Michigan vs. Ohio State

[sc37 0]

Reardless of what you believe the gap size is, Michigan has proven that they can't beat Ohio State when both teams are at their best. Sure, one more Ohio State turnover and Michigan may have completed the comeback, but great teams hold on to the ball like Ohio State did for a reason

...It's not like OSU flat-out dominated the clock, though. Hell, if Crable doesn't take the stupid 'Roughing the Passer' penalty, Michigan gets the ball with about 7:00 left with the score still 39-31.

Unfortunately, that's not the way it went. Shawn hit Troy high and late, got flagged and ended up giving OSU a fresh set of downs (which led to a field goal). Yes, Michigan got beat, but it's not as if they were out of their league. OSU is the best team in the nation, but I still feel as though Michigan could beat them on any given day (as I make this statement, you must remember that I am an extremely biased Michigan fan).

USC will get DESTROYED by OSU. It won't be close. I say 45-13.

Well if you look at it that way...the score would have been much more in favor of OSU if the Bucks didn't shoot themselves in the foot with 3 turnovers and if they came out shooting in the second half...seemed to do more traditional two-back looks in the second half, probably to try to run some clock. But in the end, good teams overcome adversity, like 3 turnovers, and still beat the #2 team in the country.

Might I add...not a big fan of a rematch, but if it does happen, bring it on. I'd like to shut Mike Hart's mouth up once and for all.

[ambro 0]

I love when fans talk as if they're part of the team...

[Chadd 916]

I love when fans talk as if they're part of the team...

That's the #1 most annoying fan thing I can imagine.

[Guy Incognito 0]

As a note, not only did tOSU give the ball up with the two fumbles (bad snaps) and a pick (that Branch happened to find in his hands after it bounced off of someone's pads), but there were two bologna PI calls on third and long (that gifted UM first downs) and statistically this game wasn't close:

Team Statistics (Final)

2006 Ohio State Football

#2 Michigan vs #1 Ohio State (Nov 18, 2006 at Columbus, Ohio)

MICH OSU

FIRST DOWNS................... 17 24

Rushing..................... 3 7

Passing..................... 11 16

Penalty..................... 3 1

NET YARDS RUSHING............. 130 187

Rushing Attempts............ 30 29

Average Per Rush............ 4.3 6.4

Yards Gained Rushing........ 165 217

Yards Lost Rushing.......... 35 30

NET YARDS PASSING............. 267 316

Completions-Attempts-Int.... 21-35-0 29-41-1

Average Per Attempt......... 7.6 7.7

Average Per Completion...... 12.7 10.9

TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS........... 397 503

Total offense plays......... 65 70

Average Gain Per Play....... 6.1 7.2

Fumbles: Number-Lost.......... 1-0 2-2

Penalties: Number-Yards....... 5-45 4-50

PUNTS-YARDS................... 5-222 3-114

Average Yards Per Punt...... 44.4 38.0

Net Yards Per Punt.......... 40.4 38.0

Inside 20................... 2 1

50+ Yards................... 1 0

Touchbacks.................. 1 0

Fair catch.................. 2 1

KICKOFFS-YARDS................ 6-371 7-414

Average Yards Per Kickoff... 61.8 59.1

Net Yards Per Kickoff....... 41.0 42.4

Touchbacks.................. 1 3

Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD. 0-0-0 2-0-0

Average Per Return.......... 0.0 0.0

Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD 4-57-0 5-105-0

Average Per Return.......... 14.2 21.0

Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD.. 1-0-0 0-0-0

Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD. 0-0-0 0-0-0

Miscellaneous Yards........... 0 0

Possession Time............... 28:58 29:51

1st Quarter................. 5:36 9:24

2nd Quarter................. 10:06 4:54

3rd Quarter................. 8:14 5:35

4th Quarter................. 5:02 9:58

Third-Down Conversions........ 4 of 13 6 of 11

Fourth-Down Conversions....... 0 of 1 0 of 0

Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 5-5 3-3

Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 1-5 4-33

PAT Kicks..................... 4-4 6-6

Field Goals................... 1-1 0-0

This could've easily been a three touchdown win, but because things went the way they did Michigan could've easily won the game if it weren't for Crable's lack of intelligence. Michigan is the #2 team in the country and deserves to be in the title game. It's supposed to be #1 v. #2, not "you're screwed if you happen to play in the same conference as the best team in the country." Michigan is the only school I believe can beat tOSU, but to say Ohio State was at it's best that night is inaccurate.

At any rate, congrats to the Big Ten for being brilliant in more ways than one:

Big Ten Leads All Conferences With 11 Academic All-Americans in Football

Big Ten boasts conference-record eight first-team selections, more than all other Division I-A conferences combined

[kovalchuk71 212]

GO BLUE GO!

GO BLUE GO!

[Guy Incognito 0]

A rematch will shut you all up until next year. :P

Neutral site, two times beaten, 0 turnovers instead of 3. :o