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Michigan's real nemesis - Troy or Tressel?

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beatnd

Rookie
OK guys....since I can tell you're already sickened by the Florida swamp gas on your site :)....and since 50 days is plenty of time to talk about some other worthy topics besides The Gator's pity entry into the NC....I thought I'd get in a quick Michigan topic if that's alright?
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....I've got an honest question I'd love your perspective on:

I'm a Wolverine and my brother's a Buckeye (yeah things get real interesting in our family the week of THE GAME
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) ....we we're discussing today who really has been the reason that OSU has had Michigan's number as of late....ie - Is it Tressel that has owned Carr or is it Troy that has owned Michigan? Now the popular media/fan take has been the former of course....5-1, LLLLLoyd etc....etc....but I'm just wondering if it's actually the latter?

Now let me first say, Tressel is clearly a fantastic coach, great leader, exudes team confidence, great game planner/strategist etc....etc.... - and he clearly 'gets' the UM-OSU rivalry!....and yes the fact is Lloyd is clearly halfway to Cooper territory vs Tressel.....but....

I just can't help but wonder if Tressel is actually 2-1 against Carr (pre-Troy) and then the real key point lately is that Troy is 3-0 against Michigan.....ie - that the true difference maker in the last 3 UM-OSU games has really been Troy not Tressel? I mean Troy's big-game pedigree is amazing! He's 5-0 as a starter in OSU's biggest showdowns - Michigan 3-times, Texas and Notre Dame. Staggering moments and/or offensive stats can be found in all five. Particularly 1000+ yards in 3 Mich games!!....I mean that's unreal!!!! Now is that just Troy - a Heisman winning QB - makin' it happen in THE GAME or is it coaching?....I don't know it just seems like it takes a long scarlet and gray thread to tie that all to Tressel's brilliance. Clearly the Michigan defense has been unable to wrap up and contain Smith in 2004 & 2005 (with a 9 pt 4th qtr lead) and stop him at all in 2006 (especially with the score 35-31 in the 4th qtr)....but is that evidence that Tressel made any great coaching decisions or that Carr - a coach with 27 years at Michigan - suddenly doesn't 'get' the Buckeyes-Wolverines rivalry (especially when you consider his domination of Cooper and that 4 of his 5 losses to Tressel are by 6 points or less?)....or is it just that Troy has played absolutely amazing in these big Michigan games!....and thus it is Troy that really owns Michigan?

Now I'm sure it's obviously a combination of the two....but I'm interested in what you think....if you had to pick one or the other....do you think that as of late it's really been Tressel that has owned Carr or Troy that has owned Michigan? I'd love your perspective guys....and I guess we'll get a good 'Troyless' data point next year in Ann Arbor right?
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All the best!
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I think it's a little bit of both. Remember, we beat Michigan in 2002 on our way to a National Championship, with no Troy. The thing about The Game is, talent or no Talent. Who ever wants it the badest will win it. :)
 
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OK I hear ya guys...and JT may very well be the right answer....but as I said to my brother....lemme ask you this....which TSUN team do you think would have had the better shot in the Shoe this year:

Carr coached Michigan with Troy at QB vs Tressel coached OSU (without Troy)

or

Tressel coached Michigan vs Carr coached OSU with Troy at QB

or if that's just to weird to think about
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....you can just think about it this way....who would have had a better shot:

Michigan vs a Troy-less OSU

or

Michigan vs a Tressel-less OSU

JT is indeed a great coach....but the bottom line, is given the amazing nums he's put up in this series I'd take whoever had Troy at QB in the 1st scenario and whoever wasn't playing Troy in the 2nd scenario!
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....and my Buckeye brother agreed!
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first, it's a bit much to put on just a RB like wells, b/c even though i think he'll do well against scUM, we're gonna need good QB play to beat them next year in AA. second, i think every year we've won w/ smith has been different. in '04, smith killed them running it on broken plays. in '05, our defense did a great job keeping us in the game, and then smith comes back with two late drives. in '06, our o-line does a great job for the most part protecting smith against their monster d-line, giving him time to make the throws. while smith has been a big part, i have to give the overall credit to JT, especially since after watching our anemic offense in '02 (w/o MoC) and '03 (the lydell ross era), i never thought we'd become an offensive juggernaut like right now, mostly due to JT's conservative offensive playcalling at the time.
 
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beatnd said:
OK I hear ya guys...and JT may very well be the right answer....but as I said to my brother....lemme ask you this....this year which TSUN team do you think would have had the better shot in the Shoe:

Carr coached Michigan with Troy at QB vs Tressel coached OSU (without Troy)

or

Tressel coached Michigan vs Carr coached OSU with Troy at QB

Bottom line is given the nums he's put up in this series I'd take whoever had Troy at QB!
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....and my Buckeye brother agreed!
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Click to expand...
Really? When you take a starting QB off of a team you don't pick them to win? Shocking.
 
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