Rewatch the 2nd half of The Game when possible
What a glorious victory...while last year was cathartic, this year was validation that Jim has built something special and sustainable at UM, not just a fluke.
For those that have time, I'd say go back and watch the 2nd half of the game...you can literally see when OSU begins get tight, lose hope and give up. You can see the point when their will is broken - as players such as Sainristil and Barrett suggested. After the past 20 years, I never would have thought we'd see UM so superior to OSU mentally, psychologically and in terms of resilience. Toughness is not just physicality....OSU has become an incredibly soft and vulnerable program.
When OSU cracked: After JJ's TD to make the score 31-20, you can just hear it in the crowd and see the OSU players start to slow down, slump over, play softer and our O-line take over.
The two late D. Edwards runs were incredible, but really the effects of one program (UM) with a tougher - 60 minutes of football culture, and another (OSU) that tries to blow you off the field with talent in the first 20 minutes - but wants no part of a dog fight.
TLDR: Teams take on the personality of their head coach and leaders...Harbaugh has steel in his spine, Day really is that "born on 3rd" guy.
November 27th, 2022 at 11:47 PM ^
In a weird way, the most cathartic thing for me was getting multiple pass interference calls in our favor. It feels like those work against us in every big game. We're usually commiting the DPI. I was so shocked that it was happening to OSU's defenders, that I was waiting for the refs to waive off the flag on the endzone throw to Ronnie Bell for being uncatchable. I didn't celebrate until refs officially addressed the ruling to the crowd.
November 28th, 2022 at 12:11 AM ^
I was worried about that one as well, initially. On rewatch, ruling that uncatchable would've been a crime. It would have been incredible to come down with it, but he got a hand on it while being interfered with and had plenty of room to come down in bounds. Glad they called it.
November 28th, 2022 at 5:15 AM ^
Yeah, no way you can rule it uncatchable when he's interfered with and still gets a hand (or at least fingers) on it. It's got to be way over his head; anything close you have to give the benefit of the doubt to the receiver...
November 28th, 2022 at 12:29 AM ^
We earned those penalties too. They weren’t just random events. They happened because OSU’s secondary was so frustrated and afraid of get burned again that they started to play desperate.
November 28th, 2022 at 6:58 AM ^
I loved getting those DPI calls (rightly) and then hear the bucknuts boo when Sainristil beautifully defended a 1st and goal pass later. Like "HEY YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE WORKING FOR US STRIPES"
November 28th, 2022 at 8:06 AM ^
I told the better 1/2 the same thing.... i was like, "something has changed.... we NEVER get calls under the toilet seat"
November 28th, 2022 at 8:10 AM ^
This. Along with the bobbled Stroud passes ending up right in Michigan players' hands. (Though the Makari Paige INT was a thing of beauty.)
November 28th, 2022 at 8:15 AM ^
The DPIs against OSU were such a welcome sight and feeling. I fully expected at least one of the three or so that went for us to get picked up or never flagged in the first place. And the perfect pass breakups that we executed on OSU were not flagged because they were great plays and not penalties!
The refs did a FANTASTIC job in this game. Like unbelievably good. And I am not saying that because we won, I am saying it because they made correct call after correct call which is nothing short of amazing in today's game. The only hitch was the 4th down or 1st down mess up by the chain gang which the refs corrected by giving Michigan its timeout back! Maybe this is a real sign of improvement in B1G officiating? I want this exact same crew at Michigan - Purdue on Saturday, please.
November 28th, 2022 at 9:37 AM ^
The refs blew dead the sack/fumble by Okie. A turnover ended up happening later anyway.
November 28th, 2022 at 10:01 AM ^
That could have been a scoop and score. And it's crazy that it's not reviewable.
November 28th, 2022 at 8:42 AM ^
Same here I'm so traumatized from the past 20 years , maybe even irrationally but I feel in my heart the refs are out to screw Michigan, and especially in Columbus. It goes back to even 2006. But yah seeing the refs actually call a fair game was surreal to me!
November 28th, 2022 at 9:30 AM ^
The only one I was shocked about was the pass to Bell in the endzone. That was borderline uncatchable. Nico Collins could have got that but I dont think Bell would have.
Either way, I havent seen one osu fan cry about the PI calls. Even they know their secondary is trash and they werent even turning around and looking for the ball.
November 27th, 2022 at 11:49 PM ^
That moment when the air came out of OSU, for me, was the Sainristil pass breakup on the sure TD which forced OSU to kick a FG. And I feel like that play gave the Michigan team more life and enabled the blowout.
November 28th, 2022 at 12:14 AM ^
As far as I'm concerned, that was *the* play of the game. If they had gotten that touchdown, possibly gone for 2 after (that feels like it would have been the smart move), M only being up 31-28 would have changed everything.
November 28th, 2022 at 12:23 AM ^
I sort of felt like the double penalty creating 1st and 35 was the moment the tide really shifted in momentum.
But yes, that pass breakup took whatever wind was left out of their sails
November 27th, 2022 at 11:50 PM ^
Already did. 17 times. Will do so again tomorrow
November 28th, 2022 at 8:06 AM ^
I can't upvote you because you have 17 upvotes, which matches the text in your post. I can't ruin that perfect synergy. But I upvote you via this reply.
November 27th, 2022 at 11:51 PM ^
I’ve rewatched the whole game 4 times already, I’m so happy I was able to watch it with my daughters, I’ll never forget this win as long as I live, and I hope they don’t either. Fuck ohio!!
November 27th, 2022 at 11:51 PM ^
Turning point in my opinion was when OSU got the double penalty for the hold + the head butt personal foul. Moved them all the way from around UM 25 (after the pass/catch/run) to their own 25. The game at that stage was still in reach for OSU; I think it was still 31-20 with 10-ish mins left.
They recovered most of line to gain on the next few plays but Day punted it inside the 50 on like a 4th & 6. That was the turning point of the game, they never had any mojo after that sequence. Thank you #88.
November 28th, 2022 at 12:05 AM ^
When OSU punted there, it was actually called as a fake punt but their snapper didn't get the memo so they messed it up. If they had executed that, they probably get a TD on that drive and take the lead again.
I don't think it would have changed too much because they lost the game on D more than anything, but I've seen many people cite that punt as a key turning point. In reality Day fully knew he shouldn't punt there, but they were trying to be too clever for their own good.
November 28th, 2022 at 3:55 AM ^
Turning point in my opinion was when OSU got the double penalty for the hold + the head butt personal foul.,,I think it was still 31-20 with 10-ish mins left.
I agree. But it occurred much earlier: at the 7:50 mark of the 3rd Quarter, when the score was still 24-20, Ohio State had good field position and looked like they could easily move down and retake the lead. They were frustrated and you knew they had lost their cool and confidence.
November 27th, 2022 at 11:56 PM ^
I felt it was the headbutt. I saw that and I was sure we got under their skin. It is over after that. You can see the angst in Day's face and he knew who is losing cool and who is not.
November 27th, 2022 at 11:57 PM ^
November 28th, 2022 at 12:17 AM ^
That gif is beyond perfect!
November 28th, 2022 at 12:42 AM ^
Day = Ralph Wiggum
perfect
November 28th, 2022 at 1:11 AM ^
Me hang a hundred? Unpossible!
November 28th, 2022 at 1:51 AM ^
Ryan Day, HC @ Bovine University
November 27th, 2022 at 11:59 PM ^
I’ll watch the whole game at least once a week and highlights everyday for a while. If I want to change it up I’ll watch the 2021 game
November 28th, 2022 at 1:16 AM ^
My heart fluttered a bit at the thought of watching both back to back.
November 28th, 2022 at 12:00 AM ^
I told my TV watching partners when Day punted the first time in the 3rd Q "they're cracking", the second time "they're losing faith in their leader" after the HB jump pass, "they're done they don't know whats coming next".
I've seen some shit though the last 20 years and didn't really believe it could be a W until Edwards knockout run.
November 28th, 2022 at 12:01 AM ^
The game was tighter, later than the final score would indicate for sure. The Sainristil pbu was a huge momentum shift, but even so, OSU was only down one score with under 8 minutes to go. Tight game that only got busted open with Edwards' first long TD run.
November 28th, 2022 at 12:14 AM ^
That's what they'll be crying to the playoff committee.
November 28th, 2022 at 12:26 AM ^
was a 1 score game for 5 seconds!
November 28th, 2022 at 12:04 AM ^
Watched the whole thing twice again already!
November 28th, 2022 at 12:12 AM ^
watched twice today
it was actually a close game late
what a glorious win!
November 28th, 2022 at 12:14 AM ^
For those who wish to view (or record) the full 3 hour broadcast:
FS1 : On right now, midnight to 3am
FS2 : Monday 3am and 3pm
Tuesday 12 Noon
Wednesday 10am
November 28th, 2022 at 12:15 AM ^
I'm going to throw in Sainristil's PBU. He closed from a good 5 feet away to make that play. I would have to toss a coin to decide between that and JJ's TD. He stole that TD and I think it let the air out of their expectations.
I suspect that they have plenty of experience judging the life left in a team at this point, including tsio, they did this last year as I recall.
All things are cyclical. Witness Alabama. I believe there was a team in Ann Arbor that let themselves become satisfied that they would win because Michigan. I hope this costs them enough recruits that Michigan can pick up a few more highly ranked recruits. Starting a coaching carousel would be nice too. Nothing like a new scheme every year to develop a cohesive OL.
November 28th, 2022 at 12:19 AM ^
I watched the whole game just this afternoon, fast forwarding through commercials and reviews. I enjoyed the first three quarters much more than I did during the live experience.
It was amazing seeing OSU get torched and also get appropriately flagged for the calls that didn't seem to go our way in this rivalry for... I dunno, 16 years?
And OP is absolutely right. Michigan played 60 minutes of focused, disciplined, and confident football, even when playing from behind. OSU got down 2 possessions and it got in their head right away. Which is amazing from a team known to be able to score so quickly. I would definitely have thought they were still very much in the game when they started losing focus and effort.
I love that our team can be relied on to keep fighting and stay in the game, even when playing from behind. I love almost as much that Ohio State doesn't share that ability.
November 28th, 2022 at 7:58 AM ^
Well, it's not like OSU gave up. They drove right down the field and would have scored, had it not been for Sainristil's amazing play. I'm delighted that we ended up hammering our domination home, but I don't think we won because Ohio State is "soft." I think we won because Michigan is better.
November 28th, 2022 at 12:19 AM ^
I've watched it 5 times now.
No shit.
November 28th, 2022 at 12:29 AM ^
When CJ quickly got the team back to 4th and 6 after the 1st and 35 and Ryan Day made him come off the field to punt...the team lost any edge they ever may have had. Ryan "Charmin" Day set the tone.
Edit: Ha, well, new post suggests they had a fake set up for this and the snapper messed up by snapping to the punter. That changes the narrative a little but I suppose it still was deflating. Also a lot of their team probably didn’t even know there was supposed to be a fake.
November 28th, 2022 at 8:12 AM ^
I'm not buying the fake punt theory.... if its true, day has an incredible poker face... he was pissed after the false start and probably would have acknowledged it when specifically asked it in the post game presser....
If it was supposed to be a fake and they blew it, there's no way that it doesn't come out, one of the players will say something.
November 28th, 2022 at 8:15 AM ^
Even if they run the fake there, it shows the offense that you have no faith in them getting the first down.
November 28th, 2022 at 12:32 AM ^
Doing so is not healthy. The erection lasts way more than 4 hours.
November 28th, 2022 at 12:54 AM ^
I guess I won't clutter the board with this as its own thread but:
Michigan Monday thread after MSU game: https://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/michigan-monday-41
Michigan Monday link: https://buckeyehuddle.com/2022/10/31/michigan-monday-wolverines-smother-tucker/
If anybody wants my advice, I’d say sell out to stop the run and make JJ McCarthy beat you. You may lose spectacularly, but at least you’ll be able to sleep at night.
Glad they are sleeping well in Columbus. I'm not getting much sleep since I keep re-watching the game on a loop.
November 28th, 2022 at 4:01 AM ^
Yup. They weren't the only ones. That was the prescription, and it failed miserably.
November 28th, 2022 at 12:55 AM ^
It was funny to hear the announcers shift from rooting for OSU to rooting for Michigan.
The broadcast opened with “today’s game between the Michigan Wolverines and the world famous Ohio State Buckeyes.”
I am being petty but it was ridiculous.
November 28th, 2022 at 1:01 AM ^
Aw c’mon. Let Gus be Gus. He’s a Detroit native. He knows what’s up.
November 28th, 2022 at 1:59 AM ^
November 28th, 2022 at 1:03 AM ^
I'm not sure where to post this, and I'm trying to be patient.. but the post victory montages with soundtracks really heightened my enjoyment of the experience. I'm hoping people are doing something similar this year.