Michigan Monday vs. Rutgers is up

Good read, as usual. Always interesting to see what Gerdeman focuses on and what he ignores.

-No mention of receiver drops, which were far more impactful/concerning to me than JJ's misfires

-Not much attention paid to Donovan in the pass game, aside from a throwaway jab that he might be our best receiving threat. I think giving Donovan's receiving abilities are a dark horse difference maker in The Game

-Lots of handwringing about YPC. Seems like he's splitting hairs, but he does have a point about the short-yardage struggles. Hopefully that was just a one-off

-No mention of Rutgers's (fleeting) success throwing 50/50s to their receiver. I'm surprised Gerdeman doesn't see that as a encouraging sign on how their WRs will go up against our DBs

Given the events of the week prior and quite a few reserves playing, it shouldn't be too surprising things didn't look like a perfectly oiled machine during the first half.  Hopefully, we don't see that this week though.

Just don't forget about Michael Barrett. We can unleash him whenever we want to.

So is that is what's happening ?  It's not "halftime adjustments", but, that we pound the other team and they wear down.  The latter makes more sense actually.

"The line of scrimmage gets pounded and pounded in the first half until it eventually breaks in the second half. Once that happens, the opponent loses their footing and both sides of the ball just get pushed wherever Michigan wants them to go."

An OSU fan with any memory of 2021 knows this better than anyone.

Dryest Michigan Monday of all time.  This is a good sign.

I find that the Buckeye Huddle guys are usually pretty objective about Michigan, willing to point out strengths and reasons for concern for their team.  This time, however, they were much less willing to draw insightful conclusions from the previous week's data.  For instance, their claim that OSU had a better running attack against Northwestern than Michigan did against Rutgers.  (They failed to note that Michigan artificially depressed its yards/carry by slamming it up the gut for about 10 very short yardage plays in the Red Zone.)  OSU's crappy performance against a terrible opponent was just weather!  All this tells me that they really are nervous, so they are acting like more typical tOSU fans.  It was disappointing that they fell short of their normally high analytic approach, but satisfying as well, given how they seem to believe the Buckeyes are in for trouble in three weeks.  At least they gave Corum his props, citing him and Bryce Young as the two most electric players in college football.

So little is said about Michigan being down 5 starters (incl Green).  That's not insignificant in all of these analyses.  I know, "Next man up", but still ...

What is the deal with these first halves? The second half is complete domination over the last five weeks, but the first halves should concern Wolverine fans as they get ready for Ohio State.

Well, if looking at the box score for the first half, none of these games would look like Michigan was anything but dominating. Hopefully the first half scores are randomness of the game and in the final 3 games, the first half score will be representative of the way Michigan dominated the box score.

Michigan has gotten under the skin of these two-who are generally able to conjure up some measure of objectivity with regard to putting out this piece. It is all too clear that Michigan may now, in fact, be the better team...and they simply cannot handle the thought. Here, the excuse-making for their beloved buckeyes and the head-in-the-sand takes on Michigan are very telling. 

The tone is getting different in these.  He's starting to panic.

While guilty of screaming at my tv for many a first half this year I gotta say I love the fact that this team absolutely kicks the shit out of teams in the second half. It tells you they are mentally and physically stronger than their opponents. Grit. 

Hey all you Michigan fans.  Don't you realize, Michigan doesn't even belong on the same field at the Buckeyes.   The Buckeyes are better in every statistical category that matters.   The Buckeyes receiving corps is destined not only for the NFL, but also numerous Pro-Bowl selections, and the Hall of Fame.   

The changes made across the roster and schemes in Columbus would yield a Super Bowl win - yes, at the NFL level.   This team in Columbus is unbeatable, so - don't even bother trying.  You might as well just send in an email and say "forfeit" for the game on November 26th.

Both the Offensive and Defensive line are incomparable and unstoppable.   They cannot be defended - and, it's arguable whether they can even be slowed down.

Please - keep up the press.  Send text messages to the entire squad - and, tell them that they are the best Buckeye team ever - and, are being dissed by the Selection Committee and the Polls, since they really should be #1 in every possible evaluation.

I hope ESPN, the Selection Committee, and Paul Finebaum will sing the praises of this team.  Don't stop with the accolades.   More and more press - the unbeatable machine - the Death Star.

(Yes, just a week bit of sarcasm...)

Spot on article.....talks about what we did well, what we could do better, and how it all relates to Ohio State. Aside from the occasional bit of snark, these pieces could be written for this site -- they're that interesting and well-done.

The most interesting point continues to be how OSU will defend Michigan's offense. I originally said that they will probably sit back and try to limit Michigan to FGs, but the more the passing game struggles, the more I am getting convinced that they will just stack the box and make JJ and the receivers beat them. 

We need to at least make the passing game viable to make OSU decide.