That’s it Michigan. You get one year.

One year to savor your close win over a struggling Ohio State team. One year to take advantage of a new coach who threw himself into the flames without question. One year for your Ohio born and bred coach to travel the Buckeye state begging and pleading in hopes that the ongoing questions about the future of the Buckeyes might turn the occasional high school kid northward. One year to run it through an injured defensive player who refused to quit.

This is it Wolverine fans. Enjoy it while you can.

As for the Buckeyes, reset the clocks and wait for the news on Urban Meyer. Think the rumors of a seven year contract are mere coincidence? Think again.

Here’s to resetting the rivalry. Here’s to building false hopes among fans of the school up north and here’s to another great seven year run.

©2012 The Buckeye Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Post your captions below. (ht to Joey for the photo)

As many of you know, Ohio State fans love their Michigan jokes. Over the past six or so years, we’ve collected quite a few jokes about our favorite team up north. In fact, Michigan jokes probably bring more hits to this blog than any other term searched on Google.

Michigan condom dispenser

It all started with a simple open thread where I asked people to post their best _ichigan jokes in the comment section. A reader known only as “Webmaster 3000″ left a long list of jokes and we were off and running.

By the next year, the blog was doing well and I hosted the first Michigan Joke contest and actually managed to scrape together a couple of prizes.

Now something of an institution, year three brought a photo to the Michigan Joke mix which resulted in a few good captions. We’ve actually had a couple of photos over the years that just naturally lent themselves to good captions.

But the one (and often more) liners aren’t the only shots we’ve taken at the whore…I mean _ichigan. I’ve collected a number of examples demonstrating the lameness of that school up north. My quest started with these Michigan jokers featuring a photo from Wolverine blog where they themselves were making fun of their own fans.

Other examples of the lameness of Michigan include video of the O-H-I-O cheer circling their own stadium or the Michigan band overcompensating for the fact that they just can’t complete with TBDBITL. Then there were the t-shirts that on first appearance look like some sort of Michigan Stadium joke until you realize that no, their fans really are that lame.

That’s not to say that their fans don’t get in a few Ohio State jokes every now and then. At the time, I lashed out at that t-shirt but given a few years and yeah, the Buckstach is a classic.

And of course, who can forget the fun we had at the expense of Michigan’s loss to Appalachian State. At one point, we even found ourselves laughing at the school that ended what they thought would be a national championship run during week 1.

As Michigan’s losing streak continued, I even found myself playing tour guide through the wasteland that had become Michigan football.

Even though we may enjoy watching a beer drinking Michigan grandma school a bunch of Michigan kids, a good Michigan joke will always hold a special place in our heart.

So with that folks, let us continue in this great tradition. Post your Michigan Jokes in the comments below.

O.K. I’ve got one to start you out: So Arizona hires this new football coach…

©2012 The Buckeye Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Remember back when New Year’s day was he climax of the college football season. Nothing better to kill the lingering remnants of the night before than a plate of spare ribs and sourkraut and a day on the couch stringing together as many college football games as you could handle. By the time you’d packed it in for the night you knew you’d seen the best games college football had to offer neatly wrapped in a marathon of college football indulgence.

Then came the BCS. We needed to name a national champion and no, it couldn’t be done on New Year’s. Over the years, the BCS has slowly backed up the date from Jan 2 or 3 to this year’s game on Jan. 10. Maybe it gives NFL betting types something to do but after diligently watching Miami beat Mid-Tennessee in the GoDaddy.com Bowl or Nevada take down Boston College in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl I have to admit, I was having trouble getting excited for what is supposed to be college football’s grand finale.

This year’s Bowl season started a full week before Christmas and ended a full week into the new year. At some point in my attempt to watch four Big Ten games at the same time, the novelty started to wear off.

That said, a couple of thoughts on the BCS national championship game:

What a Crazy Game?
Four turnovers, goal-line stands and a botched tackle leading to a last second field goal. What more can you say. This was not the game I expected but it was a great one to watch.

Cam Newton
Newton was not what I expected either. Admittedly I haven’t watched much of him this year but I was expecting a style much closer to Pryor. Yes, he was good at diving forward for a few yards and he put up some big yards passing but I expected to see him get out of trouble better than he did. Also expected to see a few more rushing yards from him. Spread the ground work between Dyer and Newton and I’d think it would be much tougher to defend.

Defense? Really?
Nice to see the defense show up on both sides. Call me old fashioned but I like it when my basketball team scores more than my football team. Auburn’s Nick Farley was a beast. Other than the cheap shots, he was fun to watch.

Kelly Keeps it Interesting
If nothing else, you’ve got to give Chip Kelly credit for keeping it interesting. Two point conversions early in the game, reverses, momentum changing long pass plays, no question he keeps it exciting.

One for the Books
I really had no idea who was going to win this going in and now I know why. What a great back and forth, lead changing, momentum swapping game. A heartbreak for Oregon but well played on their part.

Ohio Man in Michigan
Once again Michigan has turned to Ohio to save their floundering program but it looks like they’ve found a good fit. Brady Hooke, who grew up in Kettering, came out strong talking about the importance of the Ohio State/Michigan game and refusing to mention the name “Ohio State” in his welcoming press conference.

Unlike his predecessor, Hooke get’s it. He was an assistant under both Gary Moeller and Llllloyd Car (did I get that right) and apparently took the job without even discussing pay. He also makes a great foil for Tressel. While Tressel keeps things tight to his vest, Hooke is much more outgoing and is quick to speak his mind. Are we due for another 10 year war?

As for Les Miles? Although I didn’t catch all of it, in making the announcement, ESPN was running a text along the bottom of the screen saying that Miles said Michigan had changed and was not the Michigan he (Miles) used to know. (No kidding.)

©2012 The Buckeye Blog. All Rights Reserved.

No Buckeye football?! Here’s a week’s worth of bitching instead.

Coach Rodriguez…you’re still here?
Nearly a week after Ohio State drubbed Michigan for a 7th straight year, Rich Rodriguez still has a job. Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon says that he’s going to wait until after the Bowl game to make a decision on Rodriguez’s return.

Granted, Brandon walked into this mess just this year but if he is even considering firing Rodriguez, he needs to do it now. What is he waiting for, an ass kicking at the hands of Nebraska or maybe Missouri at the Insight Bowl? He hasn’t seen enough already?

And while it might look good to wait and might be the respectable thing to do, if he hesitates, not only might he lose Jim Harbaugh to someone else, by the time bowl season rolls around, recruiting season is underway. Not only will it be much harder to pull a good coach from commitments made elsewhere but how many kids are going to want to go play for a team which a coach who’s looking at one year in the best case scenario.

I’m not the only one who feels this way. Lynn Henning at the Detroit News also brings up the financial implications of buying out Rodriguez’s contract and says do it.

At the very least, Brandon should step in and force Rod to get rid of defensive coach Greg Robinson. Note to dRod…you’re not in the Big East any more. Robinson couldn’t even pull Syracuse out of the Big East basement. He sure isn’t going to help you in the Big Ten.

In the meantime, Rodriguez is fighting back tears, reading out loud from the Bible and swaying back and forth to this:

Harbough or Les Miles?
Although it’s been great fun to watch our Buckeyes pound on a hapless Michigan, could you imagine the battle’s between Harbough and Tressel? Ten year war…bring it baby.

Les Miles would be a lot more fun though. How many times has he imploded in the final minutes of a game snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Watching him shove fist fulls of artificial turf down his throat as the Buckeyes pull out another close game would be worth the price of admission right there.

Bad Daddy…Good Cam
Looks like the NCAA is clearing Cam Newton because it wasn’t Cam who asked for the money. It was his daddy. Just wondering, did Daddy insist that Cam went to Auburn when he couldn’t get the financing he was looking for elsewhere?

How much of this decision is brought on by NCAA fear? Fear that they need to resolve this now. Fear of a Heisman candidate with lingering questions. Fear of having to revoke a National Championship title.

To be fair to Newton, how much of this is due to shoddy reporting by ESPN?

I'll let you decide.

Seperated at Birth?

Since that time, Boise has stepped aside and Gordon Gee has admitted that he really has no business talking about football. As the Columbus Dispatch reports, Gee said that maybe he should visit the surgical center on campus to have his foot removed from his mouth.

By far the best quote from the article, “What do I know about college football? I look like Orville Redenbacher. I have no business talking about college football.”

I’ll give him that much. He does look like Orville Redenbacher.

2010 All Big Ten Team snubs Pryor
Pryor got honorable mentions in both the coaches and media polls but didn’t make the cut. Meanwhile, Denard Robinson was named Big Ten Offensive player of the year in both polls.

Big games against UConn and pulling out close wins against Indiana will only take you so far. The best thing Robinson has going for him is the ESPN hype machine.

Pryor’s biggest disadvantage when it comes to awards like this is that he’s not the only talent on the team. He doesn’t need to rack up obscene yards because he doesn’t need to do it all himself.

Ten of Pryor’s teammates made the All Big Ten Team.

22 Buckeyes on Academic All Big Ten team
Pryor did make this list along with 21 other Ohio State football players. The Buckeyes tied with Wisconsin and Indiana for the second most players to make the grade. Northwestern came in first with 31. Michigan brought up the rear with only eight players to make the cut. Illinois had seven. And no, Denard Robinson wasn’t one of them.

Michigan State or UConn
Chances are, one-loss-Big-Ten-Championship-sharing Michigan State is going to get screwed on a BCS bowl game while 4-loss-we-got-beat-by-Michigan UConn is heading to a BCS Bowl (unless USF wins or something like that).

Even worse, chances are MSU will meet Alabama in the Capital One Bowl. Don’t know how much faith I have in MSU over Alabama but I’d sure love to see it. I’d almost rather Ohio State vs. Bama in the Capital One bowl than OSU vs. Arkansas in the Sugar. A big win over Alabama would go a lot further than a BCS win over Arkansas.

Of course if Oregon loses…

Big Ten Over ACC
For the second year in a row, The Big Ten won the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Buckeyes held up their end of the deal taking down Florida State. Great to see the Buckeyes ranked No. 2. Would have loved to see Michigan State knock off Duck but I’ll settle for conference bragging rights.

Buckeyes Take Down Wolverine Ice Hockey in Overtime
It’s one thing when the football team wins but another altogether when we bet them at Hockey. Michigan was ranked No. 11 going into the game.

Anything I missed?

©2012 The Buckeye Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Before we put The Game behind us and start making travel plans for January, six thoughts on the 2010 Ohio State/Michigan game

Atmosphere was dead
This had to be one of the quietest Ohio State/Michigan games I can remember. Maybe the Thanksgiving weekend took its toll, maybe the fact that Michigan still sucks, maybe its because neither a Rose Bowl or National Championship game was on the line. Whatever it was, The Game lacked the punch that this rivalry deserves.

Inside the stadium things picked up. I was on my feet for most of the game and it was great to hear the entire stadium singing “We don’t give a damn for the whole state of Michigan” every time the UM band played the fight song. By the end of the game, the crowd was winning. By fourth quarter though, there were lots of empty seats. I’d say they were Michigan fans leaving but there weren’t many Michigan fans there to leave. Honestly, would you want to drive to Columbus on a holiday weekend to face the drubbing everyone knew was coming?

Post game celebration seemed kind of tame also. The post-game party at the Riverwatch Towers was empty and we didn’t hit any traffic leaving campus.

Hopefully, this isn’t a sign of things to come. There’s a lot working against the rivalry in the coming years. Let’s hope Michigan can pick up their end of the bargain soon.

Rodriguez needs to go
As much as we all love kicking the snot out of Michigan, it’s time to get rid of the Rod. He’s not only hurting Michigan but he’s hurting the entire Big Ten. As much as I love to watch the Scum lose, it would be nice to see the rivalry live up to its reputation.

Got to love Rod’s post game comments – “It’s going to happen…no really guys…we’re going to be good….honestly.”

I’d like to say that Rod will be gone by the end of the week but I’m not so sure they won’t keep him around for another year.

Fake Go for It?!
Really? You line up for fourth and eight and punt the ball? I could see lining up to punt and faking it but to fake the go for it? Even worse, Tate Forcier’s kick was the best of the day. I didn’t realize just how much Michigan was hurting on the kick. When you’ve got to go for it on fourth and long on the 30, you’re in trouble. From what I understand, DickRod has appealed to the entire student body for a kicker.

Just a heads up to RRod, you’ve got to be able to recruit more than just a quarterback.

Worst Reffing Ever

Did TCU get penalized for signaling the crowd?

I rarely if ever complain about the refs but this was ridiculous. Apparently, Nike doesn’t have much pull with the refs as the logo on the gloves was a big part of all 10 their Pro Combat uniforms. I mean really, do you think Alabama would have gotten a penalty for flashing the “A” on the palm of their gloves? How about the Florida Gator? Miami doesn’t get penalized for flashing gang signs, least bit “the U” on the palm of their glove. And yet when Boom Herron waves to the student section or bows down on one knee after scoring a touchdown, the Buckeyes take a penalty.

It was also horrendous to see Boom’s record tying touchdown get called back for a holding call. Just as exciting as ingBoom break it out from the 2 yard line was Sanzenbacher make the block that got him to the end zone. What a pathetic call. Senzenbacher was getting his head torn off by a face mask for about 10 yards yet manage to stay in there and protect Herron. Yeah, he finally threw him to the ground but not until long after a flag should have been thrown in Michigan.

I just sent a note to my p.r. contact at Nike. Would love to hear their comments on the glove penalties. I’ll keep you posted.

17 Points Not Enough
Although I expected the Buckeyes to run more right off the bat, the game played out pretty much as I expected it to (I called 43-12 on The Michigan Man podcast). It took the Buckeyes a little while to adjust to Robinson but once they did, game over. It didn’t help that Robinson went out with an injury. Once gone, UM had almost nothing to turn to. Even when they did break out a big play, the Buckeyes stood them up at the goal line.

I thought the Buckeye offensive line would blow holes through the Michigan defense. They eventually did but it took them a while to get there.

Pryor put up 220 yards, mostly in the first half, and the Buckeyes put up another 258 on the ground, mostly in the second half. Buckeyes held Michigan to just 85 yards in the second half.

Pryor
Buckeye fans love to complain but seriously folks, most schools would kill for a quarterback like Pryor. Yeah, he makes mistakes and he threw an interception but it was so much fun to watch the Michigan defense chase him around the backfield. Pryor looks like he’s barely running but they sure couldn’t catch him.

Bitching Buckeyes
Just another thought on the complainers (and I heard a few this weekend)…Since the Tressel era, how many teams have been back in the hunt every year? Look back over the top ten teams of the past decade. How many are still with us? Florida? USC? Texas? Michigan?

Sure, they may be having off years but I can only think of one “off year” during the Tressel era. Face it Buckeye fans, we’ve got it good.

Dead Schemblechers/Blue Jackets vs. Red Wings
Pretty much sums up my Friday night. I love the Blue Jackets/Red Wings game night before Ohio State/Michigan–especially when Blue Jackets are doing well. What a great way to extend the rivalry for both sports.

They need to just make the Dead Schemblechers a required part of Ohio State/Michigan week. You could only pull of a schtick like this in Columbus.

Thoughts?
I’m sure I could go on but how about it folks. Thoughts on the game? Post ‘em below.

Joke Contest
I haven’t had a chance to go through the Michigan jokes yet. Be sure to check them out and feel free to let me know which you think is best. There’s also time to add jokes if you’ve got a good one.

©2012 The Buckeye Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Yes, there will be other Ohio State/Michigan games but never again will there be an Ohio State/Michigan game as we know it now. There is nothing my friends and I mean nothing like The Game with the Rose Bowl on the line. Ohio State/Michigan will always be a great rivalry but next year, it will be different.

I’m heading back for the game tomorrow so I don’t know if I’ll post again before game time. Be sure to drop by the Michigan Joke Contest and give us your best.

If you haven’t seen the Pro Combat Throwback Uniforms, be sure to check my post from the September press conference.

Cover me, I’m going in
I’m a guest this week on The Michigan Man podcast. Although it hasn’t posted yet, it should be up sometime Friday. Be sure to stop by to hear me tell Michigan fans that Rodriguez doesn’t respect the game, that I worry about the loss of a generation due to Michigan’s inability to hold up their end of the bargain and that the Ohio State offense is going to blow holes the size of Texas through the Michigan defense.

Flashback to the game that was
I launched this blog in August of 2006. At the time, I had no idea that 06 Ohio State/Michigan game would be the high-water mark of this great rivalry. To this day it amazes me that in Sept., on only the eighth post on this blog, I predicted that Ohio State would be ranked No.1 and UM No. 2 when they met in November. You can see that post here.

That year I was also asked to write a “Battle of the Blogs” for CSTV.com. I just went back and reread the post and looking at it, I may have hit something of a high watermark myself that day. If you need a little honor and tradition, be sure to check that one out here.

I could go on like this but I’ll leave that to you. For an interesting tour of the last four years of the Ohio State/Michigan rivalry through the incredibly biased eyes of you’re truly, click on the Archives link at the top of this page and look through the November posts.

©2012 The Buckeye Blog. All Rights Reserved.

I'll leave the caption to you

Four years ago this week, in a moment of laziness I threw up a post that read, “Ohio State vs. Michigan Jokes; Open Thread.” A mysterious contributor known only by the name “Webmaster 3,000″ quickly filled the comments with a string of about 20 Michigan jokes.

Since that time, I’ve collected more Michigan Jokes than I care to count. The joke threads on tBuckeyeblog rank at the top of the Google results and drive traffic to the blog throughout the year.

And since I’m all for a great tradition, it’s time once again for the annual Michigan Joke Contest.

Post your jokes in the comment section below. I’ll accept entries up until the point that I actually decide to judge them which could be Monday or Tuesday after the game.

Any prizes I can round up will be awarded on purely a subjective basis. That said, originality counts and that’s getting tough considering the growing number of jokes. You might want to review the links above before posting.

Best joke gets one of these

UPDATE: We Have Prizes
Prizes are here. Winner gets one of these sweet messenger bags from our friends at Gametimegeeks.com. Be sure to check them out.

Nuff said. Post em below
(And yes, captions to the photo above do count)

Update: We Have a Winner
Tough decision here folks. I’ve got to admit, I like the WWII “Shoot me first” joke but I’m seeing it all over the internet. I also like Tony’s captions (…and you’re the fastest? ….IQ get’s to 16, sell!) but it looks like Nike’s got a lock on the Oregon branding meaning Gametimegeeks.com doesn’t stock Oregon products.

Yep...that's him

But I left the judging to a top secret judging panel who’ve been sequestered for the past three days toiling away at their decision. And while I may not always agree with them, they are professionals. This year’s panel has decided to reward originality with the People’s Buckeye’s lines: “Did he say cheese or freeze” and also just the straight out stats on the Michigan defense. And if you haven’t seen the way Joey dresses for an Ohio State/Michigan game, something tells me he’ll appreciate it more than anyone. A game day photo probably would have been enough to win the contest in and of itself.

©2012 The Buckeye Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Buckeyes open as 17 point favorites against the Scum and personally, I think that’s a little low. In an interview I did for a UM podcast today, I think I committed to 43-12 Bucks (I’ll link to it when it goes live). What I haven’t seen yet and what I think is much more interesting is the over/under.

But before we get into that, a couple of thoughts on the 2010 Michigan season. Michigan climbed as high as No. 18 in the AP this year. With big wins over UConn (who could be a 4-loss team in a BCS Bowl), Notre Dame and Bowling Green, all signs pointed to the return of Michigan and even better, the Heisman Trophy for Denard Robinson.

Then they met Indiana (and Michigan State, and Iowa, and Penn State).

At that point, Coach Rodriguez smacked himself on the forehead saying, “Oh…you mean we have to play defense also?”

It basically comes down to this–the college football world is so desperate to see something that resembles football coming out of Ann Arbor that even the slightest shimmer is enough for the pundits to exclaim, “Michigan’s back.” Next thing you know, they’re all but ready to hand the Heisman to Robinson and bets are made on which BCS game UM will win.

Then reality sets in, we all realize that 65 points against Bowling Green really doesn’t mean all that much and we find ourselves here yet again.

But 43-12?
Yeah, 12 points might be a little high but the Buckeyes have been starting slow. Michigan is a one-dimensional team. Once the Buckeyes adjust to stopping Robinson and force him to pass, game over. Even if Robinson does manage to find holes and starts putting points on the board, it’s not like we won’t have an answer for it.

Personally, I think the biggest challenge for Robinson is actually getting a chance to play. Wisconsin pounded the ball straight up Michigan’s throat and Michigan could not answer. In the post-game comments Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema spelled it out (per AP on ESPN), “”I said, ‘They can’t stop our run game,’” Bielema recalled telling his players. “Point blank, it’s just that simple.”

So that’s what Wisconsin did. They ran the ball and they ran it again. Don’t think for a minute that Tressel won’t do the same. When Coach Tressel finds something that works, he likes to repeat it again and again until it doesn’t. This could mean big (and I mean big) yardage for Herron with impressive numbers from Pryor and even Sane. Justin Boren and the rest of the O-line will eat the Michigan freshmen for lunch. It won’t take long for them to blow huge holes through the Michigan defense. When they’re not building highways out of the backfield, they’ll be giving Pryor enough time to Tweet about how he hopes Posey catches the long pass he’s about to throw.

Run the ball, run the ball again and leave the fans wondering what it would have been like to see Robinson take a snap or two.

Quote of the year
This has to be one of the best comments to come out of Michigan in a long time. In his weekly Presser notes, Brian at MgoBlog quotes Denard Robinson as saying,

“I think our defense is one of the best defenses in the nation. I don’t care what nobody say. We face them every day, and they just help us get better.”

No…seriously…I couldn’t make this stuff up if I wanted to. Robinson knows, he has to face that defense every day in practice and they’re really really tough.

The Song Remains the Same
I was going through some of my Michigan week posts written during the past couple of years and I was amazed to see how many of them could have been written today.

In 2008, I ticked off a Michigan blog when I suggested that Coach Rodreguez didn’t understand the importance of The Game. Maze and Brew thought I took Rodreguez’s comments out of context (and was pretty “dumb”) but read down to the last comment on the post. Ike got it and hit it right on the nose.

I actually brought that up in the interview with the Michigan podcast. I don’t think I intended to but I can’t get over the sense that Tressel approaches The Game in a way Rodriguez never will.

That year I also asked the question, “How do you kick them when they’re already down.” Rereading that post you realize how little things have changed. I asked the question again last year and I’m sure that if I can squeeze it in, I’ll ask it again sometime this week.

Last year I also took a tour of the wasteland. For a school that prides themselves on academics, sometimes you just have to wonder. Don’t believe me, scroll down the page of that post and check out the confusion faced by Michigan fans confronted with satire.

How Lame is Michigan; Examples #359 and #360
I’ve been documenting the lameness that is Michigan for a number of years now but I just don’t know what to make of this. I stumbled across this video on UmGoBlog.com. under the heading, “Journey To Columbus – Hype Video” (ex. #359 below)

At first, I thought it was satire. I thought that it must have been made by an Ohio State fan and they we’re poking fun at it. It’s got everything a satire needs, bad 80s music, melancholy Sylvester Stallone fu, ridiculous monologues from Rocky IV (really, didn’t Rocky jump the shark around III?). If you watch it on Umgoblue.com, something causes it to read “UmGoBlo” in the top right as the video plays. I kid you not folks. Check it out for yourselves.

I’ve watched it more times than I can stomach and I’m still not sure if it’s satire or not. It’s posted on a YouTube channel owned by, and I shit you not folks, “In Rod We Trust” which is another Michigan blog I’ve never seen before (ex. #360). At this point, I’m convinced that this is all an elaborate joke. Read the “Rich Rodriguez Thesis.” Stephan Colbert couldn’t hold a candle to these guys.

But here’s the thing, if it’s not a joke, this is the stuff that get’s Michigan fans pumped up. No ramp entrance, no glorious battle music, just man lust for a sad Sylvester Stalone. I watch this video and I get this horrible image of these guys getting all excited and messing up the plumbing in their dorm.

I’ll leave it to you folks. You’ve got to love the edits of last year’s Ohio State players walking off the field with heads hung low. Yeah…it was a real rough game.

And with that, it’s 12:37 a.m and…

©2012 The Buckeye Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Not that this surprises any of us:

It was just a matter of time

A non Ohio State/Michigan friend of mine (Topcultured.com) posted this the week after Michigan game but in an attempt to move on…I let it go. Now it’s on Huffington Post so may as well. Apparently it really did appear on the UM Campus. I’ll let you decide if it was a joke.

©2012 The Buckeye Blog. All Rights Reserved.

That’s what six years of beating Michigan looks like–2,191 days. The next time Michigan steps up for their annual beat down, they will have gone 2,191 days without knowing what it is like to win The Game.

And while it was great to see the Buckeyes win, in typical Buckeye fan fashion, the game was not without concerns. We won and that’s what counts but there certainly weren’t any style points. It’s not that we didn’t beat the spread–besides, I got in at 11 so I broke even. Maybe its just that there wasn’t enough pain inflicted.

My biggest frustration comes with the play calling (again). The Wolverine defense fronts one of the worst secondaries in the Big Ten if not college football yet we failed to take advantage. I’m not even sure we tried. I could probably count the number of passing plays up the middle on one hand. As usual, Trees was playing it way conservative and when we gave up an interception, which was not Pryor’s fault, he pulled it in even closer. It worked against Michigan but will it play in the Rose Bowl.

Maybe he knows something we don’t. Maybe he still doesn’t have faith in his young quarterback. Maybe, since Michigan pretty much sucks, he was holding back the real stuff for the Rose Bowl…sort of surprise attack. Maybe he wanted to keep it close in an attempt to keep D Rod around as long as possible. He knows he’s got a softy sitting across the field–why knock a good thing.

For now, I’m going with surprise attack and keep D-Rod as long as possible. With that here’s some quick thoughts on the weekend:

Let Pryor throw the ball
Buckeyes put up a total 67 yards passing with Pryor going 9/17 averaging a measly 3.9 yards per play. I’m not going to knock him for the interception. The pass may have been a little high but it had some heat on it and it should have been caught. Meanwhile Forcier threw for 226 yards. Sure, he also threw four interceptions but Ohio State should have been putting up numbers like that.

I would have loved to see Tress abuse the Michigan secondary. It would have given Pryor a much needed confidence boost and it would have been a lot more fun to watch. Open up on them quick. If it doesn’t work, go back to the conservative, three-yards-and–a-cloud-of stuff. Instead of putting them away early and playing from a position of power, we let them stick around way too long. I don’t know who’ll we’ll play in the Rose Bowl but that stuff won’t play against Oregon.

Enjoy the turnovers
Add a fumble to the four interceptions and yeah, Michigan looked pretty bad. While they didn’t get any help from our defense, they didn’t do themselves any favors either. Our defense is good but I’m not going to count on that type of action in the Rose Bowl. Sure would be nice if we did though.

Pressure and Contain/Zone Coverage
Is it me or did it seem like the defense was holding back. They needed to paste Forcier a good one early — put the fear in him. Would have been a different game if they had. Also don’t know what was up with that coverage in the secondary. It wasn’t working but we kept doing it over and over.

Michigan is young
With a young team like this, you would think that they will be a threat in the next couple of years. I don’t see it though. Not with D-Rod at the helm. Chances are they won’t send him packing this year but it’s coming.

Anybody want to make book on Forcier
I’m thinking he announces he’s gone before the first bowl game. Michigan’s got two quarterbacks coming in behind him. There’s been plenty of talk that he and D-Rod aren’t getting along. From what I hear, Rice would love to have him.

Maybe they can get Les Miles
Anybody see Miles blow the game against Old Miss? I haven’t looked but I can’t believe the fans aren’t calling for his head. Not only did he sit back and watch about two plays tic off the clock, when presented with an opportunity to chip it in for the win, the coaching staff wasn’t ready. For the record, you can’t spike the ball without moving the clock. Talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

Go UConn
This has nothing to do with Ohio State/Michigan but what a game. By the time it was over, both teams were in tears. One because they finally pulled out a win in what has been a very difficult season. The other because they lost in what has been a very difficult season. You’ve really got to feel for UConn. After losing a teammate in a violent crime, they’ve lost their last five games by less then four points each. As much as I enjoy watching ND lose, it was great to see UConn win for all the right reasons. After the game, their coach could barely talk he was so overwhelmed.

The contrast across the field was disturbing. Coach Wies and his seniors were also choking up but for different reasons. UConn players and coaches who are still mourning the death of a teammate. Notre Dame just lost another game. Chances are it was Wies’ last and the entire program has felt the heat. Apparently Weis spent most of Saturday night consoling crying players.

I’m sorry but I don’t feel a lot of sympathy. It will take around $18 million to buy out Wies’ contract not to mention the assistant coaches who will need to be bought out. Naturally, just because they’re Notre Dame, they still have an outside shot at a BCS game.

©2012 The Buckeye Blog. All Rights Reserved.