Michigan entered Saturday’s matchup against Ohio State as the No. 4 team in the College Football Playoff standings, and they had a clear pathway to make the Playoff. They were viewed as a team that belonged in the conversation with Clemson and Notre Dame, ahead of Oklahoma and Georgia. They were touted as having the No. 1 defense in the country. But on Saturday, Ohio State reminded everyone that Michigan is the same team we saw in their first game of the season — a team that is overmatched against teams of equal or better talent.
Michigan completely embarrassed itself against Ohio State, losing 62-39. Their offensive playcalling was predictable and easy to stop. How many times did they run an inside handoff on first down? I lost count. When the Buckeyes began getting into the backfield and collapsing pockets on Shea Patterson on almost every pass play, did they adjust to max protection formations or keep repeating the same thing and hoping for the best? No. How many passes did Patterson short arm? How many balls did Zach Gentry drop?
On defense, the only time Michigan could stop Ohio State was inside the 5-yard line. When in the open field, the Buckeyes ran wild, putting up nearly 570 yards.
Then just as Michigan seems to do in big games under Jim Harbaugh, they made a huge special teams mistake and had a punt blocked and returned for a touchdown to completely swing the game.
The truth about Michigan is that they are a defense and running team. They never stood a shot at competing against a team that could score. They would have no chance against Alabama, Clemson, Oklahoma, and we saw what happened against Notre Dame and Ohio State.
Ohio State always had the better players, the more explosive players. They just needed to put it all together. Ohio State at their best is a much better team than Michigan at their best. The difference between the teams is Michigan just happened to play better more consistently week-to-week against weaker Big Ten competition. That’s how they built their resume.
Thank goodness Michigan got rolled in this game so we didn’t have to see it happen in the Playoff in place of a much better team. Now Harbaugh badly needs to win a bowl game to avoid another “10-1 going into the Ohio State game and then lose to our rivals and in the bowl to finish 10-3” season.
