OSU deal with the devil?
After watching the frustrating Peach Bowl game and now watching Haskins & OSU control the game against Washington I can't help but wonder how have things gone so well for OSU the past 10 years and so bad for UM? Is there some fundamental flaw at UM that continues to bring in coach after coach that seems to come up short and OSU the opposite? Both Tressel and Meyer dominated UM and Rich Rod, Hoke, and Harbaugh struggled against OSU. Prior to RR coming to UM who would have thought he wouldn't be successful? Prior to Tressel coming to OSU who would have thought he'd be so good? Prior to JH coming to UM who would have thought his offenses would struggle so much? And, who would have thought Meyer's QB would be one showing uncanny accuracy and ability to find the open receiver whereas our QB whisperer's protege, a former 5-star talent, struggled in our bowl to hit open receivers. I sit and watch Dwayne Haskins just drop dimes everywhere and I go back and look at the recruiting rankings only to find our own Brandon Peters and Shea Patterson ranked ahead of him in the same class. I find this incredibly frustrating.
I keep thinking this thing is cyclical and eventually things have to turn around, but every time there seems to be an opportunity to do so (Tatgate, JH hire, ZS saga, the trajectories of the two teams prior to our meeting this season, etc.) it always seem to work out in OSU's favor. I want to believe that Meyer retiring will be good, but it's hard to believe things will change when they never seem to despite multiple coaching changes on both sides. I know part this is just frustration talking on a message board, but it's really uncanny how bad of luck we've had in relation to OSU in the post-Carr era.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:02 PM ^
Because being unethical and illegal pays off. That's just the way it is.
Mediocre academics + free cars + free tats + bagmen + wife beating = success. That's modern college football.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:46 PM ^
Nobody was saying we can't win because of bagmen, free cars, etc before the OSU game, only after. Funny how that works.
January 1st, 2019 at 8:20 PM ^
I was, or at least it is much harder and the planets across multiple recruiting classes have to align. I was also saying we can't recruit at that level either.
January 1st, 2019 at 8:00 PM ^
Many football players get processed through the General Studies program at Ohio State, since academies aren't important. Oh wait...
And if you think for a minute that Michigan doesn't have bagmen (especially after the NFL scout story around Thanksgiving), I won't crush you with the truth about Santa.
OSU wins because they're better. Better coaches, better recruits, better facilities. Downvote me all you want in a fit of impotent rage, but Alabama is better than OSU for the same reasons.
January 1st, 2019 at 9:07 PM ^
What’s it like being so delusional?
January 1st, 2019 at 7:04 PM ^
HOF Coach, better coaching staff, better athletes and better scheme= us being close but no cigar.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:04 PM ^
We definitely peaked around the Wisconsin, Penn State, and Michigan state games. To me every game after that is when we started our downward spiral. That Florida team doesn’t beat us if we were in our mid season form
January 1st, 2019 at 7:04 PM ^
Coaching, scheme, athletes.
End of conversation.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:05 PM ^
While we are still trying to channel Bo, they have moved on from Woody.
January 1st, 2019 at 8:52 PM ^
I wonder how Bo would fare in today's game. Or, had there been internet and message boards when he coached, what fans would have said about him.
January 1st, 2019 at 9:07 PM ^
Bo would have blown a gasket if any player were to sit out a game that was not due to an injury.
January 1st, 2019 at 10:25 PM ^
Bo would be Bob Stoops post-national title.
Beat up on the underlings and shit the bed against good competition.
Fans would be irate because of his horrible bowl record
January 2nd, 2019 at 8:23 AM ^
Fans would be irate because of his horrible bowl record
Bo's bowl record was 5-12 and I think fans were fine with it. But, in all fairness the bowl system is completely different today. Back then it was pretty much Rose or nothing.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:05 PM ^
Check out the OSU OL. Did UM, NWest, Washington really pressure Haskins? Lots of time to look around so my first guess is their OL developed and ours did not. A good OL makes everyone around them look better including the coaches.
Second, Tressel should have been arrested for his shadowy dealings including email deletions, lying to the cops and payola. You don't reward a cheat and I wouldn't want any UM coach to fall to his personal level.
Third, Ohio is quite different than 49 other states. When an OSU football coach fucks up he's rewarded (Tressel to campus president) and meaningless citlzen panels used to punish Liar.
Of course, there's the academic level. A UM "c" is equivalent to an OSU "a". If you want to apply balance to the conferences equal the academic levels. Who was the great OSU quarterback who said "I didn't come here to attend classes, I want to play football." You want someone like that?
January 1st, 2019 at 7:13 PM ^
Their OL dealt with injuries and had guys switch positions in-season to fill gaps. It helps when you have great athletes to plug and play.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:25 PM ^
Who was the great OSU quarterback who said "I didn't come here to attend classes, I want to play football." You want someone like that?
No, but Haskins isn't like that. I know we have a lot of alumni that are fans. My dad is an alum and I was born in AA, but I am not an alum. Personally, I am mostly just a football fan so I don't have as much invested in the school and can't take pride in the academics. I'd really just like to see us win. I don't want to cheat per say, but I don't really care how good of academic students our football players are so long as they are eligible. Do we really think our football players are significantly better students? I mean we offer scholarships to many of the same players.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:48 PM ^
You are lying to yourself if you don't think we have some players that aren't worried about school.
January 1st, 2019 at 9:15 PM ^
Do you think that's any different at OSU?
January 1st, 2019 at 7:08 PM ^
Ask Buckeye fans about the Purdue game this year, Iowa last year, the game at home against MSU in the rain when he only ran Ezekial like 12 times, 12 -0 his first year, but on probation from Meyer. Life is frustrating.
January 1st, 2019 at 9:19 PM ^
I'd happily trade a loss to a mid-tier B1G team for a 12 win season and a sweep over our rivals.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:13 PM ^
What has happened to Michigan is not luck.
If you can accept that you will be much better off.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:14 PM ^
Cash payments to players, no academics, and juice. They are all tools of the devil and there is a price to pay eventually
January 1st, 2019 at 7:14 PM ^
It does make one wonder all the while banging our heads against the wall. Very frustrating indeed. Either OSU made a deal with the devil or UM has pissed off the football Gods or both. Kind of like damned if you do, damned if you don't feel to it. That's about all I have except...Fuck those cooler pooping lying ass bucknuts. There I feel better now and can get on with 2019.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:15 PM ^
Ohio State has some structural advantages over Michigan which help them in particular to recover when they're down and to dominate us when we're down. They just need to own Ohio. That's all they can focus on. From that foundation they can stretch themselves further afield..but the heart of it will always be Ohio.
Michigan needs Ohio, too, but even when we have a temporary advantage over OSU..it's their home turf not ours so we will never drive them out. And in turn, if we're down like we've been then OSU can make our recovery much harder by pressing their advantage in Ohio home. The simple reality is that without the close proximity to Ohio, Michigan would have never been able to establish itself as a national football power in the first place. Yet our ability to harvest Ohio is volatile, unlike OSU's.
Michigan in response has expanded its recruiting to different regions, much like every other school that needs out-of-area recruits to survive..and we do better at that than most. We can compete in the Mid-Atlantic, we can compete on the West Coast, the Deep South etc. but it's always an uphill struggle depending on momentum, hype, expert recruiters and so forth. That makes Michigan innately a harder job than OSU. That's why the negativity that often surrounds it is so damaging as well: at Michigan, the perception of trouble can be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:29 PM ^
January 1st, 2019 at 7:46 PM ^
Ohio isn't producing that many good players like they used to. OSU is getting guys from the south, which is pretty impressive as Columbus is not as attractive as Ann Arbor IMO.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:18 PM ^
Washington is trash, they lost to 3 non ranked teams idk how they’re ranked 9th
January 1st, 2019 at 7:18 PM ^
Get to their level. They run a smooth (albeit dirty) program. No disasterous transitions just consistency.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:21 PM ^
January 1st, 2019 at 7:40 PM ^
Really? I don’t give two shits about the school.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:47 PM ^
As a troll nobody expects that you do.
January 1st, 2019 at 10:43 PM ^
Yeah, I've never been hired because of our football record.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:53 PM ^
We have the better school--message board tripe.
January 1st, 2019 at 9:21 PM ^
I'm not an alum so although it's nice to have a good school I'd prefer to win at football.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:22 PM ^
Better players. Better scheme. That has been the difference.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:25 PM ^
Why now? I mean they have a shit load of talent and tremendous coaching. It’s not hard to figure out.
January 1st, 2019 at 9:23 PM ^
That's the point. We've had a shit load of talent too that didn't produce. Both Patterson and Peters were ranked ahead of Haskins in his class.
January 1st, 2019 at 10:24 PM ^
It seems that Michigan is afraid to use its talent to the max. It's always been that way. Bo would have a lot of talent and play not to lose. Gary Mo, the same way. We had the same amount of talent that Florida State had but we was coaching to not lose the game instead of just letting it rip and plus Amp Lee couldn't be tackled. Lloyd Carr had to fall behind in games to unleash his arsenal. His last game showed the power he had all year. Skip skip skip Brady Hoke had Devin Gardner and made him into an I formation manball QB instead of Vince Young 2.0. Now Harbaugh is afraid to let his QBs gunsling and make mistakes even though he have 4 top 150 wrs a 6 8 Te a fast slot back in Evans and plus the so called #1 defense in football. Michigan have to get out the 90s and into the fast pace football everybody else is doing to beat Ohio State.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:32 PM ^
There’s no deal with the devil. They have better coaching, better recruiting, and they use schemes that best cater to all of their players skillsets. They don’t try to force square pegs into round holes.
It’s as simple as that. Michigan is trying so hard to play the same football that worked in 1975. OSU is playing football in the modern age.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:35 PM ^
There’s no deal with the devil. They have far better coaching, better recruiting, and they use schemes that best cater to all of their players skillsets. They don’t try to force square pegs into round holes and keep their stallions holed up in the stable.
It’s as simple as that. Michigan is trying so hard to play the same football that worked in 1975. OSU is playing football the way it’s supposed to be played in 2019.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:39 PM ^
what is the point of this post?? OP, bring something to the table rather than rambling about shit that we already painfully know.
You want to make an argument that OSU has made a deal with the devil? Give me a fucking break
January 1st, 2019 at 7:44 PM ^
Time to sacrifice the blog!
January 1st, 2019 at 7:47 PM ^
Their academic standards are the same as Michigan’s. It's just better coaching, better recruiting, no weird culture they have to get indoctrinated to.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:51 PM ^
No they're not. Michigan is the #1 public school and OSU is not top 20. OSU is much easier.
January 1st, 2019 at 8:07 PM ^
You're either a troll or never went to Michigan and don't know what you're talking about. No comparison between the two schools academically.
January 1st, 2019 at 8:22 PM ^
You two appear to be confused. I'm not saying who has a better school academically, I know (alum) that Michigan is one of the best public universities in the country.
I'm saying show me where it states where Michigan has harder academic standards for their student athletes than OSU. You can’t because they don’t. So saying “academic standards” are a reason people choose OSU is about the dumbest thing ever. That’s like saying every kid the joins Michigan football is worried about their education, and that certainly isn’t the case.
January 1st, 2019 at 9:16 PM ^
Dwan Mathis is a direct contradiction to your statement. He was never a take for U of M because of grades. OSU took him, but wouldn’t let him in early entry, again because of grades. Georgia took him. Lots to infer from that sequence of events.
January 1st, 2019 at 9:26 PM ^
How about JUCO admissions at OSU to pull in the occasional key recruit? How about Dwan Mathis who was never an academic take? There is a difference at the fringe with UM more restrictive in admissions.
Regardless, admissions is not major factors that separate the level of winning by the two programs. There are other fundamental programs and institutional reasons.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:50 PM ^
The crazy thing is OSU is the most underperforming team in the nation this year. Their talent level is NCG level.
January 1st, 2019 at 9:05 PM ^
I will take underperforming if it means winning the big ten and a Rose Bowl/major bowl and finishing in the top five because we've done that a total of 4 times in the last 30 years.