Contributions from the M-Zone:
No Doubt About It: OSU Big Ten's Top Dog
Sometimes the truth hurts...
and
Michigan Football: Getting our purrrrrr on
The M-Zone has a couple other decent articles that are worth reading:
Hey, Section 4...you suck
Let's be honest, Buckeye, Wolverine, general college football fan: that had to be one of the most ass-boring games in the history of the sport. Seriously, the most excitement on my end was when the dude to my right offered me his extra rain poncho.
That aside, the atmosphere was amazing...if you were in the student section. They were loud from the beginning and right on through until the end. A tip o' the hat to you guys.
But that wasn't the norm. At least from my vantage point.
My buddy got us great seats, section 4, almost the 40 yard line...but apparently right in the middle of a fucking tax audit. These people had all the energy of a rotting corpse...which is almost an insult to rotting corpses.
On several "key plays," I turned to look at the folks above me to see what they were doing. I was hoping to see yelling, screaming and general noise making. Instead, I think I saw breathing. Although even that might be debatable. Hell, these people don't even shake their keys.
How pathetic.
Worst of all was when the Ohio State fans in attendance started their "O-H-I-O" going around the stadium. Thankfully, the student section stopped it since the cadavers around me were obviously trying to break some Guinness Book of World Records mark for quietest stadium section ever in a big game.
Looking back only because I must
There's really not much to say in terms of what transpired on the football field Saturday except that the better team won. And while it was probably not a great effort by the Bucks, it was a very smart one.
Defensively, Tressel quickly realized that Henne was still hurt and couldn't beat them passing. Thus, Tosu wisely loaded up to stop Hart (after a few opening runs that gave me hope) then watched as Henne's balls fluttered harmlessly all over the field (and in and out of the hands of Michigan receivers the few times he was on target).
Offensively, once the Bucks got the two-score lead - and with his own QB having an off day - Tressel decided to just run, run, run knowing, like a Woody Hayes/Bo Schembechler Three Yards and a Cloud of Dust showdown from some bygone era, Michigan would be unable to move the ball against his defense.
It really was that simple: take what the other team is giving you and get out of dodge with a victory. Period. Style points be damned.
While there was the false hope of never really being out of it due to both the closeness of the score and some decent starting field position in the second half, the truth of the matter is, one glance at the stats on the giant Michigan scoreboard revealed it would take a small miracle for the outcome to change.
Worst of all, was the grim resignation as I watched this game unfold. The above wasn't something I thought of as I sat down to write up this post-mortem tonight, those were things I actually turned to my buddy and said as we were subjected to the ugliness on the field. It wasn't rocket science, it was a beating by Buckeye squad right out of the 60s.
The sad fact for Wolverine fans is that this team really isn't that good. I don't know that we so much underachieved as over-achieved. Our offensive line never was a force that we thought it would be (except for Jake Long). Mario Manningham showed up about 50% of the time. The defense proved it wasn't just the spread that could ding them but pretty much just running it right up the gut (see: Wisco & Tosu).
I could go into the minutia of what transpired on the field, but why? What is really the point unless I want to get frustrated all over again by an effort that produced a whopping 14 yards in the second half. I mean, it's almost comical when our biggest plays of the day were a couple of PI calls (although, seeing how our receivers were playing, in hindsight, I'm guessing OSU DBs are wondering today why they even bothered since the balls most likely wouldn't have been caught anyway).
I will say that there is simply no underestimating how different a team we are/were without Hart and Henne at 100%. One only has to look at how average Oregon is without Dennis Dixon to see what the loss of a team's top playmakers does. And Michigan had two of its best hobbled much of the season. Would it have made a difference Saturday? Sadly, I can't say for sure.
Here's the worst thing about this loss is that there is no shock or outrage on my part. I bleed maize and blue yet it's almost, dare I say, not surprising. I guess I now know how Buck fans felt in the 90s.