The Game Michigan at OSU

Watching Location Parents house

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First Half

Ok the game, osu scores on their first time after converting 3 third downs. Egbuka streaks open after a little bit of a pick play but one that everyone just agrees is ok as long as it happens within the line of scrimmage. The wr's make some good catches, the most disturbing part of the whole drive is the effectiveness of the running game. They are seemingly edging and getting off tackle. I also think I see some holding on the interior line. Michigan's drive goes even worse though. Pass, then blake run. Blake clearly isn't himself. He is hurt and he cannot drive off his leg. Whatever knee injury happened to him is serious and hurtful enough that he cannot play as fast as michigan needed him to be. The running game is not working.Mccarthy makes some rollout scramble connects. It doesn't look pretty or repeatable. Get's into the redzone and then he takes an intentional grounding penalty. It was essentially a sack. One of 4-5 plays on the day where osu just gets a really good blitz in. This comes back to bite them.

Next drive osu is held to a fg, michigan goes 3 and out after missing a pass, osu drives again and fails on a 4th down conversion. The stops feel good but it feels like a repeat of the illinois game where we couldn't move the ball at all. The BPONE is leaning on me. They went with a pass but it just goes out of the hands of the te. The db makes a decent play on it. Harrell makes a good play on it later. Michigan gets the ball back at the 25. they try another run. It is not working out. Osu is putting 6 in the box and blitzing their lbs into the line every play. They are going full man so anyone not on a route their defender run blitzes. Michigan gets a 3rd and 6th and osu does a full house blitz. Mccarthy throws in almost a lob pass to cornelius johnson on a 7 yard flat. I was sure he was going to drop it. Johnson grabs it, breaks a tackle, dodges the safety and takes it to the house for 69 (nice) yards. The whole game flips on one play. The stadium goes quiet. 10-10.

Middle of the second osu gets the ball after a long tv timeout. Feels a little like its time to flip the script on osu. Just stopped them twice and michigan scored big. OSU opens the drive with an inexplicable 24 yard run. This rb averaged 2 ypc last week against maryland. OSU does a hurry up immediately after the ball is set. Trying to catch michigan and they do. Harrison jr shows a little of what hes about and gets just outside of the michigan redzone. OSU makes some mental mistakes with their rush, incomplete pass & a false start. Michigan forces another fg 10-13.

Michigan gets the ball back with 5 minutes left. This is normally when michigan likes to go on an 11 play 5 minute drive that makes you question your very sanity as harbaugh takes 3 timeouts into the half. Instead osu gets caught looking again and mccarthy hits a wide open cj who hit a double move (corner to post) and is streaking. It's a beautiful lob pass that jj gives cj a good chance on. He doesn't try to throw it as far as he can. CJ walks it in for 76 yards and a 12 second drive. 17-13. The announcers have flip their scripts a little bit about saying that michigan looks like they are in trouble but they make it a point the rest of the half calling out that michigan doesn't have a repeatable offense.

I'm mostly in the same boat at this point. It's hard to see what osu is doing on defense but my expectations from the previous games this season are that michigan cannot keep executing at this level.

OSU goes 4 passes in a row to score with a 42 yard harrison td 20-17. This is the last score of the half. Both teams make some bad decisions with their end of half drives (michigan's drive has some sheninigans with a very late osu timeout that michigan would have converted and the ref having the clock run inexplicably but it didn't seem to matter even in the moment)

Half time

Half time. Many michigan fans are saying the same thing. That went as bad as it could go and it still turned out pretty good. I text some of my friends about how I should feel. My dad goes to take the dog for a mini walk. All season michigan has destroyed teams in the 3rd quarter and won every 4th quarter. The defensive and offensive adjustments are always prime. The previous week against illinois without corum or edwards was the only exception. Which pattern will michigan follow? I generally think Harbaugh is a better coach than JJ but how good is OSU's new dc jim knowles. Little back story here, last year osu got ran up and out of the big house. OSU had 2 dc's. Two old buddies of Day's that he had convinced to leave their other jobs and come work for him. He drops them one week after the game. Coaches do need to move on from their friends but it had been one game. Knowles was the dc for Oklahoma State (the other OSU) who had made them a stingy defense (in the big 12 who isn't really known for pro running?).

Second Half

Second half michigan gets the ball. They go down the field with some pretty good short and long passes. JJ gets a long run on what is maybe a qb draw or a read to cross into mid field. OSU blitzes, mccarthy scrambles and hits the true freshman and #1 2021 idaho fb player Courtland Loveland on a seam. It's another awesome pass. He dives for the endzone 24-20 michigan in a 7 play 3 minute drive.

There is some concern in my brain about scoring too fast and not being able to keep osu off the field. Michigan normally has the time of possession advantage and their oline bullies the other team. Here osu is making michigan earn every rush yard and we've all seen jj over throw even easy passes.

OSU gets the ball back and this is another key drive. What adjustments have both teams made? So far michigan had been fine to rush 4 and depend on their coverage. There's a deep safety over harrison but except for a couple of cover 1 & 2 mixins michigan is letting it ride.

OSU comes out with some runs that all are shorter than 4 yards and one 7 yard harrison pass. Their third down play is an edge run that gets team tackled by sanistril and colson. Colson in particular is finally making only heads up plays (even if he did get edged several times in the first half). Sanistril has been all over while playing the slot corner. This is his 4th tackle already.

Michigan gets the ball at their 13 with 8 minutes to play up 4. again this feels like the time michigan uses 8 minutes to score and demoralize the other team. Time for a heavy run dose. Instead 2 passes to bell. The first bell and mccarthy are on the wrong play on a play action that gets the safety to bite like hell. Bell points forward mccarthy points back. This has been happening all season. As far as I can remember mccarthy is always throwing them deep so I do think bell needs to just assume he is reading the option route as deep even if mccarthy is reading it wrong technically. That might not be safe though if it's supposed to be an option curl route as a missed read by the wr in that case often turns into a pick 6.

Michigan has 3rd and 10 from their 13. That's enough space to punt but if you take a sack you are risking a bad punt block and at best giving the ball inside your own 40. Michigan does one of their bread and butter plays. Duo right and te seam clears out the right side except for the lb on the rb. Edwards gets the pass but it takes him and extra half second with his cast. The osu lb with 2 broken thumbs (brought up multiple times. He was athletic but I think he benefited the most from the osu box stacking). Edwards is ankle tackled on a drag after getting 2 yards. Feels bad and michigan punts. Another long tv timeout. I could feel every michigan fan's anxiety as my own.

Punt returns in The Game are heisman moments. Fortunately OSU fair catches at 48. OSU drops back to pass but mazi smith immediately breaks the interior for a great pass rush. The osu lineman pulls hard on his hand to slow him up and cj gets an excellent 24 yard pass off to the rb. I yell because I saw the hold and was getting flash backs of the ref show that was the 2016 game. A late flag comes in the back field and then an even later one in the secondary near the play. I assume they are going to call offsetting penalties but it's the best case scenario you can get. A los holding call and a dead ball penalty on osu for headbutting a michigan player. OSU has 1st and 35 from the osu 27. No one relaxes. Stroud completes a pass to harrison and the rb for 30 yards to get back to the michigan 43. OSU has a 4th and 6. Day elects to punt which pisses stroud off. I agree with him. Osu should go for it here they had the momentum and if they had gone tempo harrison they probably would have converted.

The punt results in a touchback resulting a net 23 yard punt 1st and 10 from the 20 with 5:50 in the 3rd. Michigan opens with a rb pass and then 5 straight runs. Mixing between jj draw, scramble, and edwards runs. Michigan is getting the push off the line and the lbs are having to watch gaps since they are running a hybrid 5-2/4-3 (edge rusher is lb) as they added a safety back after getting totally waxed. Michigan gets to the osu 38 for a 3rd and 1. Michigan had already failed this at the end of the first half. Kalel Mullings, a converted lb (who was at rb in spring camp before a different lb got hurt and split back) comes in as the big back. OSU is back to their 8 men in the box and all the lb's have their hands on the legs (key that they have their weight on their toes about to hit the line). Everyone in the stadium knows michigan is about to try a dive and osu is going to crowd the box to stop. What happens next is probably everyone's favorite play call, mccarthy hands it to kalel he takes a step forward, then stops looks up and throws a ducky lob to Luke Schoonmaker (had returned from injury) who had leaked out as the second te on the right side who is wide open. Luke turns fully around to make sure to grab that ball and if he could have ditched that db he would have been able to rumble in.
Michigan runs 3 more times and gets the first down but the down marker on the other side of the field & the scoreboard doesn't update. The refs are watching the playclock wind down but michigan refuses to snap until its updated. Harbaugh uses a timeout and goes at the refs. In a very surprising move, the refs agree and say that they should have changed the down markers and by rule the play clock is reset as such. They do not take michigan's time out (ironically on the next play michigan uses it because jj got the call wrong). Michigan goes run0, incomplete pass, and then gets blitzed. Ronnie bell is wide open in the back of the endzone on the opposite side of mccarthy. Mccarthy can't get open enough to throw until late and throws up another lob. Bell jumps up and is hit well before the ball arrives but it is BARELY catchable. Bell jumped too early but he did get a hand on it. The refs throw pass interference and michigan gets the ball on the 2. I've been a michigan fan since I was born. I have never seen michigan get such a call in an important game while away. Michigan runs for a loss, throws the ball through the te's hands and then uses an awesome qb power left to run in for a td. 31-20 osu. The game is more or less over from here.

OSU gets the ball back with 13 minutes left, goes 3 and out and punts (questionable punt).

Michigan throws, gets another PI and then can't pick up a first. They go for a 57 yard fg that just misses left by 2 feet but has the leg. People question this decision because it gives osu field position but I think it was worth trying.

OSU gets the ball with 9 minutes left 31-20. OSU gets to 3rd and 8 and shroud hits a dime pass to Emeka Egbuka for 44 yards. Michigan makes some awesome defensive plays, specifically edge defender harrel and sanistril knock balls out of players hands. Sanistril stopped a corner td and osu settles for a fg. I feel pretty good about the game at this point. Osu hasn't been dangerous all game. Shroud is clearly off his game and michigan is both running and passing well.

Garbage Time

Michigan 75 td run. OSU is not playing gap sound and is selling full out on selling this run. They no longer have a safety.

OSU pick (should have also been a fumble they called dead)
Michigan 85 yard run

OSU pick

Post Game

Michigan wins so solidly that they should be ranked #1. I think it matters because playing the 4th ranked team will be a lot easier than the 3rd. I do hope michigan gets the Fiesta bowl in phx over the peach bowl in atlanta because it's a shorter flight.

This is an awesome win but the best part is what it will feel like in future seasons. This has bought me at least 5 years of not thinking “ya but how will Michigan look vs osu” or “that might be good now but it’s not good enough to beat osu.” I can now just assume harbaugh will and the team will figure it out. Osu has to worry now.