So... From a Wolverine perspective, what went wrong for the Buckeyes?
Obviously their fans are in full-on meltdown mode, with some even calling for Gene Smith to decline a bowl invite. And we're on cloud nine after having endured not just the losing, but endless taunting from Buckeye fans for most of the past 20 years. But trash talk aside, what do you think went wrong went wrong for Ohio State?
For one thing, their defensive playcalling seemed a bit too aggressive. Knowles' blitz-happy schemes left OSU with no safety help in the secondary, leading to all three of our long TD pass plays. On offense, for some strange reason they abandoned the run game, despite the fact that it seemed to be working for them in the first quarter.
But that's X's and O's. They might have overcome their playcalling and scheming mistakes, but it felt like there was something else at play. Despite their supposed hunger for revenge after last year, OSU seemed to evince a strange lack of killer instinct. When JJ scored on that QB keeper to put as ahead 31-20 with about 7 minutes to play, I thought we would win the game, but I expected that we would have to withstand a late OSU rally to pull it out. I didn't expect that they would completely collapse down the stretch and end up handing us a blowout victory on their own turf.
Urban Meyer or Jim Tressel's teams would not have folded in the fourth quarter like that. It was as if Ryan Day was coaching like a guy who was trying to convince himself of his own toughness and mettle rather a guy who had confidence in his own toughness and mettle.
The body language of OSU players and coaches was not what you would expect from the number two team in the country playing at home in a huge revenge game, let along a revenge game in a rivalry that they've dominated for two decades. CJ Stroud seemed to panic and lose his nerve down the stretch, which I think is what caused those two INTs.
Interested in hearing others' observations on what they saw from OSU that seemed different from years past.
November 27th, 2022 at 1:13 PM ^
Arrogance. They didn’t bother to make adjustments because they thought they were just flat out better and didn’t need to. Continuing with that defensive approach into the second half, when it just wasn’t necessary, was flat out coaching malpractice. They also flat out didn’t expect Michigan to take those early punches and punch them right back.
November 27th, 2022 at 1:27 PM ^
IMO this take has a lot to do with it, but I'd argue that they didn't adjust their defensive approach b/c they knew it was really their only hope. Once we weathered their scripted drive and got our footing in the 2nd Q the OSU coaches knew it was a done deal, even though they led at halftime.
November 27th, 2022 at 1:28 PM ^
Yes. If I recall correctly, Urban at half was full on, "I told you WE can stop the run," and in the pregame said that M's receivers could be covered man by OSU's DBs all day. So it follows that, program wide, there was the sense that if the Bucks won up front, there is NO WAY that our skill players could compete with theirs.
And since I'm rolling...SC's Leinart and Bush have about one positive M comment a year between them. So suck it, gentlemen.
November 27th, 2022 at 2:40 PM ^
Right there with you, Wilford.
My personal favorite part was when he was shown with the 2012 OSU team and he said that the NCAA "stole the bowl game" from them. That is certainly one way to look at it...
Then after the game he said the Buckeyes "had the talent for the playoffs..." which is major shade at your own protege.
November 27th, 2022 at 5:47 PM ^
I was totally floored by that comment by urban that the ncaa took away the 2012 a cfp appearance. One could say that players deserved to make money, but those were the rules, and the rest of us were playing by them, so osu got a huge advantage in recruiting. Osu had no right to cfp. Now with nil, the field will be leveled and osu has no chance of hanging with us in the future if we get the 5*s AND we have the superior coaching.
November 27th, 2022 at 1:30 PM ^
Gus Johnson made 2 misstatements during an otherwise stellar broadcast.
First, he said the entire fan base turned against Harbaugh. While it was more people than would admit it (or remember it) now, I'd estimate that the majority of us thought we should not fire him.
Second, he said that Ohio State would fight to the end. NOT. Check out dragon child's Diary, "Lazy > Soft, I guess."
November 27th, 2022 at 1:43 PM ^
Yeah I get annoyed at the everyone wanted Harbaugh gone talk, I was king of the "who ya gonna get" response in my circle. I honestly never wanted him fired..I did however want to grab his shoulders and shake the fuck out of him and ask what was wrong.
November 27th, 2022 at 2:07 PM ^
Hail yes HAIL-YEA! Exactly what I said at the time.
Can't count all the Matt Campbell stans I argued with then, among others (Fickell debates were also common - "would he even come to Michigan?" folks wondered).
No one - NO ONE - could point to anyone with a resume remotely comparable to Harbaugh's. They didn't care, they were just flailing, ready to try anything, they were so sure JH couldn't get this program over the hump.
They're awfully, wonderfully quiet now...🤣
November 27th, 2022 at 2:19 PM ^
I’m one who wanted Harbaugh gone after 2020 and didn’t have any idea who should replace him; I just thought he was broken. I don’t think it was crazy to think that. To the OP’s point, there were plenty of people defending Harbaugh and it also wasn’t crazy to think he could break through.
I’m not quiet now, I support the team and Harbaugh, grateful to be wrong about him. I give all I can to NIL. I attended every home game except Hawaii.
November 27th, 2022 at 2:32 PM ^
I'm with you. I had no idea who should replace him, and readily agreed that nobody had a resume that matched his. However, I thought he was broken - the track record from 2018 --> 2020 was bad, and getting worse. My thing was that there was a choice if you thought the program could be better than it was - roll with him and see what happens, or change. The AD chose to roll with him, and it's worked out fantastically! 2016 did something to him, but he's finally recovered from whatever it was and now we have the Jim Harbaugh we had in 2015-2016.
But when Gus said that, I audibly commented that he was full of shit.
November 27th, 2022 at 2:32 PM ^
Did I say this twice? I said this twice...
November 27th, 2022 at 2:21 PM ^
Correct. There was absolutely widespread ambivalence and frustration about Harbaugh, and maybe half the fanbase was open to replacing Harbaugh. But the entire fanbase did not call for his head.
November 27th, 2022 at 2:33 PM ^
After 2020, I said to myself that I would rather not get rid of Harbaugh. My reason? There were maybe only a few coaches who could do a better job than he did, and most of them are such fucking assholes that I would never want them to be the head coach at Michigan.
November 28th, 2022 at 2:04 PM ^
It wasn't just that he said it was the entire fan base, he emphasized it.
November 27th, 2022 at 3:13 PM ^
Yeah, we haven't heard hire Matt Campbell refrain in some time.
November 27th, 2022 at 1:57 PM ^
Just to chime in about the softness. I get the feeling that the players for OSU haven't seen almost any adversity. Ryan Day's record has been stellar outside of The Game last year.
They drank their own kool-aid about being the superior team and bought into the idea that the only reason Michigan won last year was bad luck with the weather.
Just like last year when they got punched in the mouth they straight up quit.
The Wolverines have seen massive adversity over recent years. Games have been snatched away. Bad calls have decided the game. They know that nothing comes easy and there are no guarantees.
They made it to the CFP out of sheer force of will. Just like this year.
November 27th, 2022 at 2:06 PM ^
Reminds me of the Cooper years. OSU would beat almost everyone they played, and then get their asses kicked by a 3 loss Michigan team.
We should make sure to beat them by less next year so they don't fire Day too soon.
November 27th, 2022 at 2:23 PM ^
The Bucks clearly played tight -- you could actually see how stressed Stroud was in his facial expressions and body language. That's the first thing. The other thing seemed to be related to conditioning/strength. Same as last year, the Bucks just sort of went limp by the 4th quarter. They totally ran out of steam. Maybe that was due to adversity. Maybe to getting pushed around. Maybe both.
November 27th, 2022 at 2:13 PM ^
Damn Gus Johnson! I still occasionally make comments like this, aimed at the the Mgoblog administrators and zombie fans here.
"How could you be so stupid for trying to fire Harbaugh via a blog and replace him with some random guy from Iowa State. You were god damn wrong and should apologize for being so dumb!"
Do you hear that GUS!
November 27th, 2022 at 3:36 PM ^
It was probably true that most Michigan fans were not calling for Harbaugh to be replaced.
But --
The loudest, worst-mannered, least-patient, softest, least-reasonable contingent of fans (and there were a lot of them) made it seem otherwise.
Those were the disgraceful days of weak, low-morale BPONErism.
November 27th, 2022 at 10:18 PM ^
Gus Johnson is the new Brent Musburger, grotesquely melodramatic and overuses inflection. I can’t stand listening to him. But at least he doesn’t seem to have Musburger’s arrogance and creepiness about beautiful women.
November 27th, 2022 at 1:51 PM ^
Hubris for sure. I think the first half unfolded in a way that allowed a false sense of security:
2 big plays for M, and otherwise total OSU domination. Felt like they got told "keep doin' what your doin' and you will pull away". History kept telling Ryan Day that eventually they'd get the big play or the big drive for a TD. Very few adjustments by Knowles really put the nail in the coffin in the 4th.
Also, with Day being a more conservative coach on 4th down, he didn't take his shots statistically, and instead played not to lose. Granted, Dan Lanning screwed Oregon this year twice(!) on 4th down go for its, but from your opponents side of the field punting seemed dumb.
Finally, I thought the Multiple D that Michigan runs has finally been able to address a high powered spread offense like OSU. Thought M did a really good job in that department, especially in the Red Zone.
November 27th, 2022 at 2:14 PM ^
statistically day was actually not necessarily wrong on his decisions not to go for it on those fourth downs. IIRC ohio was in the 100's of D-1 teams in success rate on third and short, and michigan wasn't just any old defense.
November 27th, 2022 at 2:24 PM ^
XM - great point.
OSU was ranked 105th in 3rd/4th down short yardage coming in and NONE of those plays were against the Michigan defense. People are quick to say he was too conservative. I tend to think M makes enough stops if he does go for it that the game turns out the same way with less yards needed by the M offense. Let’s give our defense some credit in Day’s decisions!
November 27th, 2022 at 2:16 PM ^
Defensively, I guess they didn’t think they could stop the run consistently enough with 2 safeties back in a 2 high look.
Offensively, I thought the play calling moved away from things Michigan hadn’t yet stopped. I thought we’d see A LOT more of Marvin Harrison, Jr across the middle. I think OSU themselves reduced his impact on the game more than Michigan’s secondary did. And I was amazed at how well they ran the ball early on. They clearly didn’t think they could do it for 60 minutes, seemingly thinking every yard they gained on the ground was gold. I think they talked themselves out of the running game early on.
Sometimes coaches are megalomaniacs. They have their complex gameplans and in their minds they think they know how the games will play out. Then they adhere to them too closely.
November 27th, 2022 at 2:27 PM ^
Will Johnson locked up Harrison Jr. on the second play from scrimmage. I know Johnson wasn’t always on Harrison but he bodied him up and was very physical when he had the matchup.
I also think Stroud was confused a lot by the coverage and held the ball for a long time. Hard to make plays in the middle that way.
November 27th, 2022 at 3:45 PM ^
You have a great point and it underscores the intellectual failures of OSU's coaching staff and, by proxy, the team. They are used to knocking teams out early or having inferior teams struggle to hang in late against their pressure. When they hit hard early they are used to having teams fold. But, if one looks at Jim Harbaugh's career, his teams never quit and there are many times they've taken bad punches early and rallied, including his Super Bowl team.
November 27th, 2022 at 1:16 PM ^
Ryan Day is a giant pussy. This Buckeyes team is mentally weak and you could tell they were playing not to lose in the 2H. No match for a team that is mentally and physically stronger that everyone counted out. I have Buckeye friends and they are calling for Ryan Day's head. They have no idea what our fanbase has been through the last 2 decades. Now it's our turn.
November 27th, 2022 at 1:30 PM ^
We can only hope that Ryan Day ends up being Ohio State's Bo Pelini: fired for not winning enough, and followed by nearly a decade of mediocrity.
Although Frank Solich kind of fit into that role, too.
November 27th, 2022 at 1:32 PM ^
Homophobia.
Cool.
November 27th, 2022 at 1:34 PM ^
Where?
November 27th, 2022 at 1:51 PM ^
Pussy, when used as an epithet to refer to a person that identifies as male, is akin to calling them a faggot. It has serious homophobic connotations, even though there are uses of pussy that are not strictly homophobic.
Yes, middle school kids, and older people with the mentality of middle schoolers toss around both words regularly without thinking of the broader context or the pain that casual insults like these can inflict. But that does not take away the fact that they are inherently homophobic in derivation.
It doesn't take a lot of mental effort to come up with a more thoughtful and useful descriptive term than pussy when referring to OSU, their coaches, fans, and players.
November 27th, 2022 at 2:01 PM ^
Do people actually take you seriously when you spout off like this?
November 27th, 2022 at 2:15 PM ^
Do you take people that speak in casual epithets seriously?
November 27th, 2022 at 2:12 PM ^
I believe the word you're grasping for is misogyny, not homophobia.
November 27th, 2022 at 2:17 PM ^
Misogyny when used to denigrate a woman, homophobia when used to denigrate a cis gendered man to try to insult them by associating them with negative attributes that are often used to insult women.
November 27th, 2022 at 2:37 PM ^
Ryan Day is a giant pussy because he didn't have the balls to make the calls. Neither homophobia nor misogyny was meant or implied.
November 27th, 2022 at 2:44 PM ^
Again, there are ways to describe the fact that the OSU coaching staff were conservative and hesitant in their play calling that seemed to suggest fear and a lack of assertiveness on their part that don't rely entirely on the use of epithets. But you do you.
November 27th, 2022 at 3:47 PM ^
Ironic that UM football has the first female GA in the B1G. When she's a head coach some day will she need "the balls" to make the calls lest she be a "pussy"?
November 27th, 2022 at 7:37 PM ^
Sharklover chose a stupid thread to make his last stand, but I’ll die somewhat beside him.
“Ryan Day is a pussy because he didn’t have the balls to make the calls.” This is a textbook example of casual misogyny. (I will leave Sharklover to his mental gymnastics of calling it homophobia.) Let’s break it down:
Ryan Day is a pussy = Ryan Day is bad = pussy is bad. Only women have pussies —> women are bad.
Balls to make the call = good to make the call = balls are good. Only men have balls —> men are good.
You can’t remove the casual misogyny just by saying it wasn’t meant or implied. That’s akin to Michael Scott saying “I declare bankruptcy. It’s not how this works.
November 27th, 2022 at 8:35 PM ^
Well that there is a logical flaw in your argument, my friend. You claim only women have pussies. Ryan Day is a giant pussy, but I wasn't claiming he's female.
And since my "no balls to make the calls" quip didn't move you, let me try again: Ryan Day is a giant pussy because he got pounded. And again, I'm making no statement about his sexuality, whatsoever.
November 27th, 2022 at 2:47 PM ^
Absolutely trolltastic performance art. Everyone took the bait. +1
November 27th, 2022 at 3:27 PM ^
Cis what? Do you mean it’s a dude or a chick?
November 27th, 2022 at 2:15 PM ^
I like your yard signs.
November 27th, 2022 at 2:28 PM ^
Does liking pussy make someone gay or a homophobe?
Asking for a friend.
November 27th, 2022 at 2:33 PM ^
Neither. In that context, it is simply vulgar, not insulting, denigrating, nor an indication of sexual proclivities or preferences.
November 27th, 2022 at 5:36 PM ^
I think it was very clear that the poster used the word to mean 'weak' and to take it another way is a real stretch. Words can have more than one meaning to different people and it is very likely that the poster did not mean to use it as a slur against homosexuals.
November 27th, 2022 at 6:48 PM ^
I know they were just trying to call out Day for being weak. That's obvious in the context. My point is that the term pussy is a slur, and that people should avoid using slurs if possible.
Look, when I was a kid, the kids in my neighborhood used to play a football game called smear the queer. I was like 8-11 years old and had no idea why the game was called that. I thought the game was great fun, and enjoyed playing it. I didn't mean any offense to anyone, and wasn't even old enough to understand what sexuality was, let alone that there was a whole group of people that were being inadvertantly denigrated every time I suggested to my friends that we should play that game. Now that I know enough to understand that we were playing a game that was named after a slur, I would certainly find a new name for the game.
I would expect all grown adults to have a similar evolution in their use of language as they mature. Serious, mature, and intelligent people don't use the n word, faggot, pussy, or a whole host of other insulting terms in everyday conversation.
The football team in Washington DC was called the redskins. That's a slur. Even though the fans were not generally hostile or racist in their attitude toward indigenous groups in the united States, every time they spoke or printed the name, they were doing something inherently offensive, even if it wasn't their intention to offend. They changed their name.
The top ski resort in Tahoe was named squaw valley. While historically, squaw was simply a descriptive term for women from particular tribes, over time, it came to have a negative connotation that was deemed to be offensive to many who may have historically embraced the term (similar thing happened with negro). Now it's frowned upon to use the term squaw, and the resort changed its name to avoid inadvertantly offending people.
November 27th, 2022 at 3:55 PM ^
licking or liking? My spelling isn't so good.
November 27th, 2022 at 2:35 PM ^
Da fuck are you even talking about? JFC.