Michigan 45, OSU 23.

[THE_WIZARD_]

The crowd was HARBAUGHED!!!!!!!

[Mike]

Clearly.

[edindetroit]

Excuses vs. overcoming adversity: How Michigan football has taken over the Ohio State rivalry

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Michigan football team dominated Ohio State for the second year a row on Saturday, using a 28-3 second-half run to finish the season undefeated and advance to the Big Ten championship.

How did this happen again? Ohio State players and fans spent the past 365 days making excuses after last year’s 42-27 loss. It was a fluke. An aberration. An outlier in a rivalry that had otherwise been dominated by the Buckeyes for two decades.

It began in the postgame press conference. They had the flu. It was cold. There was even a bit of light snow that revisionist history has turned into “a blizzard” (yes, I heard it described as such in an episode of “Rivals” last week).

The Buckeyes had forgotten what it was like to lose The Game, and when Michigan reminded them, they didn’t know how to react.

Well, this time, the game was in Columbus. The weather was perfect. There was nothing for Ohio State to hide behind after a second-straight blowout loss.

In fact, it was the Wolverines who went into the game with all the odds against them.

No Blake Corum for a team that relies heavily on the run. No Mike Morris for a defense replacing two NFL edge rushers. A backup running back wearing a cast nearly as big as Corum’s knee brace.

For those keeping count, that’s Michigan’s best offensive player, best defensive player, and most versatile offensive weapon. Suddenly, playing in a bit of snow doesn’t sound so bad, does it?

But Michigan didn’t make excuses. Without Corum, the Wolverines rushed for 252 yards. Without Morris, they held the Buckeyes to 23 points. With a cast, Donovan Edwards put two 70-plus-yard nails in the Ohio State coffin.

You want to know how Michigan turned the tide in this rivalry? Look no further than the difference in how these two teams responded to adversity in 2021 and 2022.

It wasn’t long ago that Jim Harbaugh and Michigan were the ones who always seemed to be making excuses. They moaned about the fourth-down spot after J.T. Barrett’s overtime run in 2016. They blamed the rain for a 2017 home loss against Michigan State.

It’s no coincidence that those Michigan teams couldn’t win the Big Ten. This conference is about toughness, and making excuses instead of improvements is the antithesis of toughness.

It wasn’t until the disastrous 2020 season that Harbaugh took a good hard look at his program and made serious changes.

Since then, the Wolverines have won 24 of 26 games, thanks to a physical and philosophical mindset that often leaves opponents overwhelmed. Cade McNamara said it best after leading a late comeback at Nebraska last October.

“Michigan teams in the past -- no disrespect, but I think since I’ve been at Michigan, we lose this game, sometimes,” McNamara said. “I think this is a testament to the guys in that locker room, the coaches who have made a commitment to make this year different, and I think we have something special here.”

He was absolutely right. The contrast from seasons past was jarring.

When Michigan blew a 16-point lead at Michigan State, it buckled down and won five straight to get into the playoff. After a blowout loss to Georgia, the players said, “This isn’t good enough,” and got to work, making sure they could earn this opportunity again in 2022.

Then, on Saturday, when they could have made every excuse in the book, the shorthanded Wolverines went toe-to-toe with a more talented and revenge-driven team and sent the Buckeyes packing with their tails between their legs.

Past Michigan teams would have gotten blown out Saturday, especially after Ohio State’s hot start. Heck, past Michigan teams would have lost to Illinois after falling behind late last week.

But these Wolverines are different. They win with toughness -- and it’s not just on the field. It’s a mentality. A culture.

We watched Ohio State shove Michigan into a proverbial locker year after year after year, but now the shoe’s on the other foot. I don’t think the Wolverines will ever win 15 of 16, but the days of chalking up the last Saturday in November as an L are gone.

Harbaugh was hired for a long list of reasons: getting Michigan back to national relevance, competing for Big Ten titles, even just going to bowl games.

Right at the top of that list was to stop the bleeding against Ohio State. It might have taken a few years longer than expected, but a scab has formed, and the program is finally starting to heal.

Now Ohio State is the one scrambling, while Michigan is right where it wants to be.

https://www.clickondetroit.com/all-about-ann-arbor/2022/11/28/excuses-vs-overcoming-adversity-how-michigan-football-has-taken-over-the-ohio-state-rivalry/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=snd&utm_content=wdiv&fbclid=IwAR35MZHKX_lJAFspvEuM2l8YEgNMbop67stEkU8upW3_NM7BOaa4_DOe7pE#/questions/

[Hannibal]

Anotehr thing that finally went our way is that we mostly got fair calls from the officials. The holding call that negated a big OSU pass is a perfect example of the type of call that we didn't get from 2016-2019. The sack and obvious fumble by Stroud was a bit of a screwjob, but it just robbed us of a pick 6 that would have made it 52-23.

IMHO the PI calls and non-calls were all spot on. The end zone PI where Bell got bumped in the air was a colossal screw up by the OSU back. Four point mistake there. The type of mistake that we used to make in The Game.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Excuses vs. overcoming adversity: How Michigan football has taken over the Ohio State rivalry

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Michigan football team dominated Ohio State for the second year a row on Saturday, using a 28-3 second-half run to finish the season undefeated and advance to the Big Ten championship.

How did this happen again? Ohio State players and fans spent the past 365 days making excuses after last year’s 42-27 loss. It was a fluke. An aberration. An outlier in a rivalry that had otherwise been dominated by the Buckeyes for two decades.

It began in the postgame press conference. They had the flu. It was cold. There was even a bit of light snow that revisionist history has turned into “a blizzard” (yes, I heard it described as such in an episode of “Rivals” last week).

The Buckeyes had forgotten what it was like to lose The Game, and when Michigan reminded them, they didn’t know how to react.

Well, this time, the game was in Columbus. The weather was perfect. There was nothing for Ohio State to hide behind after a second-straight blowout loss.

In fact, it was the Wolverines who went into the game with all the odds against them.

No Blake Corum for a team that relies heavily on the run. No Mike Morris for a defense replacing two NFL edge rushers. A backup running back wearing a cast nearly as big as Corum’s knee brace.

For those keeping count, that’s Michigan’s best offensive player, best defensive player, and most versatile offensive weapon. Suddenly, playing in a bit of snow doesn’t sound so bad, does it?

But Michigan didn’t make excuses. Without Corum, the Wolverines rushed for 252 yards. Without Morris, they held the Buckeyes to 23 points. With a cast, Donovan Edwards put two 70-plus-yard nails in the Ohio State coffin.

You want to know how Michigan turned the tide in this rivalry? Look no further than the difference in how these two teams responded to adversity in 2021 and 2022.

It wasn’t long ago that Jim Harbaugh and Michigan were the ones who always seemed to be making excuses. They moaned about the fourth-down spot after J.T. Barrett’s overtime run in 2016. They blamed the rain for a 2017 home loss against Michigan State.

It’s no coincidence that those Michigan teams couldn’t win the Big Ten. This conference is about toughness, and making excuses instead of improvements is the antithesis of toughness.

It wasn’t until the disastrous 2020 season that Harbaugh took a good hard look at his program and made serious changes.

Since then, the Wolverines have won 24 of 26 games, thanks to a physical and philosophical mindset that often leaves opponents overwhelmed. Cade McNamara said it best after leading a late comeback at Nebraska last October.

“Michigan teams in the past -- no disrespect, but I think since I’ve been at Michigan, we lose this game, sometimes,” McNamara said. “I think this is a testament to the guys in that locker room, the coaches who have made a commitment to make this year different, and I think we have something special here.”

He was absolutely right. The contrast from seasons past was jarring.

When Michigan blew a 16-point lead at Michigan State, it buckled down and won five straight to get into the playoff. After a blowout loss to Georgia, the players said, “This isn’t good enough,” and got to work, making sure they could earn this opportunity again in 2022.

Then, on Saturday, when they could have made every excuse in the book, the shorthanded Wolverines went toe-to-toe with a more talented and revenge-driven team and sent the Buckeyes packing with their tails between their legs.

Past Michigan teams would have gotten blown out Saturday, especially after Ohio State’s hot start. Heck, past Michigan teams would have lost to Illinois after falling behind late last week.

But these Wolverines are different. They win with toughness -- and it’s not just on the field. It’s a mentality. A culture.

We watched Ohio State shove Michigan into a proverbial locker year after year after year, but now the shoe’s on the other foot. I don’t think the Wolverines will ever win 15 of 16, but the days of chalking up the last Saturday in November as an L are gone.

Harbaugh was hired for a long list of reasons: getting Michigan back to national relevance, competing for Big Ten titles, even just going to bowl games.

Right at the top of that list was to stop the bleeding against Ohio State. It might have taken a few years longer than expected, but a scab has formed, and the program is finally starting to heal.

Now Ohio State is the one scrambling, while Michigan is right where it wants to be.

https://www.clickondetroit.com/all-a...pE#/questions/

Very JB like diatribe.

[lineygoblue]

Anotehr thing that finally went our way is that we mostly got fair calls from the officials. The holding call that negated a big OSU pass is a perfect example of the type of call that we didn't get from 2016-2019. The sack and obvious fumble by Stroud was a bit of a screwjob, but it just robbed us of a pick 6 that would have made it 52-23.

IMHO the PI calls and non-calls were all spot on. The end zone PI where Bell got bumped in the air was a colossal screw up by the OSU back. Four point mistake there. The type of mistake that we used to make in The Game.

Officiating has not been a determining factor in either of the last two games of the series. OSU fans will disagree, but at the same time they've told us that its weak to blame officiating for losses. So, I wouldn't expect to see that happening in this game.

-- but -- weak, or not ...

I'll never be okay with the job that 2016 crew did.

Never.

And I won't ever be okay with the Big Ten assigning 4 ohio residents to the crew in that game. That was just plain stupid.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Officiating is only an issue when M loses.

WWCAW has taken a two year respite.

[Hannibal]

I love that the pandemic eliminated the 2020 game even more now. Everyone knows that would have been a 40-50 point win for OSU. It was the best chance of our lifetimes to make Michigan look like a I-AA school. And OSU was robbed of it. Damn, that's gotta hurt.

I love it.

[lineygoblue]

And the thing is, Harbaugh and many of the players who were NOT sick/quarrantined wanted to still play that game. The Big Ten (and Gretch Whitmer) said NO.

And yes... it would have been like the Patriots playing in the Super Bowl against Ann Arbor Pioneer. Very entertaining for Ohioans.

[THE_WIZARD_]

I love that the pandemic eliminated the 2020 game even more now. Everyone knows that would have been a 40-50 point win for OSU. It was the best chance of our lifetimes to make Michigan look like a I-AA school. And OSU was robbed of it. Damn, that's gotta hurt.

I love it.

HCRD!!!!!!! woulda hung a hondo on ya...

[Hannibal]

HCRD!!!!!!! woulda hung a hondo on ya...

Yes, he would have. And OSU was robbed of it. it was a once in a lifetime chance to beat UM by 50 and it was stolen. Damn, that's gotta hurt.

[Mike]

Not only that, it would have been in Columbus. Now we can say they haven't beaten us there since 2018 and it will be 2024 before they get another crack at us there. Say, how many days has it been since OSU beat Michigan in football?

http://howmanydayssinceosuhasbeatenmichigan.com/

[Tom W]

Beating up on a teamful of quarantine dodgers would have done wonders for ohio's character building.

[iam416]

I think the point is if M was entirely healthy that team was dogshit. So, COVID spared them.

And Hannibal's glee is well-placed and very much how OSU fans feel about that turn of events. Is what it is.

[hack]

The merciless unforgiving Jim is back, and I love it!


"Harbaugh was asked if he had any issues with players planting the flag at midfield after the game. "I want to get that flag," he says. "I want to get that flag and put it in our museum."

The Harbaugh I wanted back in 2014.