09/27/2015

MGoPoints: 2240

Hannibal.

November 28th, 2015 at 9:32 PM ^

You think that 9-3 next year would be impressive?  Have you looked at our schedule and what our rivals have coming back? We have three non-conference tomato cans.  6-3 in conference would be a huge, huge disappointment considering how many seniors we will have.  Have some standards, man. 

Joined: 09/09/2008

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MGoStrength

November 28th, 2015 at 8:07 PM ^

With Elliot, Bosa, Washington, and I'm sure other juniors gone next year should look much different. We will have holes at LB. Hopefully Gedeon steps up, we get a talented frehsman, and McCray can get healthy. If the d-line stays healthy they can be really good. The offense is what it is and should moderately improve. But we need O'Korn to be good and a young WR to beat DBs downfield...Harris I'm looking at you. OSU will still be a challenge. We can beat MSU on the road. But we need to take care of Wisconsin. It will be an interesting year. Here's to Harbaugh improving the team by 4 wins in one year and getting us to a New Year's Day bowl.

Joined: 07/29/2010

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Amaznbluedoc

November 28th, 2015 at 8:17 PM ^

Three losses this year. The first one to the Utes was against a senior QB and a solid team. It was tough but understandable. The MSU steal was a fluke and though it was tough at least we could say we outplayed them. But this? It was a colonoscopy without anesthesia. A real a$$ kicking. We were outplayed in every facet of the game. The talent gap was embarrassingly evident and unless Harbaugh is a magician in recruiting, the long winter will continue. For M global warming is a hoax.

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Amaznbluedoc

November 28th, 2015 at 8:28 PM ^

I give a tremendous amount of credit to Jim and his staff for taking Hoke's jokers and making them appear to be a respectable football team. But I hope today's performance wasn't foreshadowing of years to come when M beats the usual cellar dwellers and can't compete at the next level. Sure there's every reason to believe - look what Jim did at Stanford and SF. But we got a can of whoop-a$$ today and a hell of a hangover.

Joined: 09/27/2015

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MGoJeezy

November 28th, 2015 at 8:57 PM ^

Ok but how long are we going to have to live in the narrative?.... Well when this happens then, or when we get this recruit then... Michigan has been basically irrelevant since 2006 the 11-2 year and we haven't won a big ten title in over a decade. It's just getting frustrating. I think harbs will right the ship but getting tired of waiting! Go blue still love our team!

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