The Game of the Century
Ohio State vanquished yet again, inside-the-stadium analysis
Michigan does it again. Against all odds, the Wolverines finish 12-0 for the second straight year. In doing so, they send Ohio State packing yet again, and I had the opportunity to be there to see it.
This game has caused a lot of chaos in the Ohio State fanbase. Many of the Buckeye faithful are calling for the firing of Ryan Day, who by the way is 56-7 with two CFP appearances. Their disappointment with a coach who’s had such success indicates their desperation to beat Michigan, which they’ve failed to do for 3 years now.
The atmosphere prior to the game was exciting. 3 pre-game shows surrounded the stadium, including Big Noon Kickoff, ESPN Gameday, and Barstool Sports’ new show. All three attracted large crowds. I noticed that the ratio of Michigan fans to Ohio State fans was greater than in 2021. We saw much more Maize and Blue on Saturday than we did last time at the Big House.
This game was bittersweet. It will be the last time “The Game” has this type of significance ever again. The winner of this game would clinch a birth in the playoff, and the loser likely would be eliminated. This game also had hugely high stakes, as Jim Harbaugh was not on the sidelines to coach the biggest game of his Michigan career. The TV analytics back it up, as this was the most watched regular season game in Fox history. The viewership peaked at about 23 million views, the highest so far this season. With the expansion of the CFP to 12 teams, the winner of “The Game” will no longer decide which team makes the playoffs. If both programs remain strong, they should both have guaranteed spots in the future, even if they lose the rivalry game.
But now the game itself:
About an hour before the game started, I went down to the field to watch the players warmup. To my surprise, I saw Donovan Edwards practicing throwing the ball. He was making perfect throws from the end zone to the 35 yard-line. Seeing this, I made a prediction that he would be involved in some type of trick play later on. As you can imagine, I was very happen to be proven correct. I also saw the Ohio State kicker warming up. Naturally, he was being distracted by the Michigan fans behind the goalpost. They seemed to get to him, because I saw him miss 3 kicks in a row. I wondered if these struggles would continue into the game, and again, I was thrilled to see that they did.
Against OSU, JJ McCarthy played the best game of his life. On several instances, he turned dead plays into big gains. He made NFL level throws throughout, but the best one was his TD pass to Roman Wilson. McCarthy placed the ball perfectly between 2 defenders for the score. Later, he released a statement about this magic play: "I was just doing film study all week on No. 25, and whenever he turns his head, he doesn't look at the quarterback, so once I saw him put eyes on Roman, I knew he was only covering the width of his shoulders and I just let it rip." McCarthy trusted his teammates, and they trusted him. This level of trust was very clear during the game. After bad plays, they didn’t get discouraged and stayed disciplined. On the other hand, Ohio State players seemed to get increasingly frustrated as their bad plays piled up. This is a huge difference-maker, and I think it has to do with the coaching staff. Michigan’s staff has made attempts to turn the team into a family, and it’s been paying dividends this season.
It’s been no secret that Michigan’s been struggling to keep up with the SEC and Ohio State with recruiting. However, I think this game proved that it doesn’t matter. Some of our best players this season not have been highly touted recruits. For example, 3 star Rod Moore made the game sealing interception, and he didn’t even get an offer from OSU, despite having grown up in Ohio. Defensive Captain Mike Sainristil was also a 3 star, and came in as a WR. In just 2 years, the Michigan staff developed him into an NFL level slot corner. And of course, Blake Corum. He came in as the #19 RB in the country. I went back to his high school scouting report, and found “Concerns about being physically maxed out,” and a prediction to be a “Day 3 draft pick” at best. Corum is the best example of Michigan’s development team we have. His utter domination over the past 3 years has been unbelievable. He capped off his stellar regular career with a huge go-ahead TD run, and it looked eerily similar to his game winning run against Penn State. This big run was the very next play after the fall of Zak Zinter, our best offensive lineman. When he went down, the 110,000 person stadium went silent. It was by far the quietest I’ve ever heard a sporting event (except for maybe a Giants game). The crowd broke out into chants for Zinter as he left in the cart. Watching this live, I was sure his loss would result in a collapse of the offense. And then, the very next play, Corum silenced these doubts.
Sherrone Moore also coached a perfect game. He was not afraid to take risks, and converted 4th downs when needed. He would attempt multiple 4th down conversions all on the same drive. We couldn’t have asked for more from an Interim Head Coach.
Next week, Michigan faces off against Iowa for the Big 10 Championship. While this game is important, the Wolverines have likely clinched a spot in the CFP regardless of the outcome. Now, we have the luxury of watching teams like Oregon, Washington, Alabama, and Texas, so we can scout potential CFP opponents.
The Selection Show for the playoff is December 3, so my next post will be both a reaction to the Big 10 Championship, and a pre-game prediction for our opponent.