Ohio State 56, Michigan 27
Michigan had the pieces in place. The offensive gameplan produced passing yardage in chunks, led by a healthy senior quarterback throwing the ball as well as he had all season. They scored on the first drive. When Ohio State hit the defense with consecutive scores, the offense hit back. The deep corps of receivers were up to the task of beating a Buckeye secondary missing their slot cornerback.
But the Wolverines could not overcome their mistakes, and there were many. Quinn Nordin missed the initial extra point because the team's swinging gate frippery caused them to get set late in the play clock. Carlo Kemp and Aiden Hutchinson meticulously untied and removed OSU running back J.K. Dobbins's shoe in full view of an official who had no choice but to call a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct. A crossing route from Justin Fields to Garrett Wilson went for 41 yards because senior Khaleke Hudson got picked in man coverage. Three plays later, Dobbins juked inside Hudson for a six-yard touchdown and 21-13 lead.
the beginning of the end [Patrick Barron]
Shea Patterson led the offense back down the field, only to drop a good snap, and OSU's Robert Landers dove on the ball to kill a precious scoring opportunity. When it appeared Michigan had stopped the following Buckeye drive to stay within a possession, Hudson jumped offsides on a fourth-and-four punt. Wilson beat Vincent Gray on the very next play for a 47-yard gain and Dobbins ran in his third touchdown of the half from five yards out.
Again, the Wolverines shot themselves in the foot. Patterson quickly got the offense into a goal-to-go situation and appeared to have his second touchdown pass to Donovan Peoples-Jones, but an official correctly ruled the ball came loose as Peoples-Jones went to the ground. Down 15 points, Jim Harbaugh decided to send out Quinn Nordin for a 23-yard field goal. Ohio State would get the ball back to start the second half with a 28-16 lead.
Yet again, mental errors doomed the underdogs. Hudson lost contain on a 41-yard Dobbins run, then Cam McGrone hit Fields late out of bounds, which combined with a Lavert Hill holding call to give OSU a first-and-goal. On third down, Fields hit KJ Hill on a quick hook, and the decision to kick the field goal before the half became, fairly or unfairly, more difficult to defend.
The next few drives functionally ended the game. Ronnie Bell dropped a Patterson dart between two defenders on third-and-16 near midfield, giving Harbaugh little choice but to give it up, and Will Hart's punt barely made it into the end zone. After a serious knee injury scare, Fields reentered the following series with a knee brace and found Wilson alone in the back of the end zone; for the second time, senior safety Josh Metellus had let a receiver behind his zone for a touchdown.
suboptimal [Fuller]
Michigan got a little life when Wilson muffed a punt after a three-and-out, only for the offense to go three-and-out again, then see Harbaugh choose a 45-yard Nordin field goal to cut the OSU lead to 23 points. I began writing this post shortly thereafter.
The fourth quarter was academic. The Wolverines managed to get within 15 on a short Hassan Haskins touchdown run, but after the defense gave them a potentially critical stop, the offense fell short when Haskins was stuffed on a fourth-and-one wildcat keeper—on which he missed a huge hole. Four plays later, Fields connected with Austin Mack for a 15-yard touchdown. Dobbins added a fourth touchdown on a 33-yard stroll to break the 200-yard barrier. You probably stopped watching well before this.
The only drama left was whether the Buckeyes would exceed last year's 62-39 beatdown. By margin, they accomplished that. A great Ohio State team left little room for error. Michigan made many errors. The Buckeye win streak is at an OSU-record eight games, passing the seven-game run from 2004-2010. Now it's time for a familiar, exhausting song and dance.
[Hit THE JUMP for the box score.]
November 30th, 2019 at 10:08 PM ^
The problem is Jim Harbaugh. He can’t handle the pressure. Have you ever noticed that people who spend a lot of time talking about x are usually not very good at x? Harbaugh talks about discipline, strength and “steel in your spine”. But no one who is that way complains like he does — about reporters’ questions (eg, claims insults for asking fair questions) bad spots, etc). He’s not strong and he’s not disciplined. And his teams follow suit. He was supposed to come in here and build a fearless machine - take no prisoners, competition for competition’s sake. Instead we get conservative play calls, fear of failure and lack of discipline. Yes, it’s him. He talks a lot about it because he can’t do it.
November 30th, 2019 at 10:08 PM ^
The problem is Jim harbaugh. He can’t handle the pressure. Have you ever noticed that people who spend a lot of time talking about x are usually not very good at x? Harbaugh talks about discipline, strength and “steel in your spine”. But no one who is that way complains like he does — about reporters’ questions (eg, claims insults for asking fair questions) bad spots, etc. He’s not strong and he’s not disciplined. And his teams follow suit. He was supposed to come in here and build a fearless machine - take no prisoners, competition for competition’s sake. Instead we get conservative play calls, fear of failure and lack of discipline. Yes, it’s him. He talks a lot about it because he can’t do it.
November 30th, 2019 at 10:21 PM ^
And of course, just to complete this shit storm, the hockey team manages to blow yet another two goal lead. Nice. This dumpster fire that is Michigan sports (except BBall), just makes me want to give up sports altogether. it's not fun anymore.
December 1st, 2019 at 1:12 PM ^
Add in the Lions, Tigers, Wings, and Pistons, and I don't hardly want to put on the TV.
November 30th, 2019 at 10:25 PM ^
Don brown still hasn’t solved the D either schematically or in personnel. Until that changes, we have no chance
November 30th, 2019 at 10:30 PM ^
Just finished rewatching most of the game. It gave me a slightly different reaction than my takeaways earlier from being at the game.
At the game, it felt like a massive size, strength, and speed disparity. They may be true but the rewatch felt more about discipline and execution. Four huge plays.
1. Fumble in the red zone down 8
2. Offsides on the punt.
3. DPJ unable to hold on to the pass in the end zone
4. Failure to see the hole on fourth and 1
None of this feels better because the only failure to execute by osu was the Olave drop on a sure TD.
November 30th, 2019 at 10:34 PM ^
For all the griping that we’re not in the same league as OSU we’re pretty competitive with PSU and they’ve been competitive against OSU over the last few years.
I do think the team needs to get out of its own head when facing the Buckeyes. It seems like things snowball against them and suddenly we’re down multiple scores after a couple of mistakes and essentially out of the game.
I’m disappointed but think continuity would be a good thing. I guess I want to see what happens next year. Also I’d advise the coaches to tell the players not to untie the opposing players’ cleats that was embarrassing.
Edit: also we need our Zach Novak aneurysm of leadership moment for the football team when playing against OSU. The basketball team could never come close to beating Sparty until Zach had that moment. Then, the programs became more competitive. OSU is extremely good but I don’t think talent wise they are on an entirely different stratosphere than us. Just have to fill gaps on the roster as best we can.
Edit Edit: maybe Harbaugh should bring in Novak to talk about rivalry and changing the tide of it with the current players.
December 1st, 2019 at 9:04 AM ^
The rivalry is important to you. And you’re owed nothing. Perhaps the players consider the MSU game more important. Or the ND game.
I certainly do.
OSU is in a different league.
November 30th, 2019 at 11:12 PM ^
People like to say it's a talent disparity because the truth makes us shit on the players. They're mentally fragile and inconsistent. The defensive line is undersized and gets bullied against the run when the opponent has skill and size. Hudson can't stick to his assignment and hold the edge...it's a repeat of the Wisconsin game. Metellus was burned multiple times because he wasn't focused on staying deep. The WRs got the yips at halftime.
This loss is much, much worse than last season. At least last season we could say they were on the road and it was Urban's last game so they amped up their play. There are zero excuses this season.
All we can do now is sit around waiting for the bowl game. My money is on the Holiday Bowl against Washington...who is the opponent to start the 2020 regular season (Michigan's Florida of the 2020's?).
December 1st, 2019 at 12:05 AM ^
Would love to hear from those closer to the program on this... my take; until we recruit like OSU, we can't compete with OSU. How does OSU recruit? Well, their in-state talent is greater, can't deny that. We all make snarky comments, but to what degree are they utilizing... certain advantages that we are not? Someone made a comment to me that "we all pay players, they just pay more."
Does that mean more players, or more money to the truly elite? Or both?
Is our moral high ground more important to us than the rivalry, and if so what's a more realistic means of viewing success as a program?
December 1st, 2019 at 11:28 AM ^
lets just ignore those two things for a second - or maybe we say all schools offering equivalent money and academic requirements.
if you were good enough at football to get recruited by b1g programs, would you rather:
a. play for an elite team, with a roster full of other elite players and compete for a playoff spot (and that level of exposure) every year
or
b. settle for being one of the only two highly rated recruits on the team and get your pants pulled down on national tv every november before being part of another embarrassing effort in a second tier bowl
December 1st, 2019 at 12:08 AM ^
Embrace the loss because we are nowhere near their talent level. And it’s not getting any better any time soon. Yes they played better today, but the reporter was right to ask the question of talent gap to coach Harbaugh. This isn’t solved by firing the coaching staff. And if you really need to fire someone then start looking at brown. His defense has been exposed now badly in big games.
December 1st, 2019 at 12:19 AM ^
This is how it is.
Ohio State owns Michigan and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Michigan may get an upset here and there. But that's the best we'll get for a long time.
December 1st, 2019 at 12:34 AM ^
Wow, I never left the Big House so disappointed and with little hope for the future, then just being a 2nd rung B1G team winning may be 9 games a year and always losing to OSU. After what OSU did to the team last season, I never thought they would let OSU put 50 plus on the Michigan team at home. This was an embarrassing loss and I kinda wish I had never purchased a ticket for this game, and should have spent the time with my family for my one week visit to Michigan. The future does not look so great, a lot of the top athletes will not want to play here. It will probably be best for the coaches to try to pick the best 3 star athletes who could help the DL and secondary. I feel kind of sad since I thought Harbaugh was the coach who was going to bring us back to winning B1G 10 championships and reaching the playoffs. But I'm convinced he will not but he will run a good program and probably average us 9 wins per season, good enough for 2nd or 3rd place in the B1G east division. Oh well!
December 1st, 2019 at 3:51 AM ^
I see all this whining about “we just need to pay players” like that is the only thing holding us back. Well there are 2 major issues with this logic.
1. We almost certainly do have players being paid. Look it up, Louis Martin Blazer testifies in federal court to paying college football players, Michigan was one of the schools he identified. As well as Penn State and Bama. Oddly OSU was not on the list. Which brings me to my next point.
2. OSU doesn’t have to pay kids “more” to win them over. During the game Klatt mentioned that most likely every starter for OSU on that day will be drafted in the NFL. That is what matters to major national recruits, “can you get me to the NFL?”. And for most of these kids being recruited now, they have seen OSU send FAR more players to the NFL, play on bigger national stages, and WIN those games.
We can all sit on our mythical high ground and say it is all about not paying enough, or our high academic standards, when the reality is, we are good but not great when it comes to football. I don’t see Harbaugh getting us to “Elite”, and maybe that is ok with some, but not for me.
December 1st, 2019 at 11:19 AM ^
It's difficult to deny the impact of money in sports. Looking at the size, strength and speed of OSU's NFL roster, I'd venture that Young is not the only player who was paid. It's not that we are speaking from any moral "high ground" - we are simply giving ourselves a recruiting handicap.
Having attended home games for most of my life, when TV took over it changed CFB from what it used to be. Season ticket holders, and people who buy individual tickets, are little more than unpaid extras for the TV production.
Eventually things will start to even out, hopefully in my lifetime but not sure. It is VERY telling that an OSU work associate, when we talked about this, was vehemently against changing the rules and paying players. It took me by surprise. Anyone want to venture a guess why he would react that way?
December 1st, 2019 at 8:28 AM ^
The defense could not stop JK Dobbins and their rushing attack. That was one of my keys to the game. Michigan will need one of our tailbacks to be in the Heisman race next year in order to compete with the Buckeyes next year. Also add one of our three QB potential starters and also add one of our defensive players.
December 1st, 2019 at 8:55 AM ^
December 2015: "Thank God Zeke Elliott is gone now."
December 2016: "Thank God JT Barrett is gone now."
December 2018: "Thank God Dwayne Haskins is gone now."
December 2019: "Thank God JK Dobbins is gone now."
I think I see the problem . . .
December 1st, 2019 at 8:46 AM ^
Justin Fields: "We just take it more seriously than they do. We prepare for it all year, every single day. We're preparing for it right now."
He said this while giving his interview immediately after dominating Michigan.
December 1st, 2019 at 8:58 AM ^
Maybe that’s why ohio has the lowest graduation rate of fb players in the B10; 69%?
December 1st, 2019 at 9:53 AM ^
Can we please put the Wildcat to bed as a viable option?
December 1st, 2019 at 11:28 AM ^
Why? We scored a TD and 2 pt conversion from it, and would have gotten the 4th and 1 if Haskins had followed the lead block.
December 1st, 2019 at 10:20 AM ^
Thanks for taking the time to do the write up Ace. I appreciate your hard work, especially when covering a soul crushing loss like this one!
December 1st, 2019 at 12:37 PM ^
They have a modern, aggressive approach, with better coaches and better players at every single position. Until that changes, this will happen.
Upsetting them is the steepest uphill battle because they think about us and plan for us all year. We will get their best, sharpest game of the whole season.
Yikes. We've got troubles.....
December 1st, 2019 at 2:08 PM ^
Based on final season S&P offensive ratings) UM has played 13 top 25 offenses since 2016. They’ve held their own or dominated in 6, did ok in 2 and got slap-jacked in 5.
Good vs:
2016 PSU (#23)
2017 Wisconsin (#18)
2017 OSU (#5)
2018 Wisconsin (#12)
2019 Iowa (#19)
2019 Notre Dame (#12)
OK vs:
2016 FSU (#5)
2019 PSU (#9)
Ugly vs:
2017 PSU (#5)
2018 OSU (#4)
2018 Florida (#15)
2019 Wisconsin (#8)
2019 OSU (#1)
December 1st, 2019 at 2:30 PM ^
Moral victories! Hell yeah!!!!
SMFH.
December 1st, 2019 at 2:19 PM ^
Harbaugh is our coach and we are headed in the right direction. Even Paul Finebaum (JH hater?) was calling for an upset! There is hope as our offense has turned around but definitely still needs to improve.
The glaring weak link since 2017 is Don Brown; he needs to go if we want to be an elite team. His scheme will work only if we had 5star players as talented or better than our opponent's. However, our recruits are not....
We probably should get a big name defense coach (from NFL?) that can also help recruiting....
Rome wasn't built in a day. If it were that easy, many of the use-to-be powerhouses (Nortre Dame, Texas, USC) would be top5. Harbaugh is our man but if he left, that would set us back a decade.
December 1st, 2019 at 2:56 PM ^
I hate that we lost, but I hate more that we lost in large part because we played stupid football on an individual mistakes level. Hudson and Metellus had particularly awful games, which sucks because they are seniors who have been good in the past.
December 1st, 2019 at 4:20 PM ^
Metellus has been a very "meh" safety who is good around the LOS but has never been great in coverage. However, his leadership will be missed. Hudson was always an uber talented boom or bust guy, but that is what happens when you ask a guy to know 5 different positions on the defense. If he was given a pure OLB role, I think he would be fine. These players will be missed, but will be replaceable.
December 1st, 2019 at 4:14 PM ^
Final synopsis of the Michigan vs. OSU game.
OSU: The duo of Dobbins and Fields is as good as any in the country. Really, they are who we thought they were. They also have a ton of speed on the outside that they can exploit over the middle or down the field. Terrifying offense.
Their defense on the other hand can be had. Michigan did a great job of taking away Young without much consequence elsewhere (2 sacks all game?). Michigan racked up 400 yards of offense and left a ton of additional yards on the field with dropped passed and missed executions by the RBs. I think Michigan had a fantastic game plan that teams like LSU and Clemson won't miss on...
Michigan: Mistakes and petty penalties. How are you going to take a dude's shoe off right in front of the back judge and expect to get off the field against an OSU? How you going to fumble a ball on the 10 yard line about to put the game within 1 point and expect to hang with OSU? How you going to go offside on a 4th down punt and give the ball back to the offense and expect to play with the big boys? How you going to drop 6 (!) footballs and fail to move the chains and expect to stay in the game?
It hurts me to look at the final score because watching the game I watched a Michigan team move up and down the field and keep it within two scores (15 points) late into the game. Several times the offense stalled because of drops. Patterson played really well and final numbers are not an indication of his play but rather his WRs inability to come up with easy to medium catches. The defense even bailed them out a couple of times and got the ball back!
The difference in this game is the level of execution that OSU brings to the table. They are a really good football team that doesn't make a lot of mistakes. I'm not going to sit here and say Michigan should have won that game, but if they play a clean game, they certainly could have kept everyone on the edge of their seats.
Until next year, Go Blue!
December 1st, 2019 at 7:03 PM ^
I hate this fucking shit. I hate arguing with other M fans. I just fucking want it fixed. This is not how it should be. O$U is disgusting. They are slimy.
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