Ohio State 30, Michigan 27 (2 OT)
Short. [Patrick Barron/MGoBlog]
I'm staring at my laptop and the sea of exultant Ohio State fans on the field below dancing to "Sweet Caroline" and I feel sick.
Sick that Michigan threw away multiple chances to win this game in regulation. Sick that a dozen little plays one way or the other change the outcome. Sick at that spot. That fucking spot.
Michigan should be playing for the Big Ten championship and a spot in the playoff next weekend. Instead, they will sit at home as either Ohio State or Penn State represents the East. That spot, that fucking spot, will stick in the collective Wolverine memory for much, much longer.
The Wolverines controlled most of this game. Wilton Speight battled back from his still-undisclosed injury to throw for 219 yards and two scores, an effort that would take its place in the pantheon of heroic rivalry performances had the outcome gone the other way. Speight's two interceptions, however, were turned into two Ohio State touchdowns, and that allowed the Buckeyes to keep it close enough to force overtime on a 23-yard Tyler Durbin field goal with one second left in regulation.
The defense, which had played a spectacular game, looked worn out in the first overtime period, ceding a JT Barrett touchdown run on the second play. Speight responded with a fourth-down touchdown to Amara Darboh. Michigan's ensuing possession ended with a field goal after a questionable non-call on a third-down pass to Perry, leaving the door open for Ohio State to win it.
Seemingly given new life, the defense forced an all-or-nothing fourth-and-one. Barrett kept it. The officials gave him a generous spot, and even though it appeared on replay that Barrett's right arm—the one holding the football—never reached the line to gain, that spot, that fucking spot, stood upon review.
In a not-so-alternate universe in which the men in charge of the game are competent, there are Muppets and joy and appreciation of one of the most dramatic football games in recent memory or perhaps ever and scrambling to finalize plans for next weekend. Alas, that fucking spot. Alas.
November 27th, 2016 at 12:07 PM ^
November 26th, 2016 at 5:04 PM ^
November 26th, 2016 at 5:36 PM ^
November 26th, 2016 at 6:41 PM ^
November 26th, 2016 at 10:15 PM ^
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November 26th, 2016 at 5:05 PM ^
November 26th, 2016 at 5:09 PM ^
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November 26th, 2016 at 5:16 PM ^
November 26th, 2016 at 6:11 PM ^
November 26th, 2016 at 6:55 PM ^
November 26th, 2016 at 8:30 PM ^
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November 26th, 2016 at 9:13 PM ^
November 27th, 2016 at 12:04 AM ^
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November 27th, 2016 at 8:55 AM ^
November 26th, 2016 at 5:05 PM ^
Man I feel like a Cubs fan pre-2016. I just f-ing hate ohio. Sp8 - WTF, I know you were playing hurt but THREE TURNOVERS? Dude you can't expect to win playing like that. Did I mention I just hate f-ing ohio? Don't get me started on the Refs - they were more criminal than Hillary, I guess they were wiping the servers with their flags? I just f-ing hate that sh-tty state, ohio.
November 26th, 2016 at 11:37 PM ^
November 26th, 2016 at 5:07 PM ^
November 27th, 2016 at 3:08 PM ^
Except yesterday they didn't.
WTF
November 26th, 2016 at 5:08 PM ^
November 27th, 2016 at 9:29 AM ^
Peppers did hit a fan after the game and then pushed an OSU coach.
November 26th, 2016 at 5:09 PM ^
November 26th, 2016 at 9:20 PM ^
November 26th, 2016 at 5:09 PM ^
November 26th, 2016 at 11:43 PM ^
November 26th, 2016 at 5:09 PM ^
November 26th, 2016 at 5:10 PM ^
November 26th, 2016 at 5:10 PM ^
Man, this really sucks I am at work and can't even drink a fifth or break anything. In the end, they are a bunch of f-ing stupid nuts. What do we expect from a conference which stole a Rose Bowl game away from us in favor of a bunch of stupid nuts? Fair officiating? This just blows and you can't say otherwise. I hope those a-holes are sitting on their a--es watching Penn State playing in Indy. We owned those f-ing nuts and I am tired of being the conference b-tch.
November 26th, 2016 at 5:12 PM ^
overtime.
Non-call on PI was terrible. That changes the outcome.
No way Barrett got the 1st down, Should have been game over.
But M made too many misstakes and let OSU hang around.
Cole facemask to negate big play and a first down, killing a drive. Hlil PI when we had them stopped late in the 4th. Two interceptions deep in our own territory. Fumble when about to score. Hard to beat good teams with that many huge mistakes. Self inflicted wounds.
M got screwed by the refs. No doubt about it.
But if M committed just one or two less mistakes, that game would not have even been in doubt late in the 4th.
Also, Harbaugh needs to reevaluate conservative offensive play calling late in tight games. M does not yet have the kind of o-line for that strategy. Not only did it fail to produce a cruciual first down or two late in the game, but it also lead to a gassed D late in the 4th and in OT.
Terribible way to end the year. Blame the terrible officiating, especially in OT. But also blame too way many mistakes throughout the game and poor offensive play selection late in the game.
November 26th, 2016 at 5:31 PM ^
sums it up
November 26th, 2016 at 5:58 PM ^
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November 26th, 2016 at 5:12 PM ^
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November 26th, 2016 at 5:13 PM ^
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November 26th, 2016 at 5:30 PM ^
November 26th, 2016 at 5:58 PM ^
Agreed,
but refs will pretty much NEVER call holding in the final 2-4 minutes of a game, or OT.
If you inform your players and coach them to do this, then it's stupid.
Yes the rules are the rules, but the rules are openly interpreted by humans.
Understand the cognitivebiases and play to them. (no different than mis-direction, icing the kicker, etc.)
November 26th, 2016 at 5:15 PM ^
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November 26th, 2016 at 5:20 PM ^
all due respect, we don't know if any one of those plays results in victory. What we do know is that if the refs correctly spot the ball on 4th down in OT or the replay refs aren't blind, that play does end the game.
November 26th, 2016 at 5:53 PM ^
Much respect for the Wolverines, but you had your chances and failed to put the game away.
November 26th, 2016 at 6:09 PM ^
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November 27th, 2016 at 12:22 AM ^
can certainly go through the list of mistakes and plays that Michigan didn't make like the facemask on Cole, the missed blitz pick up by Smith that resulted in what I believe was just enough of a tipped pass to result in a pick six, the terrible decision by Speight to throw over the middle to a LB when Butt was breaking open on a corner route, the ensuing offsides and the 15 yard penalty to put the ball down near the goal line, the drops by Darboh and Butt, the fumbled snap on the 1 yard line, etc. I have coached over a hundred games and watched most of the Michigan games since 1976 when I was a kid and have never blamed the refs. Even in the Nebraska Alamo Bowl debacle I didn't blame the refs. I let a bunch of really crappy calls go in this game; like the PI call on Hill that was clearly uncatchable, the non-PI call on Michigan's possession before the bad spot when Garreon Conley tackled Grant Perry, a bunch of uncalled holding penalties on Ohio State; but the bottom line is that the spot was bad and it affected the outcome of the game.
November 27th, 2016 at 3:12 PM ^
The next time someone posts this bullshit, photoshopped image taken from a camera behind the damn play as proof, I will crawl through the internets and choke a bitch. Seriously, are you retarded, or just a fucking troll?
November 26th, 2016 at 6:12 PM ^
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November 26th, 2016 at 6:16 PM ^
and they came up a half yard short
November 26th, 2016 at 6:49 PM ^
How on earth do the refs get that wrong?? Did they review and forget that it's the ball AND NOT THE FREAKIN HELMET THAT HAS TO GET TO THE LINE??!!!! WTF???!!!!
How does this happen to us?? Harbaugh was right on the money. The Delano interference was iffy and then on 3rd and 4 and Perry is clearly held. WHY???????!!!!!!!!
It can't just be bad reffing. It can't just be bad luck. There's gotta be more to it.
Hold me Harbaugh, hold me!!!!
November 26th, 2016 at 11:51 PM ^
November 26th, 2016 at 6:30 PM ^
Except you "buckeyedude" piece of trash, we did put the game away. Several times. And the fucking refs took it away from us. Now go take care of the fryer, OK?
November 26th, 2016 at 8:11 PM ^
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November 26th, 2016 at 9:24 PM ^
the one big chance they had was the one where Michigan stopped Ohio State on 4th and half a yard but the officials made a terrible spot. That literally would have put the game away since it was 4th down in OT and Ohio State was down 3.
November 27th, 2016 at 2:29 AM ^
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