The Game

     Before: It is twenty minutes to kick-off of the 115th meeting of Michigan and Ohio State. For most of my life, it is simply been referred to as "the game."  It is, in my purely biased view, the greatest rivalry in sports, nay, the history of sport and possibly even warfare and human conflict. It is good versus evil. The outcome sets the tone for the next year for both players and fans on both sides.
     Michigan is favored in Columbus for the first time… in way too long a time. We have a great team. It is built on a rock-solid defense and a constantly improving offense. I love strong defensive teams. Stop them from scoring, stymie their game plan, frustrate them, and crush their will and ability to win.
     Both teams are 10-1. Michigan is undefeated in the Big Ten. Ohio State has their one loss in the conference. There is a lot of talk about how this Ohio State is lesser. The announcer just said that “they have walked a tight rope this season.” But, dang, they are still 10-1 and still are coached by Urban Meyer who, no matter what you think of him, is one excellent football coach.
     Throw the out all the pre-game babble and hype. None of that matters in this game. Throw all of that out the window. It is in the hands of the players who want it more than any of anybody else.
     My prognostication? I want to win, and this is the best team we have had in years. But I think Urban Meyer is the better coach and, sadly, I think the evil empire will prevail.
     During: I have some notion that I can actually write about this during the game. I am sure this won’t last. Ohio State just kicked-off to Michigan, held us to three and out, and we punted to them and they ran for a first down and then just passed for one. The adrenalin is flowing in this armchair coach… gotta stop writing to cheer and yell at the TV screen. [expletive deleted] they just scored. 7-0 OSU.  Wow, that is fast and it doesn't bode well.
     The last minute of the first half was crazy. Michigan scored a touchdown. Ohio State fumbled the kick-off and Michigan recovered on the 8 yard line. Michigan scored a touchdown on the next play.  We kicked-off to Ohio State with 41 seconds left in the half.  Ohio State drove down and kicked a field... we seem unable to stop them.
     Coming out of half-time, all Michigan fans were hoping that we could make the adjustments that would allow our defense to dominate.  I fear the Ohio State offense adjustments were better.  It is the middle of the 3rdQuarter and Michigan is down 34 – 19. It is not looking good. Ohio State looks better. Much better. If we score, they score faster. 

     48 – 25 at the 13:00 mark of the 4thQuarter. Our vaunted defense simply cannot stop Ohio State.
     There was a question on a Michigan page on Facebook asking people what the key would be for a Michigan victory today. In borderline smarmy way, I posted: Michigan has to score more points than we allow Ohio State to score. Duh…
     After: The game just ended. Ohio State trounced Michigan 62 – 39. They scored 62 points on us!  We scored 39 point on them which is pretty good.  But my smarmy prescription held true… for them. Our defense was overwhelmed by their offense. Urban Meyer is an unbelievable recruiter, coach, and motivator. We are still second to Ohio State in football. We have not beat an Urban Meyer coached Ohio State team.

• We had 401 yards of total offense. Ohio State had 567
• Michigan passed for 240 and rushed for 161 yards (4 yards per rush)
• Ohio State had 318 yards passing and ran for 249 (6 yards per rush)
• We turned it over twice versus one for them. I do believe all turnovers turned into scores.

     Our numbers were good but we lost because their offense overwhelmed our defense.  
     Michigan has a bowl game yet to play and then looking forward to next season. The team and the fanbase has to endure another year of not beating Ohio State. Sadly, I am almost getting used to it.
     This being said, we are 10 – 2. That is a great record and has been a great season. Kudos to the team and coaching staff and… keep getting better.