Ohio State 62, Michigan 39
There’s a door just off the eating area in Ohio State’s press box, the frame of which is plastered with small pieces of red “evidence” tape on its left side. I did not understand this at halftime. I get it now: Ohio Stadium is a crime scene.
An inauspicious three-play, one-yard drive to open the contest was the harbinger of things to come in a game so nightmarish the only thing recognizable as belonging to this 2018 Michigan team were white uniforms and winged helmets. And that was with the fourth quarter left to play.
The nation’s best defense was shredded time and again by crossing routes and could generate no pressure; the passing game saw Michigan’s surehanded tight ends suddenly dropping passes while predictable passing situations allowed Ohio State to get pressure on Shea Patterson much of the afternoon; and even special teams played a part with a blocked punt that seemed to hang in the air for eternity before dropping into the waiting arms of Sevyn Banks, who jogged 33 yards into the end zone. You play the game to keep your goals in front of you and Michigan did that for 11 games. Then, in The Game with the most optimistic forecast in almost two decades, the wheels came off in spectacular fashion.
[After THE JUMP: words]
[Upchurch]
Michigan’s man coverage could not handle Ohio State’s crossers on their first drive of the game, ceding 16 and 11 yards on such routes before true freshman Chris Olave got a step on fifth-year senior Brandon Watson on a 3rd-and-4 crossing route and turned it into a 24-yard touchdown reception.
The offense responded with two third-down conversions but was unable to procure a third, as Donovan Peoples-Jones dove for a Patterson pass on an out but came up two yards short of the sticks. Freshman kicker Jake Moody grooved a 39-yard kick through the uprights to put Michigan’s first points on the board in what was a continuation of last week’s offensive pattern.
Moody recorded the game’s next points as well after Michigan’s defense forced Ohio State into a three-and-out; Michigan’s offense subsequently went on one of their infini-drives, using up the last 5:32 of the first quarter and nine seconds of the second quarter, with Patterson putting a perfectly-placed ball in a basket for Zach Gentry only to have it ripped away by a defensive back on 3rd-and-6.
Michigan showed life after two drives on which the offense flat-lined and the defense’s sore spots were stabbed repeatedly en route to two scores. Down 21-6, Patterson and the passing game took over. Patterson hit Sean McKeon, who had stayed in to block before leaking to the flat, then found Donovan Peoples-Jones twice. A defensive pass interference call converted a third down for Michigan, a 15-yard Patterson tuck-and-run moved Michigan to just outside the red zone, and a beautiful leaping back-shoulder grab by Nico Collins closed the gap to 21-13.
Demario McCall let the ball hit him on the following kickoff, and the fumble was recovered by Nate Schoenle at the 9-yard line. Patterson hit Chris Evans on a tiny wheel route, the two-point conversion was blown up, and Michigan somehow trailed by just two.
Ohio State received the ball with 41 seconds remaining in the half. Three Michigan penalties pushed them down the field before a sorta-goal-line stand ended with a field goal.
[Bryan Fuller]
It was a tale of two halves for Michigan, only this tale is one that had yet to be told this season or under this coaching staff. Adjustments to the coverage worked on Ohio State’s first drive; Michigan’s offense followed with an incomplete pass, a one-yard run, and a short pass jarred loose after Karan Higdon got lit up in the flat.
Ohio State against got into a goal-to-go situation and again found themselves held out, a field goal their consolation on a run-centric drive that Michigan contained but for a 31-yard completion to Parris Campbell.
Michigan’s next drive ended with the aforementioned blocked punt returned for a touchdown. Their following drive lasted three plays, a three-and-pick turned into seven points after another crossing route put Ohio State a yard out, an option pitch the finisher. The game was over after Ohio State’s next drive, a one-play, 78-run from Parris Campbell on a jet sweep.
[Patrick Barron]
At this point, Zach Gentry had left the game with a concussion, Devin Bush was carried off with a hip flexor issue, David Long was carted away with something similar. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong, and then some. Patterson got hurt. Brandon Peters came in. Ben Mason scored. Joe Milton went in. Everything else is a blur, save this: damn near the entirety of Ohio Stadium on the field, a roiling red wave rejoicing to one of stadium rock’s most grating anthems, Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline.”
I have no idea where Michigan goes from here. There’s a bowl game to be played, the emotional letdown of which is similar to but an order of magnitude greater than 2016. The Revenge Tour flopped, replaced by Urban’s Redemption Tour. That’s bullshit. So was this game.
November 24th, 2018 at 8:07 PM ^
There were RPO and read options. OSU defense were better prepared for it.
November 24th, 2018 at 5:42 PM ^
The Cyst flat out, out-coached Harbaugh.
November 24th, 2018 at 5:42 PM ^
To me? Year in and Year out it just looks and feels like Ohio State Players want it more and are more motivated than Michigan..Every Year..Michigan just comes Unglued in this game
November 24th, 2018 at 5:43 PM ^
It just never seems to break Michigan's way.
Under Harbaugh, Michigan had two years where they've looked like the better, more prepared team...and lost close games. And then they've had two years where they were blown out in spectacular fashion and were never really close to stopping the Ohio State offense.
It just never seems to come together fully the way it needs to to beat Ohio State. Give the 2016 and 2017 teams Shea Patterson and they win those games. But when you have the guy, suddenly an Ohio State team that has dorfed its way to close wins over Penn State, Nebraska, Minnesota, Michigan State and Maryland while being blown out by Purdue puts up an unstoppable game against Michigan.
Just bizarre.
November 24th, 2018 at 5:52 PM ^
Give them THIS Shea and they still lose. Shea did nothing. He wasn't allowed to run. He got no time to throw as the OL got destroyed and the WRs couldn't catch anything. I sure hope Shea doesn't think the NFL needs him. Not even the crappy Brows or Bills can use a QB like that. After watching the Oklahoma v WVU game I see what a really good QB looks like and he ain't it yet. Maybe next year...
November 24th, 2018 at 6:00 PM ^
Not really. OSU has leadership and motivation issues. So, they can look crappy in games they should win by 3 or 4 touchdowns. But when they are well-prepared and unified in games (like Michigan) they are usually unbeatable. That being said, it doesn't excuse Michigan's awful, unprepared-looking effort today.
November 25th, 2018 at 2:42 PM ^
That is my take on this as well. Just bizarre. They have had better players, better coaches, etc. However, you would think that we would still pull one out of our ass every now and again like Sparty did when playing us pre-Dantonini.
I was 100% sure we would lose this game. I kept trying to deny it, but I was. It sounds like many of us felt the same way. I just expected it. I just knew it somehow. That, to me, is the real story. When I saw us run, run, pass right out of the gate I knew it was over.
I'd like to see us come out and do something crazy in this game one year to break the trend. LIke run an air raid spread from the jump... Zone defense. Something...
To come out and play the "establish the run" theme was a bad idea. Just played right into OSU's hands. Can you, or anyone, remember the last time we did something unpredictable in this game? I mean, we always lose it, so why not say "to hell with it" and just run the offense we run when we are down 20 points before we are down 20 points?
The defense just plain shit the bed. I don't blame the scheme for that. Zero pressure on Haskins was the story there, but the offensive gameplan was dumb and predictable per usual.
November 24th, 2018 at 5:44 PM ^
When you are pissed off you can say some pretty irrational things. But Jesus Christ on a cracker, can we get rid of these fucking all white road uniforms and bring the maize pants back.
November 24th, 2018 at 5:44 PM ^
Probably the worst UM loss I've witnessed and not just because of the point spread. It was a failure to seize the opportunity and situation they had put themselves in. UM has made no progress in catching OSU in Harbaugh's 4 seasons. This wasn't just a few plays that could have changed the game, it was a pantsing of epic proportions. UM was outclassed in every aspect to a OSU squad we had thought was one of their most vulnerable. UM has worked all season to build up their national credibility. That is now shattered. Now they get to sit at home while OSU moves on. This was a bad loss in many ways.
November 24th, 2018 at 5:44 PM ^
November 24th, 2018 at 5:45 PM ^
When Michigan came back to down by 2 before half time.
After Halftime.
November 24th, 2018 at 5:47 PM ^
Can't believe someone posted Shawshank gifs about this game and it had nothing to do with the Sisters.
November 24th, 2018 at 5:46 PM ^
It says something that this was probably head-to-toe one of Michigan's more talented and experienced football teams.
And it says something that none of that mattered one iota because a far younger, less experienced, faster and more talented Ohio State team once again throttled Michigan by a 23 point margin in a game where Michigan never came closed or threatened.
I never understood the irrational exuberance over what was up to now a rather mediocre football performance against a long list of inferior competition.
Before today, Michigan played nobody. Today they played somebody, and we find out once more that Michigan is exactly who everyone always says that they are. Overrated. Way overrated.
Michigan's football team is simply not talented enough. Not deep enough and not experienced enough. Michigan's recruiting class is currently ranked 9th in the land. That's not good enough. Not if you seriously want to compete against Ohio State and the Alabama's and Clemsons, etc.
So this is our arrival point.
Harbaugh has coached Michigan to a 10-2 record.
He is 0-4 vs. Ohio State with only one of those games contentious.
What I have to keep reminding myself - looking at the USC's, Tennessee's, Texas's - is that matters could be so much worse than they are.
But no, I don't think Michigan beats Ohio State in Columbus next fall. No way.
Meyer is now firmly embedded in Harbaugh's head.
November 24th, 2018 at 5:49 PM ^
Eh, both the 2016 and 2017 game were legit games.
November 24th, 2018 at 5:54 PM ^
Eh, I don't think they play in Columbus next fall, but whatever.
November 24th, 2018 at 11:23 PM ^
I agree. There is no way michigan beats osu in columbus next fall.
Can't happen. Literally.
They've got a puncher's chance in ann arbor though.
Cheers.
November 24th, 2018 at 5:47 PM ^
Just about every advantage we had was neutralized:
1. No QB pressure on Haskins.
2. No QB run from Patterson.
3. Poor lineman play from the offense and defense.
4. Numerous injuries.
Our offense was weak and exposed by OSU. The defense didn't help. The turnovers didn't help.
I still love this team, we just can't beat OSU...
November 24th, 2018 at 5:48 PM ^
This team gave up halfway through the game. Losers, quitters, and chokers.
November 24th, 2018 at 5:54 PM ^
Agreed. Soft.
Whomever drafts Gary has a huge bust on their hands.
November 24th, 2018 at 6:33 PM ^
Wow. You’re a clown.
November 24th, 2018 at 6:40 PM ^
Actually I disagree that they gave up. Offense was still trying to make it a game. Defense wasn't able to do anything due to personnel and scheme issues. That was constant through all four quarters.
November 24th, 2018 at 5:48 PM ^
In context of what I expected this season to look like, this season was a success regardless of this outcome. It is deflating though. To have the hopes up and then have them dashed is worse than getting beaten when you expect it.
Not sure we'll ever be favored again.
November 24th, 2018 at 5:50 PM ^
Feel bad for the players, but they’ll keep working, and hopefully they’ll get them next season.
November 24th, 2018 at 5:54 PM ^
Man have I got bad news for you about next years defense.
November 24th, 2018 at 5:51 PM ^
Looks like I picked the wrong day to stop sniffing glue.
November 24th, 2018 at 5:51 PM ^
It’s the pit of hell when your greatest joy in the game is watching their starting left guard get carted off the field in garbage time because their satanic duchebag coach couldn’t call for the victory formation in a game that was out of hand 10 minutes previous.
Fuck them. All and every one of them.
November 24th, 2018 at 6:03 PM ^
If you're happy to see a kid get hurt, you might be the 'duchebag'
November 24th, 2018 at 5:52 PM ^
Ever since I watched that Amazon Prime disaster about this team, I cannot help but feel they are incredibly soft and the exact definition of what makes this generation of kids awful. The opposite of Alabama, Clemson, and yes, Ohio State.
You may not like the teams better, but they are better teams. More motivated, stronger in every way. Not close.
November 24th, 2018 at 5:54 PM ^
Except, you know, the kids on all those teams you mentioned are from the same generation as Michigan’s team.
November 24th, 2018 at 5:59 PM ^
Yes they are, but they are exceptional. Not analogous to the generation writ large.
November 24th, 2018 at 6:05 PM ^
Good luck quantifying what makes a soft or an exceptional player, much less a generation. The same things were said about Beilein’s teams. It’s a lazy argument. They’re soft. Get the fuck outta here with that nonsense.
November 24th, 2018 at 6:00 PM ^
Lol fuck off you sack of shit. The baby boomers have fucked literally everything including apparently raising children and then turn it around and try to blame the fucking people they raised to deal with the shit show they are leaving.
November 24th, 2018 at 6:57 PM ^
Ah so we’re blaming “this generation of kids.” Got it, Uncle Skeeter. You do realize players from Bama and Clemson are from the same generation as Michigan’s?
November 24th, 2018 at 5:52 PM ^
What made this especially hard was that never had our expectations been so high, and the results so contrary. We have played them close on several occasions with inferior teams, short of the recovered kickoff fumble this was never a game.
November 24th, 2018 at 5:53 PM ^
I think it's time to make MSU our main football rival and OSU can just be the really good conference team that we maybe beat once a decade at home.
November 24th, 2018 at 6:12 PM ^
Once a decade sounds ambitious and optimistic. I like it!!
November 24th, 2018 at 6:34 PM ^
I thought we were already there?
November 24th, 2018 at 5:53 PM ^
I really don't know what we did to piss off the football gods, but jesus.....
November 24th, 2018 at 6:29 PM ^
Be a legacy program in a cold weather state with a declining population.
Elite kids don’t want to spend 9 months freezing their balls off, the state doesn’t produce much talent, and nobody gives a shit about Bo or Yost or winged helmets.
This year is the program’s ceiling.
November 24th, 2018 at 10:47 PM ^
I wish I could give you points.
OTOH Notre Dame does OK, I think, and South Bend is even more rust belt than Ann Arbor.
November 25th, 2018 at 4:37 AM ^
9 months? Get the fuck outta here.
November 24th, 2018 at 5:53 PM ^
This program and this coach are bullshit. Harbaugh should absolutely be fired, and the money put into a more worthwhile cause. Spend a fraction of the price for the same results. What the fuck difference does it make?
November 24th, 2018 at 5:56 PM ^
Overrated again. What a piss poor performance. I cannot stand the state of Michigan football.
November 24th, 2018 at 5:57 PM ^
Well written. Go Blue.
November 24th, 2018 at 5:58 PM ^
Someone send this man a briefcase full of cash and a life-sized 'THANK YOU' card.
November 24th, 2018 at 6:15 PM ^
After all, we're a basketball school now. Am I doing this right?
November 24th, 2018 at 5:58 PM ^
Calm blue ocean. The damage of the post-Carr coaches IS BEING UNDONE. if you want M to do it quick, then they will have to do it dirty (Hello, Urban). Or we can fight our way up the hill like men, with no wife beating hypocrites or utterly unfit “student athletes” dripping their puss onto the Institution. Better game plane? Yep, valid point of contention. Urban (or his doppelgänger) on M’s sideline? I’ll pass. Fuck Ohio.
November 24th, 2018 at 8:26 PM ^
Oh give it a rest. This team played like complete horse shit today.
You who actually played well against Ohio state this year?
Nebraska, Michigan State, Maryland, Penn State, and Purdue.
But you go on keep believing that this team is just around the corner from greatness.
November 24th, 2018 at 5:59 PM ^
This is a referendum on recruiting. The Ohio state offense said we have athletes to win one on one matchups and there is little rally nothing you can do. And that’s what happens when you line up smart 5th year guys against guys with nfl speed. No amount of trying hard is ever going to allow Watson to keep up with them across the field. Good offense beats good defense
November 24th, 2018 at 6:02 PM ^
What was Ambry Thomas' snap count like this game?
Comments