Michigan 31, Maryland 24

[maxreturn]

Moore needs to get more creative with the play calling. JJ was obviously struggling with the deeper routes and Barnhardt was getting man-handled again. JJ is still good enough to throw the shorter routes. Not one pass that I recall to Edwards.

[Hannibal]

Do we really not have anything in the playbook that involves giving Barnhardt some help from an RB or a TE?

[klondike]

Speaking g of TE. Where has that te play been. It was one of the best I've seen UM utilize early on but has disappeared lately.

[WM Wolverine]

Find it really hard to believe M doesn't have a better option at RT than Barnhardt. Hinton going down to injury today might remove yet another option, though I had Barnhardt as a better option than Hinton in September...

Was away from the TV, how bad was Wilson's injury? Wilson and Corum has been M's offense the past month. Talent at OL behind the starters looks suspect, they'll certainly need transfers at OL and at QB if JJ leaves.

[maxreturn]

Find it really hard to believe M doesn't have a better option at RT than Barnhardt. Hinton going down to injury today might remove yet another option, though I had Barnhardt as a better option than Hinton in September...

Was away from the TV, how bad was Wilson's injury? Wilson and Corum has been M's offense the past month. Talent at OL behind the starters looks suspect, they'll certainly need transfers at OL and at QB if JJ leaves.

JJ is not ready for prime time yet. If he is wise he should come back next year. BTW...taking Roman out was strictly precautionary. He took a high hit, helmet to helmet. But after taken out of the game, he looked pretty lucid on the sidelines.

[WM Wolverine]

JJ would benefit from another year, but he'll still be drafted in the 2nd round IMO. Likely could improve to a 1st rounder which is a significantly higher rookie contract. M should be able to get him enough NIL too.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Post game, Moore said LT Ladarius Henderson will most likely be back next week. Henderson was "mostly precautionary" for the Maryland game. Hinton "had no structural damage" to his right knee, Moore gave no indication whether he will be able to play next Saturday. Barrett was interviewed post game. He had his L shoulder iced and wrapped. He did go back in. Said he had a slight AC sprain. The injury update is encouraging.

[lineygoblue]

Thanks for that info, Jeff. I was mostly wondering if Henderson was still going to be out. It'd be good to have him back.

As for today's game, very little good, a whole lot of bad. I'm wondering if its the first signs that this outside crap is finally getting to them.

I knew that Tua 2.0 was capable of making things tough. He did that, and almost pulled off the win. The defense had just enough in the 4th to save the day.

OSU has absolutely no excuses next week. They can't blame Stalions, they can't say "Michigan knows our signs" .. they can't even blame Harbaugh for whatever, .. he won't be there. If their coaching brain trust can't game plan a winning strategy, and then coach up their players to get it done, then the only ones to blame is that guy they look at in the mirror.

And I think everyone saw what OSU's winning strategy can be next week. McCord to Harrison. About 15 times. Maybe 20. Deep patterns. He's going to be wide open all day long. Michigan can't cover even a moderately good receiver on deep routes. Mix in a little run here and there, and they have a win, a Big Ten Title, and a playoff berth.

I think the possibilities of both JJ and Donovan being back next year have increased. Neither is going to be high on the NFL draft board. Especially in a QB saturated draft for JJ. It won't matter though, because Michigan is going to be laden with so many NCAA penalties, they'd have a hard time winning the MAC, much less anything in the Big Ten.

Moore looked like he was in over his head today. Good man, good coach, but not quite ready to be the head guy of a major program yet. It won't be easier next week.

No score prediction yet. It my belief that OSU has no excuse for losing. If they lose, its their own fault. M is ripe for picking.

[WM Wolverine]

Edwards needs to come back, just a massive difference between Corum and his ability to make the first defender miss. Corum gets a ton of yards after making the first guy miss that Edwards doesn't...

The Game is a coin-flip. On a neutral field, I might give the Buckeyes a very slight edge but M is at home and probably will be a very slight favorite.

[Tom W]

M wins plays just well enough to win a trap game.

Move along. Nothing to see here.

This. It was the Acme Wolverine Trap. Maryland has never really fit into the conference, and they've never had a "signature" win. They were going to eventually go and knockout one of the Big 3 of the east and this year seemed to be prime time for this to happen- especially when they started out 5-0 (I have no clue how they lost 4 games). This time, they brought a Senior QB playing his last home game out against a Michigan team that probably felt a bit betrayed - in addition to being stuck looking back and looking ahead.

[lineygoblue]

Yeah, it was a trap game, but it also re-exposed some problems with Michigan's defense, and it showed how to rattle JJ.

For JJ, all OSU is going to have to do to rattle him in passing situations, is rush him off the left side. M hasn't fixed the season-long problem there, and that's where they're weak. They've also shown some weaknesses right up the middle.

On defense, they can't defend the long pass to save their lives. This plays right into OSU's strength which is McCord to Harrison. He could end up with over 200 receiving yards, and multiple touchdowns, if M plays like they did against Maryland.

I think M will play better just because they're at home in front of a mostly friendly crowd, (STILL too much red) but OSU will be in a better position to win than they have since 2019. And don't look now, but their running game is starting to come together.

[klondike]

The Game will end up being all about how much UM can rattle McCord. We know Harrison will be running open numerous times but will their qb be able to connect like previous ones. UM has to be able to pit pressure on McCord and control their running game.

This is a big boy offense and we'll be toast if McCord can sit back there and feel comfortable.