(10)Ohio State 42 Michigan 7
I honestly never thought I’d live to see the day that Ohio State would win five in a row (and counting) over Michigan.
I’m not talking about last Saturday’s game specifically. That was the worst UM team that most of us have seen in our lifetime. OSU has just never enjoyed many prolonged stretches of success is this series. The 2008 edition of “THE Game” came on the 45th anniversary of John Kennedy’s assassination, and it was during those days of “Camelot” that the Buckeyes had last run off four wins in a row over the Wolverines, matching a quartet of shutouts in Francis Schmidt’s first four years of 1934-37.
Conversely, the Maize and Blue had accumulated more fruitful stretches. It took the Bucks until Game 16 to bag their first win. Former UM coach Harry Kipke’s name had been bandied about leading up to this year’s game, since he owned the dubious distinction of being the only Michigan head coach ever to lose his first matchup with Ohio State. But that 1929 win was one of only two victories the Scarlet and Gray could manage from 1922 until Schmidt assumed command in ’34. Following OSU’s classic triumph in 1944 (see our “Greatest Drives” series) came another dry spell until Woody’s first “W” over “that team up north” in 1952. And of course, there was “Coop”.
Heavy favorites usually take care of business in this rivalry, but there have been enough upsets to give observers pause. It speaks highly to the two combatants in these storied battles that “THE Game” most always pits two solid, evenly matched ballclubs together in the ultimate test of pigskin will.
That’s why this year was uncharted territory. Rich Rodriguez’s troops came to town with an unprecedented 8 losses, brought about mostly due to RichRod’s struggles running his system with a roster full of guys that aren’t cut out to do it. With starting quarterback Steven Threet out due to injury, there was a unique feel of “name your score” lingering in the bitter cold autumn air.
That’s not all that was hanging over the Horseshoe. The arctic air was thick with hostility as the teams staged an encore of squaring off with one another just as they had in Ann Arbor a year ago. As the white-jerseyed visitors exited the field after pregame warm-ups, the two squads jawed and pointed at each other as coaches kept them apart. Undoubtedly the biting cold tested the crowd, but this was the first sign of life I had heard from the masses filtering in to the Stadium. TBDBITL’s “Skull Session” (which Michigan’s band blew off for some reason) had gotten my blood pumping, but the crowd there seemed to be going through the motions. There needed to be a spark, and the woofing between the teams certainly perked up the (mostly) well-bundled attendees.
Terrelle Pryor, getting his first taste of “THE Game”, got off to a good start with a 14-yard completion to Dane Sanzenbacher on his first throw of the afternoon. The next one was picked off by safety Stevie Brown, who returned it 34 yards to the OSU 13.
Steve Rehring was the victim of a late hit or block-to-the-back during the return (I missed it live and the ABC cameras failed to catch it as well), but no flag was forthcoming and UM had a golden opportunity. The mixture of the turnover, the no-call on Rehring and the lingering stench of the pregame faceoff finally had the crowd sniffing blood. The OSU “D” fed off of it. As Carlos Brown was stacked up for a gain of only 1, Malcolm Jenkins slung Greg Mathews to the turf. No flag was thrown, partly to make up for the missed call on the pick runback, but the officials served notice to both teams to calm down and play ball. Nader Abdallah threw QB Nick Sheridan for a yard loss, and then after one of those false start calls that the closed end of Ohio Stadium can generate ever so often, Sheridan’s pass for Martavious Odoms fluttered incomplete as he was absolutely drilled by James Laurinaitis. K.C. Lopata hooked a 35-yard field goal to the left and the Wolves came away empty-handed. Although it would take the Buckeyes a while longer to get control of the game, for all intents and purposes any shot Michigan had at making this a competitive game floated left of that upright.
Ohio State went three-and-out on the ensuing series, but during the sequence UM had to burn a timeout due to confusion with personnel. Safety Charles Stewart was caught by ABC’s cameras having to be restrained from going after one of his coaches. Other defenders, including linebacker John Thompson, were also seen angrily gesturing toward the sideline. It’s been a loooooong year in Ann Arbor.
Unfortunately, the bad vibes wouldn’t be soothed. Odoms tried to dive for A.J. Trapasso’s punt and fumbled it. Marcus Freeman covered it up and the Bucks were back in business at their 49. Terrelle Pryor still hadn’t quite settled in, though. He had two guys open on deep post patterns on second down but his throw for Brian Hartline was out of reach. Brandon Graham barreled in for a 5-yard sack of Pryor on third down and again Trapasso had to punt it away.
The defenses continued to dominate the game. Brandon Harrison blew up OSU’s next drive, leaving the slot receiver to dump Pryor for a 9-yard loss. Nick Sheridan fared no better as Dexter Larimore belted him for a loss of 10, ending TBGUN’s next effort. The Bucks took over at their own 41 following Zoltan Mesko’s punt, and the offense swung for the fences. Chris Wells, who’d been bottled up for 4 yards on 4 carries to this point, got the call over the right side. Rory Nicol and Bryant Browning opened a huge hole, leaving John Thompson isolated with Wells bearing down on him. But before the big tailback arrived, Jim Cordle pulled around from his left guard spot and delivered one of the finest blocks the “big uglies” have offered up all season. Cordle popped Thompson, driving him backwards into safety Brandon Harrison. Slicing off Cordle’s 2-for-1, C-Dub kicked it into gear and motored all the way home down the west sideline. As Paul Keels accurately put it on the radio, “Here he goes again!” It was Wells’ third 50-yard plus “homerun” in three games against UM, and this one was good for a 7-0 lead.
Freshman Sam McGuffie, one of the few offensive bright spots for Rich Rodriguez this year, bobbled the kickoff but corralled it and set sail upfield. Austin Spitler crashed into McGuffie from the left as Aaron Gant belted him from the right. The teeth-rattling hit ended McGuffie’s day and shortly thereafter the Wolves again went three-and-out.
Starting from their own 22, the Buckeyes got the ground game going grudgingly, moving out to the 39 early in the second quarter. Facing 3rd-and-4 from there, Brandon Saine made an excellent blitz pickup, giving Terrelle Pryor time to peg Jake Ballard for 10 and a first down. Chris Wells was dropped for a 2-yard loss, but then came a bolt of lightning as Pryor uncorked one of his finest passes of the year, hitting Brian Hartline in stride for a 53-yard scoring strike to double the lead to 14-0.
Freshman Boubacar Cissoko (my spell check is freaking out) replaced Sam McGuffie on the kickoff return, but the result was eerily the same. Cissoko booted the ball around before trudging upfield where Austin Spitler and Aaron Gant again made a Wolverine sandwich. Gant actually took the brunt of the blow and had to go off. His comrades on the defense rang up their fifth straight three-and-out, and with Ohio State regaining possession at their own 45, I told my dad up in section 12C that a touchdown might just end this thing. Two Chris Wells runs totaling 12 yards got things off to a good start, but in trying to hurdle Charles Stewart on the first carry, Wells came up gimpy and had to trot off after gaining the first down. Three rushes by “Boom” Herron gained 8, so the Bucks took timeout to discuss the 4th-and-2 call from the 35. Tress decided to roll the dice, but Terrelle Pryor’s deep throw for Brian Robiskie fell incomplete. There was contact on the play, but Morgan Trent spun around in just enough time to at least make a play on the ball and avoid laundry.
With the way Michigan’s offense had sputtered, the missed fourth-down pass seemed to be a temporary inconvenience, especially when Nick Sheridan and Co. quickly faced a 3rd-and-10. This time, Martavious Odoms snaked his way on a quick out for 10 yards and the Maize and Blue’s initial first down of the day. Two plays later, Sheridan tried to escape trouble in the pocket but spun right into Cameron Heyward and Marcus Freeman for a loss of 8. Needing 15 yards with the bells tolling, Sheridan dialed up LaTerryal Savoy for 14, bringing up decision time for RichRod. Following Tressel’s lead, Rodriguez tossed the bones but played it safe, having Sheridan sneak for the first down. In the shotgun flanked by two backs, Sheridan handed to Brandon Minor on a counter for 10 more and a first down at the OSU 33. A play later, UM came right back to the counter and this time Minor darted through a hole and stampeded down the west sideline before Kurt Coleman angled him out at the 1. The defense had stood its ground on Michigan’s first drive after Stevie Brown’s interception, and it looked as though they were still living right as Minor lost 1 and then 5 more, pushing the ball back to the 7. Minor tried the left side and had daylight until Malcolm Jenkins and Kurt Coleman forced him out at the 1. Kicker K.C. Lopata stayed right where he was on the sideline as Minor got the call on fourth down and hammered over for the touchdown, Michigan’s first in the series since Tyler Ecker scored the final TD of the 42-39 epic in 2006.
Tim Jamison switched from his usual #90 to #78 (rumor has it due to blood on the jersey), but the results didn’t change much as Jamison sacked Pryor to conclude OSU’s next march. Nick Sheridan found Odoms for 21 to move the pigskin into Buckeye territory, but faced with a 4th-and-6 moments later RichRod curiously took a delay penalty and had Zoltan Mesko punt. I’ve deservedly given ABC’s Bob Griese grief all year long, but he hit this one on the head- someone doesn’t trust their offense.
A Terrelle Pryor quarterback sneak ended the half, and I had to laugh as Stacey Dales caught up with Jim Tressel going off the field. Lamenting the missed opportunity on 4th-and-2, I expected Tress to maybe say they would’ve thrown short or even run the ball instead of airing it deep. True to form though, Tress told Dales he probably should’ve punted. Good grief…
The Wolverines had probably gotten the nation’s attention by keeping things at 14-7 at the break. They continued to work the ground game on their opening march of quarter three, mixing the successful counter play with Nick Sheridan keepers to reach the Buckeye 40. But the stop troops responded, getting a nice open field tackle from Chimdi Chekwa to hold Martavious Odoms to a 2-yard pickup on a swing pass before Tyler Moeller’s blitz forced a hurried incompletion. Zoltan Mesko’s punt rolled dead at the OSU 9, and with the bad field position most Buckeye fans probably counted on a couple of runs and a kick. How right they were about to be…
Chris Wells took a pitchout to the left and used great blocks from Jim Cordle and Jake Ballard to spring free into the secondary. Morgan Trent was finally able to detour Wells to the sideline after a 42-yard gallop. “Boom” Herron gave C-Dub a breather and Tressel stayed left-handed. With Steve Rehring pulling on the “Power-O” and combining with the red-hot Jake Ballard to open another cavernous alleyway, Herron sped through and covered the remaining 49 yards just like that. 2 plays, 91 yards and the Scarlet and Gray had their second two-touchdown advantage at 21-7.
Michigan caught a break as Nathan Williams ran into punter Zoltan Mesko, giving the Wolverines a gift first down. Nick Sheridan tried to parlay the momentum into a big play, but Anderson Russell and Malcolm Jenkins were equal to the task and broke up deep throws. Back on offense, Ohio State lost its big gun as Chris Wells hobbled to the bench after gaining zilch on the first play. Unbeknownst to those assembled, C-Dub would be done for the day with 134 yards on 15 carries, and although there’s a bowl game to be played, I watched the replay with a touch of sadness knowing that it was more than likely Wells’ final appearance on the hallowed turf of Ohio Stadium. It was his 52-yard TD scamper against these same Wolverines in 2006 that put the fumbles of his sometimes-shaky freshman year in the rear view mirror. It also set the stage for a prolific career that frustratingly could have been so much more.
The Bucks ended up punting and Michigan tried to rally. Nick Sheridan worked the fake-pump to perfection once more, reloading and finding Darryl Stonum for 33 yards. Michael Shaw ate up 13 more on another counter, setting UM up at the Buckeye 34. But that’s all the further they would get as OSU threw up resistance, including halting Nick Sheridan on a third-down keeper that ended with him limping to the sideline. Zoltan Mesko didn’t get much air under his punt and the line-drive boot settled into Ray Small’s arms at the Ohio State 12. Breaking left, Small motored upfield, slicing between two defenders around his 40. Continuing up the west sideline, Ray got a tremendous block from Thaddeus Gibson and headed to daylight before Mike Williams could yank him down at the UM 8. Seconds later, Pryor rolled right and made the 80-yard return count as he floated a scoring toss to Brian Robiskie, fattening the lead to 28-7.
It will be interesting to see if Small can work himself back into the receiving rotation for the bowl game. Ray’s dad certainly fanned the flames revolving around his son’s suspension, but it seems to me if the coaching staff was still disenchanted with the junior wideout, he wouldn’t have seen the field at all against Michigan. Remember, the last images of Small before his two-game exile were two clutch catches on the final drive against Penn State. The Bucks need his big-play capability, but more importantly they need maturity from him as well, so the bowl runup and game itself will certainly determine if Ray will be part of this team in 2009. If so, he’s got to hope three’s the charm for getting a Michigan punt to the endzone. He had a return TD called back last year in Ann Arbor, and he came up just 8 yards shy this season.
With Nick Sheridan still sidelined, Rich Rodriguez had to respond to the Robiskie score with his third-string quarterback, Justin Feagin. Since young Mr. Feagin had thrown a whopping total of zero passes all year, the resulting three-runs-and-punt surprised absolutely no one. With TBGUN gasping for air, Jim Tressel went for the knockout blow but Terrelle Pryor’s bomb to a wide-open Brian Robiskie was off the mark. TP made amends on 3rd-and-10 moments later, eluding two defenders in the backfield- one of them twice- before launching a dying quail to Dane Sanzenbacher for 35 yards. The rock went to “Boom” Herron over the left side, and behind great blocks from Alex Boone and Brandon Smith, Herron powered down to the 2. Since the north end of the ‘Shoe had been witness to the last three Buckeye touchdowns, the south end was due for a little love. It almost didn’t come to fruition, though. Terrelle Pryor’s pass for Rory Nicol on the opening play of period 4 was too high, and Nicol tipped it into the hands of corner Donovan Warren. The replays appeared to show that Warren had control with a foot down, but the officials ruled it incomplete. Not messing around with the airways any longer, the Buckeyes went with their bread-and-butter “Power-O” and Herron followed Steve Rehring into the endzone, making it 35-7.
Things went from worse to hopeless on the kickoff as Boubacar Cissoko coughed it up. Marcus Williams cradled the ball and the Bucks went right back on offense, but with a new man at the trigger. Senior captain Todd Boeckman entered to a loud, appreciative roar from the crowd. Following a pair of Mo Wells’ totes, Boeckman fired down the middle to a wide-open Brian Hartline for six, touching off an explosion you could hear back in St. Henry. Ryan Pretorius capped off a perfect day in the extra-point department with his 6th PAT boot, accounting for what would be the 42-7 final.
Boeckman would have one more hurrah, hooking up with Brian Robiskie on a pretty 46-yard pass play, and the defense would come within inches of recording a safety, but those who were hoping for 50+ points would be disappointed as Tressel had senior Jon Thoma punt on Ohio State’s last two possessions inside the Michigan 35.
With Penn State’s win over Michigan State, the Nittany Lions share a co-championship with OSU and earn the Rose Bowl bid thanks to October’s head-to-head win. The Buckeyes will wait to see if they can land a BCS bid, but odds are they will visit Orlando for a Capital One Bowl matchup with Georgia. Keep in mind, though, at this time last year Ohio State was fifth in the polls and wound up in the title game.
RANDOM THOUGHTS- I was enjoying reliving OSU’s historic win over Michigan as I watched the replay- right up to hearing Bob Griese pontificate on Jim Tressel not handling the Boeckman/Pryor situation correctly. First and foremost, Bob, Jim Tressel doesn’t care what you think. He made the right move. I’m sure all of Buckeye Nation enjoyed Boeckman’s TD strike to Brian Hartline, but leave it to Griese to use the play as a launching point to stir up trouble.
What Bob conveniently forgets is when Chris Wells went down, the OSU running game was in trouble. Dan Herron and Brandon Saine were still trying to shake injuries of their own; while Maurice Wells has never shown he could be a between-the-tackles, every-down kind of back. Terrelle provided a running threat that this team didn’t have and badly needed.
It goes without saying that Terrelle can flat do things on the football field that Todd can’t. It’s unbelievable to me that you can’t make a simple, factual comment like that without people taking it as a personal slap at Todd. I’ve only been around Boeckman at the last two media days during fall camp, and he is a fine young man and a deserving captain. I don’t hate the kid or wish him any ill will. But after a fine first half of 2007, his play wasn’t as consistent and it carried over into this year. People rightfully argue that the leaky offensive line had to shoulder part of the blame, but just as Terrelle Pryor proved on the long pass to Dane Sanzenbacher against Michigan, he can escape trouble and still make a play. Those that say Todd should have never been benched aren’t at practice, and I find it difficult to believe that Jim Tressel would have turned over the reins to Terrelle if he didn’t feel the young man was capable of moving the football.
Personally, as much as the Penn State game sucked, I’ll tolerate Pryor’s mistakes now, because the game experience he has gained will be invaluable down the road. I suppose if Pryor had sat this year, then came out and stunk up the ‘Shoe next September against USC, the same people wanting Boeckman to play this year would have been crucifying the kid next year. I spoke with an out-of-town friend after the Michigan game and he hit the nail on the head- there are many Buckeye fans that don’t realize what this team has with Terrelle Pryor. If you sat and marveled at Vince Young as he led Texas to the national title, then strap yourselves in for a great ride. Because many college football observers have stated throughout this season that Pryor is light years ahead of where VY was at this stage of his career.
I sincerely hope some NFL team gives Todd a shot, and while I know it’s a coldhearted business, the way he has handled himself this year should give potential suitors a crystal-clear idea of what kind of team player you’re getting. At the same time, I’m looking forward to the next chapters of the Terrelle Pryor era, because Ohio State may never see this type of athlete playing quarterback for them again. Contrary to what Mr. Griese thinks, Jim Tressel made the right move inserting Terrelle into the lineup. I don’t see how playing Boeckman after the USC game would have improved on a Big Ten co-championship season and a potential BCS bowl. And holding Terrelle back would have jeopardized OSU’s future- a future that makes you shudder to think what Terrelle Pryor can accomplish, barring injury, when he applies all that he’s learned this season.
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November 22, 2008
Ohio Stadium
Columbus, OH
Attendance 105,564
11/26/08
VS
By Joe-S-U
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