Buckeyes Win 4th Straight Against Michigan

The 104th edition of college football's greatest rivalry took place in Ann Arbor today. With Lloyd Carr coaching his last game in the Big House and Chad Henne, Mike Hart and Jake Long looking for redemption, it seemed like karma might actually be favoring the underdog Wolverines. There were some anxious moments, as readers could have found this blog sporting some maize and blue with a Wolverine win. But on a miserable, rainy day, the Buckeyes slogged their way to a 14-3 victory.

*Jim Tressel's dominance in this rivalry cannot be understated, as Buckeye fans were missing much of the anxiety that used to come with Michigan week. On the other hand, Wolverine fans sounded a lot like OSU fans circa John Cooper. I almost felt sympathetic. Seriously.

*Any part of me that wanted to feel bad for Michigan fans was stamped out by Mike Hart. I know this guy is beloved my Michigan folks for his love of the program and his passion, but he epitomizes a classless, sore loser to me. His mouthing off after last year's epic #1 vs. #2 battle will never be forgotten in Columbus, and I spent much of the time waiting for his promised 4 TD performance.

*On the other hand, I will be sad to see Lloyd Carr go, and not just because he cemented Michigan as the Big Ten bridesmaid. He is a quality college coach in the sense that he runs a clean program and genuinely tries to be a positive influence to his players. His record and coaching skill was never as good as partisan Michigan fans claimed, but his recent failings will e overstated when discussing his legacy. That said, if it were me I'd be ready for a change.

*Vernon Gholston had three sacks and was clearly playing with a, "This is my last Michigan game" attitude. Shame on jealous, bitter Michigan fans who let him leave Cass Tech for accusing him of steroid use. It's not his fault Michigan has not semblance of a strength and conditioning program.

*Beanie Wells played like the elite running back OSU expected when he arrived in Columbus. With 220 yards, he's already made his mark on the rivalry. He accounted for the overwhelming majority of the offense (for both teams) and did it with no support from the passing game. The Rose Bowl is an opportunity for him to start his 2008 Heisman campaign in earnest, and in typical OSU fashion, get ready to leave for the NFL as a junior. Only his durability can stop him from achieving greatness.

*Ohio State stopped running any sort of offense with around twenty minutes left in the game. We took a bet on how many passes OSU QB Todd Boeckman would throw the remainder of the game, with the line set at 5. The under was a crush, as Boeckman threw just one futile pass in the ground the rest of the way. Yes, the weather was a huge downer to Buckeye passing attack. But 7 completions for 50 yards is pathetic.

*The Ohio State defensive line thoroughly dominated the Michigan offensive line, constantly pressuring Henne and true freshman Ryan Mallet. On the other hand, the pass coverage was spotty. The Wolverine receivers were plagued by drops and when they did break free the passes were off target. About the best you can say is that OSU correctly committed pass interference a few times to avoid any big plays.

*There are really no other players to evaluate because the game was in shutdown mode most of the way. Whether because of injuries, weather, incompetence or the OSU defense, Michigan couldn't get anything going. And once Beanie made it a two score lead, the Buckeyes ran some old school Tressel-ball. There will plenty to discuss this week, but Buckeye Nation can go out and celebrate tonight.

#20 Abides

From Espn chat: (2006)

Drew (SC): Mike, what player hits the hardest?

Mike Hart: I would say Dave Harris on my own team, honestly.

Nate (mich): Mike how many Tds are you putting on the buckeyes next?

Mike Hart: Probably four.

Matt (cleveland, OHIO): Mike, Do you think in a rematch between osu at a neutral site the wolverines would come out on top?

Mike Hart: Definitely. No question.

Mike Hart transcript from Quite Frankly ... (2006)

Mike, I hear you speaking for you and Ohio State, but USC? They lost to Oregon State and UCLA.

"Oh, I think USC's defense is definitely better than Ohio State's defense," Hart said. "There is no question in my mind. They have a better front seven, better safeties. They'll be as good a defense as we've faced all year. They're a great defense."They're faster, they're quicker. Their linebackers are a lot faster, and just a lot better players. Their safeties will come down and hit. Ohio State's safeties really didn't come down and hit. USC – they're the real deal on defense."

From Rivals (Aug. 1, 2007)

Topic = Harbaugh

"That's a guy I have no respect for," Hart said. "You graduate from the University of Michigan and you're going to talk about your school like that? A great institution like we have, to say we're not true student-athletes? It's coming from a guy that, I don't know … maybe he wants to coach here and he's mad that he didn't get a job here? A guy like that, I have no respect for."It's funny to me, because he just said we're not student-athletes, then he accepts one of our transfers [in quarterback Jason Forcier]. What sense does that make? He obviously wants guys like us at his school; he's just mad that he can't get them. It's nothing against Stanford, it's just that … I don't know, I just have no respect for that guy. I don't know how you can say that. He's not a Michigan Man, and I wish he had never played here. I don't want to meet him. I've never met him, and I don't want to."

Same article, Hart's thoughts on Jake Long:

"It's just his personality. Jake is a guy that you just have to love. There's no one I've met that doesn't like Jake. He comes off great, and he's just a great person. He's awesome, and when you get him on the football field, he's amazing. He just got a tattoo of a block M on his arm … that says it all right there. When you give up 12 or 15 million dollars to come back, you have to love Michigan. A guaranteed 12 or 15 million? You have to love Michigan."True to form, Hart opined Long would have trumped many of the players drafted high last year. "There would have been no [Penn State tackle] Levi Brown [drafted] at No. 5. And [Wisconsin's] Joe Thomas is not better than Jake, either, but he got more hype. But Levi Brown … he'd better share some of that signing bonus [with Jake]."

The Vest Abides...

In response to Bill's comment on the Miles post...

There is just one L in Tressel, both figuratively and literally. But Carr is about the finish his career with 7 L's in his first name.

Yes, Oklahoma State is not an elite program. But they had some good talent and we're playing a short-handed Buckeyes team that was ravaged by the draft after the 2003 season. So even if a 4 loss Ohio State team was superior, they shouldn't have been 26 points better.

You miss my point about talent. Despite the fact that LSU has had amazing recruiting classes during Miles' tenure, they still have a worse record over the past three years than Ohio State. And if often looks like a team full of NFL players are barely winning games they should be breezing through. This is the better version of Michigan south, where elite talent is coached down. Ohio State has beating down Michigan with less heralded talent; what will happen when the 5-stars start rolling in?

Frankly I've had my fill of Wolverine double-speak. In public, Michigan fans are crying about injuries and the turmoil and distraction of the Carr announcement. Privately they've been quietly confident about their chances in this game. Man up and either say you can win or not - no excuses to provide cover if things go bad. This was suppose to be Michigan's year - the senior back, Carr's last go round, the home field advantage, the "revenge" for the '06 game...whatever. The stakes are very high for Ohio State, but there has to be a sense of desperation around Michigan Nation. Only this win can remove some of the sting of the way this season went down, though some of the pain will never go away. Bottom line is that the Buckeyes are rolling into Ann Arbor playing with house money and a better coach. It's supposed to rain/snow, so conditions won't be great for either offense. Game On.

The Michigan vs. Ohio State Game

I think my colleague summed it up well in his post. I just don’t have much to say about this game. Yes it is huge. Let me count the ways:

1. Hart, Henne, and Long’s legacies are on the line.
2. The Lloyd Carr legacy (currently 6-6 vs. OSU) is on the line.
3. As if OSU doesn’t have enough momentum in this series, can you imagine if they win tomorrow?
4. An outright Big 10 championship and trip to the Rose Bowl is on the line.
5. It’s our last major recruiting weekend for the season and recruits have been waiting to see what happens in this game.

Etc., etc., etc.!

But previewing the game is impossible since you don’t know what UM has at QB and RB. I’m not at all saying that UM would beat OSU tomorrow with a completely healthy Henne and Hart. I’m saying that it’s very hard to break the game down in advance when so much of the game will be determined by a fragile injury situation with both sides. For instance, what is the use of breaking down the two teams at running back? Hart or Beenie could be out of the game in the first quarter thus completely changing things. Plus, given how Henne and Hart have missed so much time recently it’s hard to give a real assessment as to where Michigan is at right now. We haven’t scene them with their full complement of players. And, it doesn’t help that a different UM and OSU team showed up last week then the previous two months so what are we to make of that? And now there is a full blown coaching situation at Michigan. How will that affect the maize and blue? Will it be win one for Lloyd or will it be a big distraction.

So we’ll see what happens Saturday with MUCH on the line and then we’ll go from there. I’ll be excited for future Michigan-OSU games that don’t involve crazy injury situations, dead legends or sudden head coach retirements. Until then…

Introducing Other Guys in the Mix...

Some other names out there with respect to the head coaching position at Michigan:

Kirk Ferentz- I mentioned his name earlier. I wanted to reiterate that the Michigan brass and Lloyd Carr seem to really like this guy.

Rich Rodriguez- Another aforementioned name. His name keeps coming up so this might be serious. However, I cannot possibly imagine his offense at UM.

Mike Trgovac (pictured above)- The current Carolina Panther defensive coordinator is a former wolverine who Lloyd reportedly likes. He might be a serious candidate who deserves some looking into.

Butch Davis – The current head coach at North Carolina but he is most famous for his stints with the Miami Hurricanes and Cleveland Browns. His name has been rumored but I would consider his chances small at best. Plus, he would violate the “can’t take from a top 10 school” theory that I’ve put out there.

Mike Bellotti- Oregon’s head coach is another name I’ve heard.

* BTW- when I say “name I’ve heard” I mean that there is reported inside information associated with their name. The more inside info mentioned and the higher the quality of it equals the more I will talk about the person.

Ron English- I would be remiss if I didn’t mention UM’s young, up and coming defensive coordinator. He is likely just not ready yet and the powers that be probably think he doesn’t have a sufficient resume to warrant the hire.

Introducing Jeff Tedford...

Jeff Tedford is another serious candidate for the Michigan job. He is probably second to Les Miles but he does have some things going for him. First of all, he is not in a current job with a team that is the national champion frontrunner. So if Lloyd retires right after the OSU game it will be easier for Tedford to express interest and possibly even resign immediately from Cal in order to help salvage the UM ’08 recruiting season. Additionally, Lloyd (who carries a lot of weight) might very well be a Tedford fan over Miles. There certainly seems to be less baggage surrounding Tedford. Furthermore, there are some people who think that Tedford is a better Xs and Os guy than Miles.

By way of history, Jeff Tedford was a famous QB coach at first followed by a successful stint as Oregon’s offensive coordinator. His QB protégé’s include major college successes that then flamed out in the pros (suggesting a great college coach coaching up great college QBs but then it all falls apart in the NFL).

The list:

Trent Dilfer
Akili Smith
Joey Harrington
Kyle Boller
Aaron Rodgers
Billy Volek
A.J. Feeley

Tedford then took over a Cal program that had just finished 1-10 and was the worst program in the PAC 10. He proceeded to immediately turn it around and Cal has since become a national power and generally is regarded as the PAC 10’s number 2 program (Oregon can argue with that). Tedford has been very successful in bowl games which matters a lot now to UM fans. Tedford’s success has netted him a 2 million a year contract.

On the downside, Tedford is a not a “Michigan man” and his head coaching success is limited to Cal. How will he fair as a recruiter and coach outside of California? Plus, he has not had a very successful season this year at Cal. And over the coarse of his tenure he has not had that many big wins (though he did take down USC). Finally, he is receiving some criticism as to his Xs and Os coaching this year.

All in all, UM fans would be happy with the selection of Jeff Tedford as their next head ball coach.

Sometimes, Les is Just Less

Just a couple quick thoughts on "front runner" Les Miles. Buckeye Nation is not losing any sleep over this one. We saw him live and in person during the 2004 Alamo Bowl. Other than his first season, this was by the worst team team of the Tressel era and we absolutely blasted Oklahoma State 33-7. Troy Smith was suspended, Justin Zwick was playing on leg, and I think Ted Ginn played quarterback for a bunch of snaps. There was nothing in that coaching performance that gives me any pause about Tressel continuing to dominate the rivalry if Miles is the guy.

In fact, Miles seems to fit in perfectly. At LSU, the guy has talent just oozing from the roster. And it seems like their winning ways are by pure force of that talent, more in spite of his coaching. This will suit Michigan, the land of the undeveloped four-star. And as far as "innovation" goes, it's basically just kamikaze style coaching. I will happily take any reasonable odds on whether Miles can post a winning record in the rivalry during first 4 or 6 years of his tenure.

But hey, Michigan fans have to have some sort of dream, I guess.

It's Michigan Week! Anyone?

A funny thing happened on the way to the greatest rivalry game in college sports - the wind was taken out of the sails of both teams and their fanbases. Yes, the excitement for the game and hatred for the other team is still there. But in reality fans are struggling a bit to find the kind of passion fitting the game's history and importance. One team will clinch and undisputed conference title and spot the Rose Bowl...so why does it feel like so much less?

*Ohio State is in severe hangover mode following a humiliating loss at home to Illinois. The young team played its worst game, with QB Todd Boeckman turning the ball over three times and the defense unable to stop the Illini running game. The Buckeyes were just two games away from a return to the national championship, and now those dreams have been dashed.

*Michigan fans have no idea what to expect from their two big stars, QB Chad Henne and RB Michael Hart. Henne has severe shoulder issues and hasn't really been himself all year. Hart has a high ankle sprain that has also hampered his production at various times. The injuries have tempered UM fans expectations, though there's a bit of gamesmanship going on. Michigan fans are acting like they have no chance and that the injuries are the reason why, while OSU fans assume they're going to get every possible drop of effort out of the big guns.

*The Lloyd Carr factor is now swirling over the game, with the possibility that this is his last contest. At 6-6 against OSU, this is the make-or-break game. Will it inspire or distract? A loss would significantly tarnish his legacy, having lost 6 of the final 7 games against the Buckeyes.

*Michigan fans will surely relish a victory against their rival and a Big Ten title, but the season has not been close to what they wanted. The loss to Appalachian State has tainted the whole year and there's no real recovering from the hopes of a national title to this. And while the win will propel them to the Rose Bowl, they may be in store for another embarrassing loss to a big name program on New Year's Day.

*For OSU, they must wonder if their NFL factory will rob them again an experienced team to compete for the national title in '08. This could easily be the #1 team in the country if everyone returns - or even if most of the player return. But DE Vernon Gholston is likely gone, and CB Malcolm Jenkins seems like a good bet to go as well. That leaves LB Jim Laurinaitis, who projects as a mid-to-low first round pick, along with a host of others like WR Brian Robiskie, OT Alex Boone, and even LB Marcus Freeman. It will be interesting to see who stays, and whether a young, talented team will always be inexperiened.

*The game now feels like a huge letdown compared to last year's epic showdown, with two undefeated teams ranked #1 and #2 vying for a spot in the national championship. And the atmosphere was super charged by the death of legendary Michigan coach and OSU alum Bo Schembechler.

*A few keys...How much can classless, big mouth Mike Hart give? Can ther OSU secondary cover Michigan's WR's? Will Tressel have a few wrinkles from the playbook to surprise Michigan? Who will be tentative and or conservative with their playcalling?

Introducing Les Miles...

Les Miles is the leading candidate to replace Lloyd Carr. Miles certainly wants the job and even though some people think he is not the best Xs and Os guy available I think he is the most qualified and best candidate. He is innovative, creative, and a risk taker. He is therefore a great change of pace from Carr.

There are concerns in some Michigan circles that he has acted inappropriately by stating publicly in the recent past how interested he is in becoming Michigan’s head coach even with Lloyd Carr firmly entrenched. Also, there are concerns voiced about his “suspect” recruiting practices. Then there was the fact that he voted for Florida over UM last year to be #2 and play OSU in the national championship game.

Les Miles started out as an all-state high school football player in Ohio. He then went on to letter at Michigan. He has an extensive UM record as an assistant coach. He was a UM assistant from 1980-1982 and from 1987 to 1995 first under Bo Schembechler (whom Miles views as a second father) and then under Gary Moeller.

After serving as the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State, Miles became the Dallas Cowboy’s tight end’s coach from 1998-2000. From 2001-2004, Miles was the head coach at Oklahoma State where he took a team that had gone 5-6, 5-6, and 3-8 the previous three seasons before he got there and then 4-7, 8-5, 9-4, and 7-5 under Miles. Included in those seasons were back-to-back victories over Oklahoma when Oklahoma was ranked #4 (finished #6 that year) and #3 (finished #5 that year) in the country. Miles was also named Big 12 coach of the year.

At LSU, Miles went 11-2 and finished #5 in the country in 2005. He went 10-2 and finished #3 in the country in 2006. In ’06 his LSU team crushed ND in their bowl game. ’05 and ’06 were the first back-to-back 10 win seasons in LSU history. Miles’s 2007 team is currently 9-1 and ranked #1 in the country.

So Miles has everything you want in a Michigan head coach. He played for us, coached for us, loved Bo, has coordinator experience, NFL experience, a mid-level head coaching job with great success, and a top-level head coaching job with great success. Plus he really wants the job. Miles would make the big ten coaching fraternity much better.

Winds of Change are blowing

Sorry that this post is long but when your team appears to be switching head coaches you got to cover it in detail. Yes I know I didn’t cover the UM basketball coaching change on this blog so save the comment.

It is becoming very apparent that Lloyd Carr will be retiring at the end of this season. It’s even possible that he announces his retirement after the Ohio State game and before the bowl game. There is simply way too much smoke for there not to be a fire. Reports out of Ann Arbor are that everyone from the secretaries to the janitors are wondering about their job security right now. Even the most ardent resisters to the rumors are now saying that retirement looks imminent. I’m not saying this is written in stone but I am saying that you would have to put the odds at somewhere around 75% anyway.

Reasons to be concerned:

1. This is distracting the team from a very important game this weekend.
2. Will the school ignore Mike DeBoard and every other stupid candidate to take over?
3. Will the school fully get behind the new coach or will the decision be controversial and divisive?
4. Will the coaching change cause ethics complaints throughout the college football world since we might very well be taking a great coach away from a well-respected program?
5. How big of a blow to the ’08 recruiting class will result?

Reasons to be excited:

1. Lloyd is retiring!
2. We might be getting a new coach who can take us to the USC/OSU/FLA stratosphere.

The candidates for the new job fall into three categories:

Proven college head coaches at the BCS conference level. This would be Les Miles, Jeff Tedford, and possibly Kirk Ferentz and Rich Rodriguez. It can’t be someone whose name is associated with another top 10 college program because his story has already been written. It has to be someone who has experienced great success at a program traditionally outside of the top 10 but still pretty darn good in its own right. So no coach (past or present) from Notre Dame, Ohio State, USC, Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Alabama, Florida, Miami, or Tennessee. Note- I don’t mention Penn State and Florida State because they have essentially had only one coach each. This makes the guys above who have experienced great success at LSU, California, Iowa, and West Virginia seem most appealing. College assistant head coaches and coordinators simply do not rise to the level of Michigan head football coach candidate.

Up and coming college coaches. This is where you would find Brian Kelly (Cincinnati) and Greg Schiano (Rutgers). I am not going to focus on those guys right now but I will say that I am hesitant to suggest that Michigan should hire someone that has had his highest level of success at only the Big East level and only recently (yes I know I have Rich Rodriguez listed above). That said, I would not be totally against UM going that direction.

NFL coaches. The three names you hear are Cam Cameron (could he possibly be having a worse resume year with the Dolphins), Jon Gruden (Bucs might keep him), and Bill Cowher. I won’t go into the NFL guys right now either because I think the “proven college head coaches” level is the most likely and best option for Michigan. I will simply say that there has empirically been a rough rode for most NFL coaches trying to make it in big time college football. See Bill Callahan (Nebraska), Dave Wannstedt (Pitt), and Al Groh (Virginia). Plus there are always concerns about how good of a recruiter the coach will be and how good the coach will be with young college kids (see Charlie Weis).

With all that said, the two leading candidates seem to be Les Miles (the clear number one) and Jeff Tedford. I will briefly review them both in my next two posts.

OSU Loses Illibuck Trophy...And Some Other Stuff

With just one game remaining until their rivalry showdown with Michigan, #1 Ohio State played Illinois on Senior Day at the 'Shoe. They did not leave the stadium with the ranking intact, as the Illini and their hideous hunting-clad fans dashed the Buckeyes national title hopes 28-21. A few notes from the Sunday hangover:

*This Ohio State team, which is fairly young and inexperienced, has shown a propensity to let their guard down in recent weeks. It happened against Michigan State when they were comfortably leading. It happened last week against Wisconsin. And after bolting to a 7-0 lead yesterday, it happened again.

*Illinois controlled much of the game with a spread option running attack that Buckeyes fans knew could give them trouble. Of course, I expected that trouble would come from someone like Oregon's Dennis Dixon or West Virginia's Pat White. So stout against the run statistically, the Buckeyes have been gashed at times by opposing runners. The numbers look good because (a) negative plays like sacks count against the run totals; and (b) teams that were behind were forced to abandon the run.

*With time winding down in the fourth, Illinois was basically able to run out the clock using the same variation of the QB draw from the shotgun formation. It is unconscionable that the defense couldn't recognize and stop this.

*Todd Boeckman, meet reality. Todd had shown a proclivity for turnovers, especially in bunches, during a few games this season. But his three pick stinker yesterday was added evidence that this is a still a 23-year old learning on the job. Fans who saw Mel Kiper Jr. rank him as the #1 junior QB might be scratching their heads. Or laughing hysterically.

*Beanie Wells got dinged up, again. He's a physical back and has a problem staying healthy. But he generally had a decent game, even if hampered by injury. However, he's never going to a Heisman type guy if he can't keep himself upright for a few games in a row.

*The secondary look awful, especially redshirt freshman Chimdi Chekwa. He was burnt on a number of plays and missed a critical third down tackle on Juice Williams in the fourth. The Buckeyes are great a developing corners, and great at developing unheralded talent, but Chekwa isn't their yet.

*OSU and their fans will now be treated to a week's worth of I Told You So's from media jerk offs like Mark May. It's an odd feeling because no one expected to win a title this year. But the opportunity was there, and it's a shame to choke it away at home against a mediocre Illinois team. This isn't losing on the road to rival Michigan or in a BCS bowl to a touch opponent. This is a pure letdown. Looking ahead? Exposed? It's still a loss that Buckeyes fans won't soon forget, especially to mastermind Ron Zook.

*The focus now turns entirely to Michigan, with the outright Big Ten title and a trip to the Rose Bowl at stake. While the Buckeyes are licking their wounds from an embarrassing defeat, the Wolverines are also in limbo. They played terribly against Wisconsin, and the health status of stars Mike Hart and Chad Henne remain in doubt. I've said all year that every intangible - the seniors coming back, the losing streak to OSU, the home field, Lloyd Carr's potential retirement, even the loss to App. State - all work in Michigan's favor. So it will be interesting to see how the game goes.