My Thoughts.....Michigan

                                                       Kosta Karageorge (1992-2014)

                      Beating Michigan is always supposed to be fun.  It is fun to silence all the Michigan fans that have made their way down in to Buckeye Country to live and work.  Two things have tempered the joy, however.  The loss of redshirt freshman quarterback J.T. Barrett in the fourth quarter for the rest of the season cast a noticeable pall on the victory.  But things got infinitely worse when Kosta Karageorge was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot.

The Buckeyes struggled, but eventually put away the Wolverines 42-28, winning their third straight against their rival and 12 out of the last 14.  In so doing, they extended their regular-season conference winning streak to 24 games (becoming the first to go undefeated in the B1G regular season three consecutive seasons) and kept Michigan winless in Columbus since 2000.  Michigan came in with nothing to lose, and for much of the game, that is exactly the way they played.  I knew with the rivalry, Michigan wasn't going to go away without a fight and that proved to be true.  J.T. Barrett struggled early with nervous overthrows, but rebounded to go 13/21 for 176 yards and a touchdown, without an interception. Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner went 22/32 for 233 yards and a pair of scores, but he did set up Ohio State’s first score with an interception and gave away the last buckeye touchdown with a fumble.  Gardner will most be remembered for kneeling beside and giving comfort to J.T. Barrett as he lay on the ground after his ankle fracture.  A class act by a classy human being that transcends the rivalry.  The Ohio State offense was stifled throughout much of the first half.  Much as they did against Indiana and Minnesota, they jumped to an early lead and then bogged down.  I noticed Michigan’s defense, particularly the line, was very aggressive to the point where they appeared to disrupt run blocking patterns, thus putting Ohio State into third-and-longs.  J.T. Barrett was not his usual crisp self throughout much of the first half and the offensive play-calling was getting too predictable, playing right into the Wolverine’s hands.  The defense also seemed a little off balance, surprised that Michigan was able to get yardage on the ground, as evidenced by their 95-yard scoring drive to take their only lead (14-7) in the second quarter.  The two-minute drill at the end of the half seemed to change things, as Coach Urban Meyer and Tom Herman decided to attack the Michigan perimeter more.  The result was a J.T. Barrett run for a score with just seven seconds before the half, knotting the score at 14-14.  This is the point where I started feeling better about how the game was going.  Ohio State was, for the most part, getting slowed down on offense, and unable to keep Michigan from chewing up yards on defense, yet were still tied at halftime.  I knew, as long as they didn't turn the ball over, something would give in the second half and the Buckeyes would eventually pull away.  It took until the fourth quarter, but that’s exactly what happened.  On a fourth-and-one, Ezekiel Elliott’s run to the house was the back-breaker, followed by a Darron Lee scoop-and-score of a Gardner fumble.

The concerns (besides the big one: losing Barrett) I had was Michigan’s otherwise putrid offense gaining yards against the defense, although Michigan seemed to be held in check for much of the second half, until they got a garbage score near the end of the game.  Tyvis Powell made a couple of bad reads, but I also saw Steve Miller unable to hold contain a couple of times and even sure-tackling Joshua Perry miss a couple.  On the other hand, Powell played well in pass coverage, as did Vonn Bell, whose pick set up Ohio State’s first score.  Ohio State’s run game finally got going as Ezekiel Elliott finished with 129 yards and two scores and Barrett added 89 yards and two scores before his injury.  The Buckeyes managed 233 yards on the ground against a Michigan defense that was considered good against the run.

Next up is a trip to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis for the conference championship game, which will be another huge test for the Buckeye defense as Melvin Gordon and Wisconsin will look to win their third title in four years.