Observations on the embarassing loss to Ohio State, 21-37!
1—Let’s give credit to Ohio State! They were better prepared, and they certainly outplayed us from start to finish. Tressel & Company outcoached Carr & Staff, and Troy Smith certainly deserves the player of the game.
2—The Buckeyes created an nine minute of possession advantage, and this led to more offensive play opportunities that created 4 red zones for 17 points while we only created 3 red zones (2 in the first quarter and only one the rest of the game) for 14 points. They were physically tougher on both sides of the ball, and they wanted the win more than us.
3—Troy Smith ended up 13 of 23 for 241 yards and 2 TDs plus he ran for 145 yards on 18 carries. His performance was reminiscent of Cornelius Greene and Rod Gerald. They had at least six big plays starting with a 68 yard TD pass to begin the game to Gonzalez, Ted Ginn’s 82 yard punt return TD and 42 yard pass gainer that set up a Nugent field goal, Santonio Holmes broke a 34 yard pass against Jackson plus scored a TD on a pass with Jackson again covering, Smith broke a 46 yard scamper and Hamby caught a 20 yarder. The Bucks had 448 yards in total offense; this was especially good considering coming into the game, they were last in the Big Ten in first downs and 3rd down conversions. They barely had an average of 300 yards in total offense coming into this matchup.
4—Chad Henne was 27 of 54 for 324 yards, 2 TDs and 2 interceptions. Michael Hart had 61 yards on 18 carries. Braylon Edwards had 11 catches for 172 yards and a TD, but it wasn’t enough. Our offense managed 20 first downs, but was only 5 of 15 on 3rd down and zero of three in 4th down conversions with two turnovers, one in the red zone. It was not a good offensive performance, but our offense didn’t lose this game. We allowed only one sack, but as the ABC graphic showed, Henne was hit 12 times with 10 hurries and he simply was pressured into mistakes. A.J. Hawk had 11 tackles to lead their defense, Ashton Youboty had 4 pass break ups and Brian Carpenter had 9 tackles with 3 pass break ups.
5—Our defense was thoroughly disappointing from start to finish. The only time they looked good was in the second quarter limiting the Buckeyes to one field goal in two red zone opportunities. Woodley ended up with 12 tackles, 2 for loss and 2 pass deflections while Reid had 10 tackles. Otherwise, we were unprepared and were outplayed by a well-prepared and spirited Buckeye offense. They allowed big plays in every quarter while creating no turnovers. Key statistic: Net Rushing=Ohio State 207 yards, Michigan 71 yards.
6—Our special teams allowed Nugent to convert three field goals, and watched Ginn run back an 82 yard TD. The 71 yard punt in the 4th quarter was another back breaker. We were forced into 7 punts while the Buckeyes punted six times. They converted two punts downed inside the 5 yard line into two long 99 and 97 yard drives for TDs.
7—We really don’t deserve to go to the Rose Bowl, but if Iowa beats Wisconsin, I’m sure we’ll play our best and represent the Big Ten well. Otherwise, it looks like the Capital One Bowl against Tennessee after Auburn pastes them again in the SEC championship game. We lost to 2 of our 3 top rivals this year, and barely beat the 3rd. We ended up with 9 wins, but barely beat Minnesota, San Diego State, Purdue and Michigan State. We are a good team, but certainly not one of the top teams in the country this year.
8—Pet Peeve: The idiots that said all week that we’d easily beat Ohio State or “crush” them. Anyone with any common sense that knows this rivalry understands what dumb statements those are. Pet Peeve #2: Shazor going pro! He is definitely not ready for the pros, and he certainly couldn’t make it at safety. When he does go pro, his only chance in making it is at linebacker. He is not fast enough to be a safety, and he can’t cover in pass coverage as was exposed today. Michigan State, Northwestern and Ohio State exploited his lack of ability in these areas with cutback plays designed to expose his weakness in speed. Pet Peeve #3: The idiots who focus on our BCS standings. If you win, the BCS thing works out; if you don’t win, it doesn’t. When you win, you need to also win impressively. We never deserved to be ranked higher in the BCS standings because of unimpressive wins over San Diego State, Michigan State, Minnesota and Purdue while losing to Notre Dame and Ohio State. We’ll be ranked on Monday where we deserve to be ranked, and that is probably not in the top 13 teams.
