M-Borg vs. THE Flavortown U Thread, Orig. by Buckeye Paul, absconded w/by talent.

[Dr. Strangelove]

We were due for the offense to shit the bed. Though prob not a coincidence it comes against Dantonio in bad weather.

I don't know what Urban is thinking when he has these games where the run is clearly working, the weather is clearly hurting the passing game, yet he insists on passing his way to victory anyways.

[WingsFan]

50-50 with Speight probably a blowout if O'Korn is the qb

[WingsFan]

Gregg Henson

I talked to a couple of sources tonight, including the one who thought Speight was done for the remainder of the regular and apparently there is some cause for optimism.

My source, who helped me break the Speight injury story before anybody else informed me tonight that Speight threw in practice on Friday and it’s better than 50/50 that Speight gets the start at OSU.

He did drop a couple of caveats. One, it’s about pain tolerance at this point for Speight’s non-throwing shoulder, if he can battle through it…he can play. Two, if he gets hit early in the game and Michigan can’t keep him clean, he won’t last long against the buckeyes.

Speight has a fairly serious injury but it isn’t to his throwing shoulder so there is a “legit” chance he could be ready for Saturday. My source, “It’s early but it could be legit that he plays.”

At the very least this is encouraging news after a rough outing today by backup John O’Korn.

I’ll keep you updated throughout the week. A funny side story, Speight blocked me on twitter after I reported his shoulder injury.

[Pasadena Blue]

going to drive the Vegas insiders batty ... how do figure out the line for this game, Obviously Ohio should be favored but is it -5 or -14?

[Jeff Buchanan]

M can win this game with defense, a decent performance by the running backs/OL and O'Korn. talent is correct feeling better about an osu win with O'Korn at QB but a win in The Game for M isn't about passing the ball .... it's about moving teh chains by running it well.

When you get to November, it's about who is going to assert themselves up front. Every team at the top of the pecking order is playing with dinged up and fatigued players. It's why you see outcomes like last week where 3 of the top 4 lost. Why Louisville got blasted by Houston.

It's not a sprint by the 4.3 skill guys to the finish, it's who is the toughest dude at the LOS. Mano-e-Mano. You own that contest, you'll likely win The Game. It's football. I think both JH and ufm know this. osu has the edge being at home. Players respond to the crowd. In terms of getting the most out of the mano-e-mano thing, I like HARBAUGH!!! At some point in the IU win, M won the battle at the LOS .... in November, in a snow storm. It was beautiful.

Hope for snow..

[WM Wolverine]

They have access to a lot more info (injury) than we do.

[iam416]

Ohio State has 2 road wins against CFP top 10 teams. The only other team with even 1 is USC.

[iam416]

Also, one thing I saw from the IU game that was of interest was their inverted veer. They typically ran it with Redding and Lagow. M mostly did a good job of setting the edge and stringing it out. Redding was able to plant and go on several occasions. However, Lagow isn't a threat. At all. I think he kept it once, had a 1v1 and was promptly dropped.

JTB and Samuel running inverted veer is a different ballgame. Assuming they run it. At all. Then, you also add Weber and have the IZ threat w/ the inverted veer threat and you're deal. Again, assuming they run it. At all. But, I mean, Curt Samuel is good. Really good. If I were calling plays, I'd try to get him some touches, but that is, occasionally, at odds with the OSU approach to things. And makes me want to throw a fucking brick through my TV.

Pardon the digression. You can definitely suck up M's LBs, too, and hit those shortish slants, stops, etc behind them.

I dunno, I'm searching for reasons to think OSU can score more than 17.

[WM Wolverine]

You won't need much more than 17 to win. 23-17 is about what I'd expect if Speight is healthy and rumor is he's at a really high risk of re-injury.

[iam416]

Yeah, I saw that tweet. I really can't imagine HARBAUGH running out Speight if his shoulder/collarbone is bad enough that if he gets sacked it could get worse.

I think Speight is for show.The whole production of dressing him and the internet information. I have no doubt he can throw. I also think his left shoulder is hurt pretty bad.

Just my gut reaction from afar.

[Rocky Bleier]

If Speight plays, he won't be in long. O-Line not good in pass protection the last two weeks. This is going to be another ugly affair. I only hope OSU won't put up 42 for the fourth straight year.

O'Korn will play, and fans will blame him for the loss as if Speight would have made the difference. Michigan has not improved like other teams have. Early prediction: OSU 31 Michigan 3. Stribling will get burned deep twice.

[iam416]

It'll take 2-3 pick 6s for OSU to get to 42. I still think it's around 20-17 if the result falls within the fat part of the bell curve.

[Rocky Bleier]

Nope. Guaranteed blowout. #4 will have the game of his life.

[iam416]

I hope you're right, Rocky. Assuming you're not referring to DeVeon Smith. Heh.

[iam416]

Line opens at 7. That seems like splitting the baby on Speight/O'Korn. I think it's 4-5 w/ Speight and 9/10 w/ O'Korn. Either way, M is my pick, but the 7 seems sort of like a middle. You're betting on two things -- the QB and then the game.