MY THOUGHTS.....Michigan

 

The Ohio State Buckeyes put on an absolutely hideous and embarrassing performance in losing to a 6-5 Michigan team in Columbus. 

                The Buckeyes were their own worst enemy on offense, netting a mere 77 yards on the ground and turning the ball over twice in the red zone.  There was only one run longer than ten yards, made by Quinshon Judkins.  Although Will Howard completed 19 of his 33 throws for 175 yards and a touchdown to Jeremiah Smith, most of the time, he was shaky, overthrowing receivers, forcing the ball.  He was fortunate to have thrown only two interceptions.  Carnell Tate led the way through the air with six receptions for 58 yards and the reliable Smith caught five, and Emeka Egbuka collected four receptions.  But it was just an ugly performance on that side of the ball.

                The defense nearly bailed them out and played very well considering the position they were put in.  Star DB Caleb Downs led the way with 11 tackles and an interception.  Lathan Ransom and Cody Simon turned in nine each.  Jack Sawyer nearly changed momentum with a pick in the red zone, but no sacks were recorded.  The special teams were the worst I have seen in recent memory.  Two chip-shot field goals missed, and the punting wasn’t much better with a paltry 35-yard average. 

                With Penn State’s win over Maryland, it will be the Nittany Lions who venture to Indianapolis to take on the Oregon Ducks in the B1G Championship game, making this the fourth consecutive year Ohio State has missed out on playing for the conference title.  Now, they’ll have to await their seeding and matchup for the 12-team playoff in which they may not fare any better than they did today.  Serious consideration needs to be made once the season is over about replacing Ryan Day as coach, although that subject will be brought up in a later post.