View from the Sidelines: The aftermath of a tipping point
COLUMBUS — “Wish I could have got a couple wins in it,” Tyree Kinnel said, four minutes into the most excruciating press conference of his life. “That’s the toughest part, I guess. I’m gonna have to sleep on it for the rest of my life, that I did not get a win in this game.”
Then his voice cracked.
“Other than that,” he continued, ultimately keeping composure, “I’m blessed to be here.”
It’s not easy to lose this game under any circumstance. In this specific circumstance, it couldn’t have been any harder.
[After THE JUMP: column]
Michigan came into Columbus favored on Saturday — and with good reason. It had the better roster. It had the better team.
Ohio State gave up 51 points to Maryland last week, looking out of focus. The Buckeyes’ linebackers — and really, their entire defense, has struggled at various points all year. Their offense has been one-dimensional.
This was the Wolverines’ best roster since Jim Harbaugh has been in Ann Arbor — really, since a whole lot longer than that. They came out of a gauntlet of a schedule relatively unscathed, winners of 10 straight headed into Saturday. Ohio State is still Ohio State, but winning this game felt a whole lot more realistic than it did in recent years.
And if they had won, a trip to Indianapolis that doubled as a formality awaited. So did the College Football Playoff. So did the allure of becoming a national contender year-in and year-out — dominating the Big Ten under Jim Harbaugh, with Ohio State fading into the background.
This game, make no mistake, was a tipping point.
Sixty-two points later, Michigan was right back where it started, and Kinnel was on the podium, trying to put into words a stunning loss, and the wave of disappointment that came with it.
Dwayne Haskins and Ryan Day shredded the Wolverines’ defense with crossing route after crossing route. Michigan’s defensive line failed to get pressure in a sense more complete than you would have thought possible. The offense left points on the field in the first half and failed to do much of anything in the third quarter. By the time it started moving again in the fourth, the blowout was on.
What started as a day of promise ended with Ohio State students storming the field, the Wolverines walking into the tunnel single-file, heads down, having lost, 62-39.
And then there was the aftermath. A parade of players with an interlude from Harbaugh, volleying away questions about why and how things could have gone so awry.
“What went wrong for you guys today?” one reporter asked Chris Evans.
“The score,” he replied.
“The progress you guys made this year — do you feel like today was a step backwards for you and your team?” another asked Jim Harbaugh.
“Like I said, it didn't go good,” Harbaugh said. “Didn’t end up good. And I would say — and we take responsibility for us.”
In the end, it was Kinnel who provided blunt, unyielding clarity.
“They completely beat us everywhere,” he said. “Run game, pass game. Everyone to blame.”
That’s the truth of it. This game came down to more than three ill-timed drops from Zach Gentry, or a handful of coverage mishaps from Brandon Watson.
It came down to poor red zone offense. Killing a drive with a false start on fourth-and-2. A failure to defend crossing routes. And, according to Kinnel, a confidence that got Michigan ahead of itself.
Those small things compounded, and when the Buckeyes pounced, the Wolverines simply had no answer.
Kinnel will leave Ann Arbor with three close calls against Ohio State, but no wins. That’s becoming a commonality for departing seniors. This year was Michigan’s best chance to reverse the trend — a program defining moment — and Michigan failed to capitalize on it.
Just as in the past, that failure will define the program.
November 26th, 2018 at 1:24 AM ^
UM got absolutely smoked by a superior football team. No mindset was gonna change a thing. The fanbase seems to be trying to rationalize a historic beatdown. A bunch of “if only” nonsense. Sometimes you just suck.
The Wolverines never had a real chance in that contest, wasn’t that abundantly clear? Zone D or man or whatever, OSU played to their potential and their potential is considerably higher than what UM can currently aspire to. It’s an entire sideline of future NFL players.
If the talent gap continues, the 1/15 odds will too, it’s that simple. Urban is too damn smart to let the gameplan slip. You gotta BEAT them. Starting on the recruiting trail.
Just move on, do one’s best to address the glaring weaknesses and roll the dice again at home next year. Go Blue.
November 25th, 2018 at 2:00 PM ^
Before the game started I said that if osu wins, there is no justice in this world. That program and shit-bag coach did not deserve to win that game.
November 25th, 2018 at 2:05 PM ^
Yes they did.
There are no good guys or bad guys in sports. No one is going to hand it over, someone has to go take it. They went out and took it. They absolutely deserved it. I know the angle you are playing but let’s not act like we should beat them just because our coach isn’t as much of a scumbag as theirs is. Unfortunately that’s not how it works.
November 25th, 2018 at 3:08 PM ^
Oh, there's good guys and bad guys; like Goggles said it's the justice that's missing. Once the game starts whatever happened outside of the game only counts as much as the players and coaches bring with them as mental luggage.
November 25th, 2018 at 3:40 PM ^
There are no good guys or bad guys in sports.
Uh, I think Larry Nassar qualifies as a bad guy.
November 25th, 2018 at 5:25 PM ^
Add the former DC (name withheld) from Joe Pa U to that list of qualified bad guys
November 25th, 2018 at 2:06 PM ^
Unfortunately, the team with a coach that is a stand up guy didn't show up with a game plan sufficient to win. When a team squeaks past PSU & MD, has it's hands full with MSU, MN & Neb.... And we can't find enough opportunity in that game film..... Our coaches horribly failed their team, their university & their fans.
November 25th, 2018 at 3:25 PM ^
100% correct. It was the coaches who were overconfident and complacent not the players.
November 25th, 2018 at 2:05 PM ^
Puhlease spare us the dreary ending gong.
We are now better than the rest of the Big Ten and not at the elite level of OSU or Notre Dame. This is a major improvement.
We got owned on both lines. Elite teams need a Mo Hurst and we miss ours. Anyone watching knows the OL has been suspect all year. It will be better next year at the tackles and we will finally get a full sized non speedbug RB for Harbaugh’s offense.
Many but not all the pieces are there. We whiffed on too many OTs. Harbaughs guys are Juniors and Sophomores- still a ton of youth. Let’s remember it took this long to finally put the beat down on Sparty that was so well deserved. OSU is better so it will take longer. But we will get there with this staff.
November 25th, 2018 at 6:04 PM ^
'Let’s remember it took this long to finally put the beat down on Sparty that was so well deserved. "
Sparty almost got beat by Rutgers- beating them down isn't hard
November 25th, 2018 at 7:53 PM ^
And Sparty hung tough with OSU.
Welcome to the Big Ten.
November 25th, 2018 at 8:51 PM ^
They lost to us by more points than they lost to you guys by?
November 25th, 2018 at 8:57 PM ^
I consider trailing 9 - 7 at the end of Q3 to be hanging tough.
November 25th, 2018 at 10:40 PM ^
I guess my point is how did MSU "hang tough" with a team that beat them by more points than the team that gave them a "beat down?" Also, MSU only trailed U-M 14-7 at the end of Q3.
November 25th, 2018 at 2:05 PM ^
Three close calls? Which game was close besides 2016?
November 25th, 2018 at 2:19 PM ^
Up until the O’Kornening last year.
We were driving for the win until he threw a literal mallard duck to an Ohio State cornerback.
But still, that’s only two.
November 25th, 2018 at 2:28 PM ^
Yeah, I mean I guess it was close. In a way, it never felt close to me because I had no confidence the offense was going to score again (and they didn't) once OSU took the lead in the 2nd half. But I see the point.
November 25th, 2018 at 6:24 PM ^
Brian didn't post the "Gravestone" article because of that last one interception. Wide open receivers were missed time and time again throughout the game. A good number of them dinks to the flat or over the middle that the QB of the champion intermural team could have completed. With merely an adequate QB performance in 2017, Michigan blows out OSU and Haskins play is in garbage time.
https://mgoblog.com/content/gravestone
That gameplan, man. The number of wide open receivers Michigan was able to scheme truly boggled. McKeon on a wheel route in the endzone; DPJ running an out well past the LB's zone drops on a rollout; Hill in the flat a couple times; Ty Wheatley on the first snap as Michigan revived that double fake screen play from a couple years back; Evans on infamy play. Harbaugh and the offensive braintrust could not have given Michigan a better shot at this game.
There will inevitably be complaints about a run-pass ratio of 29:39, but I don't know, man. If you've given your QB a wide open guy to throw to a few yards downfield and he doesn't do it, I don't know what to do with that. O'Korn performance in this game was so far beyond even his bad performances earlier in the season that I don't think it's reasonable to gameplan around that. Or even if you can. OSU entered this game with the #2 rush defense in the country; it's highly likely that a heavy run, I-form big gameplan is worse than what Michigan managed.
November 25th, 2018 at 2:11 PM ^
This team is not better than 2016 in my mind. The run blocking is better yes, and the QB is more talented. But at every other position I think 2016 is equal or better. I’m tired of hearing people saying this team is better than 2016.
2006 is better too. The only area I’d give an edge to this team is the secondary. Every other position unit I’d go with 2006. This team was overrated. They played two teams with a pulse and got beat by both fairly handily. I think Michigan is a top 10 team, but this team was built on the hype of the revenge tour and beating the worst Wisconsin and Penn State teams in the last three year. And an MSU team that was a fraud last year.
November 25th, 2018 at 2:21 PM ^
Objectively, the Elo rating per 538 was saying this was the best michigan team since 2006.
Boy, they got that one wrong.
November 25th, 2018 at 3:28 PM ^
Mr Blue Sky is awesome
November 25th, 2018 at 8:50 PM ^
The secondary got torched
November 25th, 2018 at 2:17 PM ^
This year was Michigan’s best chance to reverse the trend — a program defining moment — and Michigan failed to capitalize on it. Just as in the past, that failure will define the program.
I think this is the reason why one game can be the difference between a good and a great season. This game meant much more than just one game. Not accomplishing these things as a result of what happened yesterday prevents this season from being called great.
November 25th, 2018 at 2:19 PM ^
Lack of pass rush lost the game. Plain and simple.
November 25th, 2018 at 5:49 PM ^
Right, but IMO this is more on coaching and game preparation than player execution. Why? Because throughout I saw the same four man rush with our LBs trying to figure out the gaps (to the point of frequently not being set on the snap). Where was the look where six or seven guys line up on the DL, forcing the QB to try to figure out who is coming and who is dropping into coverage? Didn't happen. Or where were the unbalanced looks where one side of the DL is stacked, suggesting an exotic blitz? Didn't see it. It's as if our coaches were so afraid of the slant and crossing route game that they were paralyzed to actually try radically different looks to try to generate any kind of pass rush! In the end, our stubbornness got us shredded worse than we could have imagined.
November 25th, 2018 at 8:36 PM ^
There were several adjustment that Don Brown have made like trap coverage, bringing in safety down to combat slant, crossers, zone coverage but OSU had every answers to it. They were waiting for trap coverage so they can throw it over the top. Don Brown tried blitzing but OSU were able to pick them up or Haskins got the ball out so quick that it didn't matter. Weber/Dobbins did a great job of staying home to pick up the free blitzer. OSU offense were better prepared for everything and knew the defensive check based on formation/tendencies and attacked the checks that they anticipated that the defense would make.
November 25th, 2018 at 6:47 PM ^
I will be curious to see the ufr and see what happened with Wino and Gary. They are both excellent players
November 25th, 2018 at 11:07 PM ^
You won't see a UFR. I can't remember the last time Brian UFR'd the OSU game when it was a loss.
November 25th, 2018 at 2:24 PM ^
They were full of themselves and took the rat poison bait. No effort, little desire, no tackling, dropped passes.
November 25th, 2018 at 2:28 PM ^
Three close calls?
To my recollection only in 2016 was Michigan actually a threat to win the game.
November 25th, 2018 at 2:38 PM ^
Last year we had the ball down 24-20 with a few minutes left in the game - the chance for a go-ahead TD, but O’Korn threw a duck to an OSU player where there was no Michigan receiver to be found. OSU scored to finish 31-20 but it was certainly very winnable.
November 25th, 2018 at 2:57 PM ^
If JH made a mistake, it was not recruiting Patterson out of HS and having him available for last year as a Soph. Yesterday was an ugly data point in the rivalry. I don't think we got outcoached in 16 or 17, at least not by much. Speight and JOK single-handedly killed us in the past two years, but the game plan was fine those years. Now we have 2-3 QBs to choose from. JH says Anger is a great motivator. If we get better DT play, let's see what happens when they have to play here against a team as good or better.
November 25th, 2018 at 4:19 PM ^
JOK was about as likely to lead a 4th qtr TD drive against OSU as my mom was.
And she used up her eligibility in the 1960s.
November 25th, 2018 at 11:17 PM ^
we also had a dropped easy INT in the 2H in osu territory which could have been the dagger in that game.
November 25th, 2018 at 6:45 PM ^
(intentional repeat of post on previous page. With adequate QB play in 2017, Michigan blows out OSU and Haskins play is in garbage tieme.)
Brian didn't post the "Gravestone" article because of that last one interception. Wide open receivers were missed time and time again throughout the game. A good number of them dinks to the flat or over the middle that the QB of the champion intermural team could have completed. With merely an adequate QB performance in 2017, Michigan blows out OSU and Haskins play is in garbage time.
https://mgoblog.com/content/gravestone
That gameplan, man. The number of wide open receivers Michigan was able to scheme truly boggled. McKeon on a wheel route in the endzone; DPJ running an out well past the LB's zone drops on a rollout; Hill in the flat a couple times; Ty Wheatley on the first snap as Michigan revived that double fake screen play from a couple years back; Evans on infamy play. Harbaugh and the offensive braintrust could not have given Michigan a better shot at this game.
There will inevitably be complaints about a run-pass ratio of 29:39, but I don't know, man. If you've given your QB a wide open guy to throw to a few yards downfield and he doesn't do it, I don't know what to do with that. O'Korn performance in this game was so far beyond even his bad performances earlier in the season that I don't think it's reasonable to gameplan around that. Or even if you can. OSU entered this game with the #2 rush defense in the country; it's highly likely that a heavy run, I-form big gameplan is worse than what Michigan managed.
November 25th, 2018 at 2:29 PM ^
JH just cant win the big game..Hes a good not great coach and we will always be in the top 20 with him...We will have 8-10 wins a year...is that good enugh for everyone?..We wont be beating OSU anytime soon so what say everyone?
November 25th, 2018 at 2:40 PM ^
I’m beginning to resign myself to this too, is an average of 10-3 good enough? Probably not if we are being honest, but the Sabans and Meyers of the world are limited (in fact, there’s only precisely two), so assuming we can’t lure either of them to Michigan I think Harbaugh is the best we have. It’s a hell of a lot better than what we’ve had. 2015-2018 has been our best stretch since the late 90s and before that you’d probably have to go back to the late 70s.
Things wouldn’t look as dire if MSU and OSU didn’t happen to have possibly their best coaches in both of their school’s history, and even ND has their best coach in decades - that distorts the view some, IMO.
November 25th, 2018 at 2:52 PM ^
Even Meyer started to slide at Florida. For most of the last to years, OSU has underperformed vs. the teams from 2014-16. Even last year, OSU didn't play that well vs. us. The shock to me was that we were the team too afraid to open it up. I don't think JH will let this one die without making changes in the offseason to schemes and approaches for THE GAME.
November 25th, 2018 at 5:03 PM ^
"OSU has underperformed vs. the teams from 2014-16"
Because of the ridiculously high standards he has created. They are 23-3 in the last two seasons compared to 37-4 in the previous 3.
November 25th, 2018 at 2:33 PM ^
Look yesterday sucked there’s no way to sugarcoat it.
I will say that we have a chance to win a fairly prestigious bowl game since you know OSU is making the playoff at this point after the shellacking they are going to put on Northwestern.
The team has to focus on the next game and get the bitter taste of defeat out of our collective mouths. Get some positive momentum for next year. The program is in decent shape when you consider we’ve won 10 games or more in 3 out of 4 seasons under Harbaugh with the outlier being a season where injuries took they toll. If our recruiting continues we’ll be in even better shape.
I’m not sure what happened this year considering the game plan for this game was really good last year but I know Harbaugh isn’t satisfied. They’ll go back to work and even though it isn’t satisfying maybe next year in Ann Arbor will be the year.
November 25th, 2018 at 2:49 PM ^
I'm not so sure NW will get killed. Maybe but I think it will be a lot closer than expected. Fitz teams play to the level of their competition. OSU played the game of the decade yesterday. I've watched NW this year. They will have a good game plan and nothing to lose. If they had a kicker, it might even be closer. It'll be hard to come off a win like yesterday and play that well again. I'll check in on the game in the 2nd quarter. If it's a rout, then I'll find something else to watch. But if it's close, the longer NW hangs around, the worse for OSU if Oklahoma beats Texas.
In one way, OSU needs a blowout to impress after the Purdue loss. That's not easy if the other team plays a slog game like I expect NW to.
November 25th, 2018 at 2:55 PM ^
Rose Bowl vs Washington or Utah will be winnable.
Otherwise, we'll perhaps play Oklahoma in the Fiesta and the outcome may be OSU-ish. They run a similar offense to the Bucks with the added dimension of Kyle Murray being an exceptional runner. OU doesn't play any defense but M's offense wouldn't score enough/fast enough.
November 26th, 2018 at 2:55 AM ^
The thought of playing that offense would be terrifying, but it might be just what Michigan needs to learn how to handle such offenses, and how to be more on aggressive on offense rather than just managing the game. There's a good chance Michigan's defense might get its ass kicked, but bowl games are as much about preparing for the future as anything else, and having to prepare for and play such a game might pay off in the long run.
November 25th, 2018 at 6:51 PM ^
Even if OSU doesn't make the playoff, we're the top ranked two-loss P5 team at #8 in both polls that came out today and we'll be in a quality bowl. (Washington State is the only other P5 team with two losses)
November 25th, 2018 at 2:40 PM ^
A lot of OSU's focus and pouring it on stemmed from, IMO, our over confidence and saying as much before the game. I like confidence but when you go so far as to predict victory against a foe that was expected to be a playoff contender, coached by slimy Urban Meyer, at their stadium with 100,000+ truck drivers going berserk, be prepared to get their very best. And their very best is pretty fucking good...better than our very best to be completely honest, which we didn't show in the least. OSU didn't need extra motivation, as evidenced by how it's gone the past 18 years.
November 25th, 2018 at 3:21 PM ^
Meh. Higdon didn't really predict a victory, he was asked a question which left him between two choices: 1) say you predict victory or 2) look like a pussy. Good for him for going with 1).
November 25th, 2018 at 2:44 PM ^
The D in 2006 was better overall and still gave up 42. OSU's game plan is based on beating us (Tressel and Urban), even when they struggle with teams like Minn, Neb, etc.
We've had such a crappy run from 2007-2014 + 2017 that it has taken too long just to have the games vs. mid-level B10 teams be easy wins. Then we had to get past MSU after going 2-8.
Whether JH and staff are able to get past Urban someday - TBD. But we are clearly 2nd best now, when last year we weren't even that close.
We may just have to stomach some underperforming games vs. the Minn of the league and have a game plan and team specifically designed to be OSU.
November 25th, 2018 at 2:51 PM ^
I do not agree that we had the better roster or the better team. I think that notion was thoroughly squashed yesterday. OSU always has a more talented team than us so we have to find some other edge in order to win consistently. Kind of like what MSU has been able to do against us. In this case though OSU is more obsessed with us than we are with them, so we can't possibly get an advantage in that sense. I have have no idea what that edge might be but I sure hope Harbaugh figures it out.
November 25th, 2018 at 2:52 PM ^
I'm not angry that we lost. I havent yet looked at what the defense could have done differently to make a difference in the outcome.
I'm most upset about the offensive game plan and especially not using Patterson designed runs. QB designed runs were supposed to be the extra dimension in our offense, and we didn't use it. This is mind boggling to me. Even Urban Meyer expressed concern about this before the game. It seems the only way we could have won yesterday against OSU's best effort would have been to dominate time of possession to keep their hot offense off the field. That is the primary failure.
On the bright side we are still a top 10 program in the polls, so that should be considered as progress.
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