The Game, The Fallout, The Bowls
It has been 9 days since Michigan lost to Ohio State. Since it is hard for me to remove myself as a fan and serve instead as an objective outsider (just like Kirk Herbstreit), I always wait a week before putting pen to paper. You have to allow yourself some time to let the stink of walking out of Michigan Stadium with thousands of screaming Bucks chanting “O-H.” It is the football fan’s version of the walk-of-shame. You head back to your tailgate heads down and quiet. You are trying to muster anything that you find encouraging - but you can’t. You start to remember that your next chance at beating your arch nemesis is 365 days away - and it’s in Ohio (and yes, the only people who like Ohio are the people who live in Ohio. It’s a terrible place, but I digress).
The result of the game should not have been altogether unsurprising. Ohio State was playing for a chance at a Big Ten Championship. Michigan was playing to end the Buckeye’s season. Michigan was down to their third-spring quarterback John O’Korn with Peters and Speight both sidelined. So while a loss shouldn’t have been a shock to Michigan fans - it was. Michigan jumped out to a 14-0 lead. O’Korn was able to move the offense down the field (despite several overthrown passes). The defense was able to get to JT Barret and stop the Buckeyes from moving the ball.
Ohio State eventually came back and tied the game. Michigan would re-take the lead.
Then the extra-point attempt from Nordin was blocked. And it seems like it is always these small little mishaps that begin to shape a different narrative. Instead of having the cushion of a 7-point lead, it was only 6. Ohio State could take the lead, a lead they hadn’t had all game, with the score of a touchdown and a successful PAT conversion. That is exactly what they did.
Then they added a field goal. It was a 4 point lead in the 4th quarter when the Buckeyes missed a field goal which would have given them a touchdown lead.
Michigan had the ball, down only 4 points, with 2 minutes and 47 seconds left to play. The ball was spotted on the 25 yard line in the south side of Michigan Stadium. As I stood from my seat in Section 13, I had two immediate thoughts. First, GOOD football teams want to be in this spot. They want the ball with a chance to win. They want to run their two-minute offense and score. They want to put the ball in the end zone while leaving the other team virtually no time left to respond.
My second thought was just don’t do any thing stupid. You have almost 3 minutes. You can run whatever plays you want. Just don’t do anything stupid.
On the first play from the 25-yard line, O’Korn airmailed his intended receiver by about 300 yards (or so it felt). Ohio State intercepted the pass. The game was over. Michigan would fall to 8-4 on the year, 0-3 versus Ohio State in the Harbaugh era. 1-5 against the Buckeyes and Spartans since Jim arrived in town. The Buckeyes won, again, in spite of losing their starting quarterback JT Barret. Instead the backup, Dwayne Haskins, went 6-7 for 94 yards. In hindsight, it may have benefited the Wolverines not to knock Barret out as he was only 3/8 for 30 yards.
Also, there was anobscene amount of RED in the stands for a rivalry game. I don’t care that the game is the Saturday after Thanksgiving. If you are a Michigan fan and you put your tickets up on StubHub or some comparable site then you should be ashamed of yourself. Frankly, you should just give up your season tickets because you are the worst type of fan. Michigan doesn’t want you and doesn’t need you.
So where does Michigan go from here? Well first and foremost, Michigan needs to sort out their quarterback situation. That decision was made a lot easier with the departure of Wilton Speight (and Alex Malzone) who both graduated from Michigan and will spend their final season of eligibility elsewhere. That means that the Michigan coaching staff, particularly the quarterback whisperer himself Jim Harbaugh, will develop a starting quarterback from either:
Brandon Peters
Dylan McCaffrey
Joe Milton
Peters saw time this season when Speight went down and O’Korn failed to have any success. There were flashes of brilliance from Peters who was also significantly helped out with a tremendous run game during his time as Michigan’s quarterback. The quarterback battle this spring/summer is going to be closely followed by Michigan insiders. It is also going to set the tempo for the 2018 season. Michigan will only lose one starter on an already stellar defense. Michigan will look to break in some new weapons offensively and build upon the experience for a young offensive line that saw O’Korn get sacked five (5) times against Ohio State.
Finally, the 2017-18 bowl schedule was announced, and for some inexplicable reason, there was a huge uproar by Michigan State fans over the bowl selection process. Michigan (8-4) was selected to play in the Outback Bowl on January 1, 2018 against an unkanked South Carolina team. Michigan State was selected to play in the Holiday Bowl on December 28 against a ranked Washington State team.
First, and perhaps most importantly, WHY DO YOU CARE?!? Neither Michigan or Michigan State are playing in any bowl of significance this year. Listen, I love bowl season as much as the next guy because I’ll never turn down a chance to watch football, but the reality is that we are over saturated with games that have no historical meaning and have a revolving door of sponsors every year. Frankly, Michigan could have played in the Quick Lane Bowl this year and my reaction would have been exactly the same.
Second, it is these types of antics and outcries that gave Michigan State the monicker of “Little Brother.” I had absolutely no idea what bowl game they were playing in until I saw a series of posts on Twitter calling for fans to #BoycottOutback. Do you know why? Because I don’t care - and neither should they. While their play on the field has not been that of a “little brother,” their fan base continues to exemplify pettiness.
As Bill Belichick would say, “We’re on to 2018.” The bowl season and extra practices should have everything to do with getting the team ready for the 2018 campaign - a season that features road games at Notre Dame, Michigan State, and Ohio State. These next nine months are all about putting together a team that can and should compete for a spot in the College Football Playoff.
The result of the game should not have been altogether unsurprising. Ohio State was playing for a chance at a Big Ten Championship. Michigan was playing to end the Buckeye’s season. Michigan was down to their third-spring quarterback John O’Korn with Peters and Speight both sidelined. So while a loss shouldn’t have been a shock to Michigan fans - it was. Michigan jumped out to a 14-0 lead. O’Korn was able to move the offense down the field (despite several overthrown passes). The defense was able to get to JT Barret and stop the Buckeyes from moving the ball.
Ohio State eventually came back and tied the game. Michigan would re-take the lead.
Then the extra-point attempt from Nordin was blocked. And it seems like it is always these small little mishaps that begin to shape a different narrative. Instead of having the cushion of a 7-point lead, it was only 6. Ohio State could take the lead, a lead they hadn’t had all game, with the score of a touchdown and a successful PAT conversion. That is exactly what they did.
Then they added a field goal. It was a 4 point lead in the 4th quarter when the Buckeyes missed a field goal which would have given them a touchdown lead.
Michigan had the ball, down only 4 points, with 2 minutes and 47 seconds left to play. The ball was spotted on the 25 yard line in the south side of Michigan Stadium. As I stood from my seat in Section 13, I had two immediate thoughts. First, GOOD football teams want to be in this spot. They want the ball with a chance to win. They want to run their two-minute offense and score. They want to put the ball in the end zone while leaving the other team virtually no time left to respond.
My second thought was just don’t do any thing stupid. You have almost 3 minutes. You can run whatever plays you want. Just don’t do anything stupid.
On the first play from the 25-yard line, O’Korn airmailed his intended receiver by about 300 yards (or so it felt). Ohio State intercepted the pass. The game was over. Michigan would fall to 8-4 on the year, 0-3 versus Ohio State in the Harbaugh era. 1-5 against the Buckeyes and Spartans since Jim arrived in town. The Buckeyes won, again, in spite of losing their starting quarterback JT Barret. Instead the backup, Dwayne Haskins, went 6-7 for 94 yards. In hindsight, it may have benefited the Wolverines not to knock Barret out as he was only 3/8 for 30 yards.
Also, there was anobscene amount of RED in the stands for a rivalry game. I don’t care that the game is the Saturday after Thanksgiving. If you are a Michigan fan and you put your tickets up on StubHub or some comparable site then you should be ashamed of yourself. Frankly, you should just give up your season tickets because you are the worst type of fan. Michigan doesn’t want you and doesn’t need you.
So where does Michigan go from here? Well first and foremost, Michigan needs to sort out their quarterback situation. That decision was made a lot easier with the departure of Wilton Speight (and Alex Malzone) who both graduated from Michigan and will spend their final season of eligibility elsewhere. That means that the Michigan coaching staff, particularly the quarterback whisperer himself Jim Harbaugh, will develop a starting quarterback from either:
Brandon Peters
Dylan McCaffrey
Joe Milton
Peters saw time this season when Speight went down and O’Korn failed to have any success. There were flashes of brilliance from Peters who was also significantly helped out with a tremendous run game during his time as Michigan’s quarterback. The quarterback battle this spring/summer is going to be closely followed by Michigan insiders. It is also going to set the tempo for the 2018 season. Michigan will only lose one starter on an already stellar defense. Michigan will look to break in some new weapons offensively and build upon the experience for a young offensive line that saw O’Korn get sacked five (5) times against Ohio State.
Finally, the 2017-18 bowl schedule was announced, and for some inexplicable reason, there was a huge uproar by Michigan State fans over the bowl selection process. Michigan (8-4) was selected to play in the Outback Bowl on January 1, 2018 against an unkanked South Carolina team. Michigan State was selected to play in the Holiday Bowl on December 28 against a ranked Washington State team.
First, and perhaps most importantly, WHY DO YOU CARE?!? Neither Michigan or Michigan State are playing in any bowl of significance this year. Listen, I love bowl season as much as the next guy because I’ll never turn down a chance to watch football, but the reality is that we are over saturated with games that have no historical meaning and have a revolving door of sponsors every year. Frankly, Michigan could have played in the Quick Lane Bowl this year and my reaction would have been exactly the same.
Second, it is these types of antics and outcries that gave Michigan State the monicker of “Little Brother.” I had absolutely no idea what bowl game they were playing in until I saw a series of posts on Twitter calling for fans to #BoycottOutback. Do you know why? Because I don’t care - and neither should they. While their play on the field has not been that of a “little brother,” their fan base continues to exemplify pettiness.
As Bill Belichick would say, “We’re on to 2018.” The bowl season and extra practices should have everything to do with getting the team ready for the 2018 campaign - a season that features road games at Notre Dame, Michigan State, and Ohio State. These next nine months are all about putting together a team that can and should compete for a spot in the College Football Playoff.
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