Michigan Fooball. Unfinished Business: Iowa and Ohio St.

Submitted by WingsNWolverines on
Michigan hasnt beaten Iowa since 2006 when the Wolverines went undefeated all the way up till they faced another team and we'll get to them in a second. Iowa has never had a winning record vs Michigan but as of late the Hawkeyes have beaten Michigan in 4 straight years. That streak comes to an end this weekend and for Juinor we will beat the shit out of them. Iowa is weak this year and after we finish them off there is another matter of business to attend. The new millennium marked the ending of an amazing era of Michigan football where in an entire decade the Wolverines owned the Buckeyes from 1990 to 1999 and ended the decade without 1 loss to OSU at home. Cooper was given nightmare after nightmare from Carr and Co. At the end of his final year Michigan sent John off with a good bye present of a Michigan victory in Columbus by a score of 38-26 ending Cooper's coaching career at Ohio St. It was one of my most found memories of the rivalry as a Michigan fan. The next Sunday sulking Buckeye fans would end up drinking away their sorrows as The Victors were once again victorious. Next Sunday is officially beat Ohio St week. After 7 years of frustration and loss after loss to those clowns we finally ended their reign and gave Denard his first win over the Bucknuts. Next Saturday we travel to Ohio to take on Meyer and his legion of doom in Columbus. Michigan has not won in Ohio Stadium since 2000. Now take a seat and think about that. In 12 years we have only won once in their stadium, unaccetable. The 2006 game was the last time we gave them a scare in Ohio Stadium and in the end we failed. This game needs to be a must win against Ohio St. Not beating them in Columbus since the year of the new millennium is just sickening. That 12 year home streak has to end in two weeks. If we win it will be the first time since 1999-2000 that we would have back to back wins over OSU since 2000. We have to beat them. For every Wolverine that came before team 133 that failed to win in their house. Its time we bury that home winning streak and spoil Meyer's first year against Michigan in "The Game." Lets beat em both and end this season 9-3!

mGrowOld

November 12th, 2012 at 3:15 PM ^

Um....isn't there a game with Iowa this Saturday first to take care of?  You know that team we havent beaten since 2006?  

Not saying I dont agree with your feelings on the Buckeyes but first things first.

mGrowOld

November 12th, 2012 at 3:56 PM ^

Politiely disagree.  When fans "look ahead" in their postings they are giving the collective finger to Karma which is never good.  Karma will not be mocked or looked past (see post made last Saturday "congradulating" PSU on their probable win over Nebraska when they went up two scores) and when provoked Karma is a more than formable advisary.

Iowa first...OSU second.  And for the record it's not like we've owned the Hawkeyes lately as we've lost three in a row and 5 of our last 8.

Edit:  See?  The OP realized the error of his ways and fixed the post up real nice.  Now i have zero issue with it as he put events in proper order.   Horse then cart not cart then horse.

GoBlueInNYC

November 12th, 2012 at 4:26 PM ^

Politely disagree?! Do you know where you are? The internet! You know who else "politely" disagreed? The Nazis.

But seriously, I get that the Hawkeyes have gotten the better of Michigan lately, and I absolutely agree that the team needs to focus on this week's opponent. I even get (and agree) that part of the fun of being a fan is taking part in the ritual of the game even if we aren't actually a part of it. But given that we aren't actually a part of it, it seems really silly to criticize another fan for being excited about the game that takes place next week rather than being sufficiently concerned about the game this week. It really ultimately doesn't matter if he's thinking about OSU rather than Iowa, because it has no bearing on the team's preparation for Iowa.

Basically, we aren't the farmers here, so we're not the ones handling the cart or the horse. We're the guys sitting on the fence, chewing on our piece of straw watching the other guys make the horse/cart arrangements (and being highly critical of said horse/cart arrangements, probably, because it is the internet after all). 

WingsNWolverines

November 12th, 2012 at 3:23 PM ^

They whooped our ass in 2010 and we all know it. That win being vacated still doesn't take away the humiliation of losing the way we did. Its time we did to them what McCarty did to Lemieux in 97. Return the favor in spades.

jmblue

November 12th, 2012 at 3:19 PM ^

Drew Henson put on a show that day.  One of the best performances by a U-M QB I've ever seen.  It's still bittersweet to think about him and what could have been if he'd stuck around.

stephenrjking

November 12th, 2012 at 4:02 PM ^

Henson was a great QB, and Navarre was not-quite-ready for primetime in 2001, but having recently gone through every loss that season, I think the upside of Henson in '01 isn't quite as high as we think.

It is true that all three of Michigan's regular season losses could easily have been wins, even with Navarre at the helm. Obviously, Michigan would actually have won one of them in a 60 minute game (thanks Spartan Bob!). The Washington game, the most forgotten Michigan loss of all time, turned on a three-play sequence where Michigan was controlling the game until a blocked field goal returned for a TD and a deflected interception-TD (the pass was either a CA or MA, but the bounce was freakish; not really Navarre's fault). Michigan played its worst football in a long time against OSU that year, but still had a chance to win. 

So it's quite possible that Henson could have put Michigan over the top in all three losses--but the late Carr era track record always includes at least one head-scratching loss, and it's not unreasonable to think that with a massively under-talented offense around him and a leaky defense, Henson would have had at least one loss. 

Then things really get ugly, because Henson would not have saved Michigan against a loaded Tennessee team in the Citrus Bowl. Nor would a hypothetical 1-loss or 0-loss Michigan team have done well against an all-time Miami club in the Rose Bowl. And B1G champ Illinois was sacrificed to an emerging LSU team that Michigan would have fared poorly against, too. 

Best case? A great regular season and an ugly bowl loss. 

I was sad that Henson left, early, but in fairness he would merely have been a high point of an otherwise weak Michigan team in 2001.

snarling wolverine

November 12th, 2012 at 5:27 PM ^

With Henson around, I doubt we'd have ever played Tennessee.  We'd have probably won at least one more conference game to go to a BCS bowl.  Remember, we went 6-2 that year and finished second to an Illinois team (7-1) that we beat head-to-head.

But the most significant thing about Henson coming back is that I'm sure we'd have beaten Ohio.  A win there and Tressel doesn't get off on the right foot with his fanbase, and maybe history turns out differently for both him and Carr.

 

GoBlueInNYC

November 12th, 2012 at 3:23 PM ^

Ugh, what a bummer. Here's hoping that Denard, "Tree, et al. can BEAT OHIO in a couple of weeks. Lets reset some of these streaks.

Also, obligatory negging for use of "UNACCEPTABLE," even if it was meant in jest.

WingsNWolverines

November 12th, 2012 at 3:34 PM ^

this Saturday. I'm going on full on hate mode these last two weeks. Fuck Iowa and always fuck Ohio st. The Hawkeyes little streak comes to a grinding halt this weekend. They should of never won last year. Still makes me sick but I want this Ohio St game more than anything. I live 15 mins from that campus and the thought of them in the Meyer era being 0-1 to start is priceless. Its been too long since they've lost at home. Alabama had their loss and now its time for Ohio St to get their blow to the gut.

pasadenablue

November 12th, 2012 at 3:39 PM ^

ahahaha I remember that game.  drew henson ran a touchdown in at the end to rub it in on a naked bootleg.  The Michigan players walked off the field miming the act of putting rings on their fingers, as a huge fuck you to the buckeye fans.  it kicked ass.

 

also, OP, please make use of these things called paragraphs and formatting.

turtleboy

November 12th, 2012 at 3:51 PM ^

The CB matchups could be a key factor in The Game just like it was last year. Miller throws a fair share of 10 yard wide armpunts to open receivers, but he still put a couple on the mark to effect last time. Receivers continue to beat our corners deep play after play so unless they play more zone with Safety help over the top we could be in for another shootout.

jtmc33

November 12th, 2012 at 4:36 PM ^

10 BCS spots available:

Locks:   2 SEC teams, K-State, ND, Oregon, Big 10 Champ, and Big East Champ

The log jam of SEC teams almost assures that a @#13-15 team makes a BCS game.

For a 9-3 UM team to sneak into a BCS game, we need to:

Root for the conference title-game Favorites:   FSU to win the ACC, Oregon to win the Pac-10    (Both of these teams are probably locks for a BCS bowl even if they get a loss from here on out... so, if they lose the title game then some other team will make the Orange / Rose Bowl and they will take an at-large).

Root against OU, Texas, Stanford, Oregon State, UCLA, Clemson .   With a late-season third loss by all of these teams, maybe UM could sneak that last at-large with the 4 game winning streak versus their recent loss.  With no other 2-loss team to take, the BCS would go with making money and fans travelling... so "best" 3-loss team that can pack the stands gets the nod.  

Wild card:  Kent and La Tech as a 1-loss top-12 team.  I don't think either of these teams will be top 12, but, if a 3-loss log jam ensues one of these teams could climb enough to take the final at-large. 

Wild Card 2:  If Wisconsin beats a Nebraska, would a 10-3 Nebraska team that lost the BIG Champ game get turned down for a 9-3 UM team?   (See Sparty and the 2011 Sugar Bowl for possible insight)

Muttley

November 12th, 2012 at 7:07 PM ^

 

BCS Standings
RK TEAMs (BcsRank) Record
1 Kansas State (1)
10-0
2 Oregon (2) 10-0
3 Notre Dame (3) 10-0
4 Alabama (4) 9-1
5 Nebraska (14) 8-2
6 Louisville (19) 9-1
7 UGA(5)9-1 Fla(6)9-1 LSU(7)8-2 UTAM(8)8-2 SCar(9)8-2
8 Florida State (10) 9-1
9 Clemson (11) 9-1
10 Okla(12)7-2
Texas(15)8-2
11 Stanf(13)8-2 OrSt(16)7-2 UCLA(17)8-2 USC(18)7-3
12 La Tech (20) 9-1
13 Michigan (21) 7-3
14 Rutgers (22) 8-1
15 Texas Tech (23) 7-3
16 Okla St (24)6-3
17 Washington (25)6-4

 

So we need to move up three effective spots to get into the last BCS bowl position (10). I think it's fairly likely that Lousiana Tech and the four PAC-10 teams all lose and fall below us, placing us in the #11 spot.

I think our best bet is for both Texas and Okla to fall below us (Texas plays KSU & Okla @WVU, vs OklaSt, & @TCU). Alternatively, we need Clemson to fall below us, and they do face S.Car, but with only 1 loss I doubt they fall below us, unless they also lose this week to Jekyl & Hyde NCSt. (Why are all the agricultural schools plagued by schizophrenia?)

stephenrjking

November 12th, 2012 at 4:05 PM ^

I used some birthday money to buy a couple of tickets off ebay for the 2000 game the night before it happened. Called my friend who was in college in Steubenville. We met in Columbus that morning, parked, and made it in just before kickoff. We were at the top of the upper deck at the apex of the horseshoe, behind the flagpole.

There were a bunch of students for whom OSU football was an excuse to be drunk. It was, shall we say, a hostile location. 

And it was marvelous. One of the great sports moments of my life. And the stories last forever.

UAUM

November 12th, 2012 at 4:10 PM ^

Yes, living in the belly of the beast has made me hate osu more than I could have imagined before arriving here.  I would love to see Denard go out with a win against the buckeyes.

Also, is there any interest in those members of the board who will be in Columbus next Saturday to meet up, whether at a tailgate or some other locale?  Would be neat to meet others in person, but maybe too much of a mission to coordinate.

kehnonymous

November 12th, 2012 at 4:38 PM ^

Some possible interest here.  I'd really rather not want to share the space with a horde of Bucknut trogoldytes though and it'll be hard to find such a pest-free venue on the 24th..

ChuckWood

November 12th, 2012 at 5:49 PM ^

Yup, I'm denying it.

Iowa's win is tainted.  Any time an obvious bad call keeps a team from an opportunity to win, I'll deny it.  Tell a Packers fan to get over the loss to Seattle.  Tell a PSU fan to get over the loss to Nebraska.  it's 2012.  We have cameras and instant replay.  Calls like that just shouldn't happen.  Wasn't even close.

ibleedmaizenblue10

November 12th, 2012 at 10:56 PM ^

I have relatives in Iowa (I don't even know why) and they have been insufferable the last three years. That having been said, The game is the most important of every year. IF I had to choose, I would choose a win over Ohio before any other team in any year.