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Hey! My prediction was right!!!

yes I did. and that's why I said the running game is always the key to a victory, but the passing game is extremely crucial too. Pitt was absolutely huge, but we won the game more by Smith's arm than Pitt/Smith's running. I guess Smith has to throw for 400 before it becomes extremely crucial.

As for UM's struggles, clearly the lack of a running game was THE problem. That being said, in The Game, where anything can and usually does happen, they nearly beat us without one.

You might want to give Gonzo some credit for making an amazing catch on a poorly thrown ball since you're passing out credit to everyone else. If Gonzo doesn't make that circus catch we go home unhappy.
 
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and if we had been able to run the ball on the second drive (or if pittman had been in the game), we may win handily. I guess the hypothetical doesn't mean much to me, since there are a million of them.

The running game is always more important. I'm merely defending the passing game's importance.
You might want to give Gonzo some credit for making an amazing catch on a poorly thrown ball since you're passing out credit to everyone else. If Gonzo doesn't make that circus catch we go home unhappy.
fine, great work gonzo, that was a dangerous ball. Thanks Frost, you had a remarkable catch to put us in range for the FG. Ginn, you had a number of great catches on the final drives. Holmes, way to finally started dominating when we needed you to do so. Hall you also had a great catch.

I was talking about smith b/c it was easier than writing out all of the above options. But now I've been more fair to the team.
 
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You might want to give Gonzo some credit for making an amazing catch on a poorly thrown ball since you're passing out credit to everyone else. If Gonzo doesn't make that circus catch we go home unhappy.

No to diminish the greatness of the play...but it was first down...
 
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I'm merely defending the passing game's importance.
Of course it is and I don't think anyone is arguing that it isn't. However, football games are won on the ground offensively. Steve Spurrier's greatest Fun&Gun passing teams were always great rushing teams as well.

Not to mention that tOSU's passing is opened up by the threat of Troy Smith's rushing. If I'm the DC facing tOSU, I take away Troy's legs first...then make his arm beat me in the pocket. Easier said than done, but still, that is in respect to the rushing aspect of the game as opposed to the passing.
 
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I wish I had 1st half v. 2nd half stats. I think it would show that Henne threw the ball better in the 1st than the second. This is important here because once it was established that the UM ground game was going nowhere, and OSU could play against the pass with less fear of a run, Henne's stats went south.

I recall Henne (and Smith) both started out very "hot" but once OSU was able to establish it could run, Smith's numbers stayed "hot" because Michigan still had to respect the run, whereas OSU did not.
 
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very good point about troy's legs. I don't disagree that the rushing game (for both teams) was why we won. This harmless little bickering fest between bkb and I continued when I said "run = key to victory, but passing is extremely crucial" and he said it wasn't extremely crucial. probably just semantics
 
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very good point about troy's legs. I don't disagree that the rushing game (for both teams) was why we won. This harmless little bickering fest between bkb and I continued when I said "run = key to victory, but passing is extremely crucial" and he said it wasn't extremely crucial. probably just semantics

That's right, it's not crucial.. and actually you said it was "Extremely Crucial"

cru·cial ([FONT=verdana, sans-serif] P [/FONT]) Pronunciation Key (kr
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adj.
    1. Extremely significant or important: <CITE>a crucial problem.</CITE>
    2. Vital to the resolution of a crisis; decisive: <CITE>a crucial election.</CITE> See Synonyms at decisive.
That definition describes the running game, since apparently we both agree it's the "Key" to victory.

key

A vital, crucial element.

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=Key

Not to mention the fact that with only 2 exceptions (now 3) the team witht he better passing game has LOST 4 out of 6 (now 7)
 
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Then maybe it would have been an int if Gonzo didn't catch it. Yeah that makes it sound better.
I was just trying to state that regardless of what Danielson said that was probably Troy's worst ball the whole game. 10 yards further downfield and it's an easy TD.

I know... I'm going OT here, but people have been comparing it to Holy Buckeye... and it WAS an awesome catch... but provided it didn't get picked... we still had some more bullets in the gun... Holy Buckeye had the Game, the Big Ten Title and the NC all riding on one 4th down shot.
 
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