For those faithful followers of my blog that don’t know, I am a University of Michigan graduate. I am also a college football fan, and I’m sure you can guess my favorite team. Last year Michigan defeated Ohio State for the first time in nine years. They won in a dominant fashion, 42 – 27. They were briefly the hottest team in college football, but those in Ohio were doubters: “Stroud (Ohio’s QB) had the flu that week.” “It was snowing in Ann Arbor that day.” “Don’t forget the home field advantage.” “Michigan had 3 first round NFL draft picks on their defense.” For those wanting some great highlights of the 2021 game, here is a link. My favorite moments occur at 2:57 and 9:02.
This last Saturday we witnessed, for the second year in a row, Michigan flat-out imposing their will on Ohio State, demoralizing the team and the fans in Columbus especially during the fourth quarter. This year it was on their home field. The final score was 45 – 23. Here is a link to highlights from the game. For just the best Michigan moments, here is a link that will be less time-intensive. How epic was this win? The last time Michigan won in Ohio was the year 2000. The last time we beat them back-to-back was 1999-2000. The last time we beat them this badly in Columbus was 1976.
One may wonder how seriously Ohio State or Michigan takes this game, widely considered the greatest rivalry in college sports. To quote Bo Schembechler, Michigan’s most famous coach: “You owe it to every man, woman and child in the state of Michigan to beat the Buckeyes and silence their fans! Now go out there and make it happen.” For Ohio State, they would rather beat Michigan than win the Big 10 championship or even the national title. Think that’s an exaggeration? Here is a hype video OSU released this year, explaining exactly how they think. Also consider that Ohio fans currently want head coach Ryan Day gone. Yes, after Day led the Bucknuts to a 31-2 record in the Big Ten since taking over, Ohio fans want him fired. I find that hilarious.
Considering the circumstances of this year’s game, it’s not a surprise the Wolverines were an underdog. This year Michigan was at Ohio, in the horseshoe. Stroud is a leading candidate for the Heisman trophy. Ohio State had 14 5-star recruits to Michigan’s two. Our greatest offensive player, Heisman-nominated RB Blake Corum was injured and out. Our greatest defensive player, Mike Morris, was also out with an injury. Donovan Edwards wore a cast in his right hand for the whole game. The result? Michigan got an even more dominant win, with an even larger margin of victory.
And how many people witnessed Michigan do it? An average viewership of 17 million, peaking at 19.6 million people across the country witnessed Michigan deliver maybe the best win in college football this season on the 26th of November.
Some folks doubted quarterback JJ McCarthy: he’s only 19, he couldn’t seem to throw well down-field, or pull off big plays. Those were put to rest as he threw for 263 yards and three touchdowns, including a 75-yard pass and running one in himself. Michigan’s passing offense hasn’t been stellar this year, but we proved that when stakes are the highest we rise to the occasion. How did OSU’s quarterback do? While Stroud threw for a lot of yards there weren’t many points to show for it. He also had two interceptions, which is one-third of the interceptions he’s thrown all season.
How did Michigan’s famed run game hold up? Remember former coach Urban Meyer said multiple times that “Ohio State will stop the run.” Blake Corum was out but Donovan Edwards stepped up. Even with a cast he ran for over 200 yards in the second half, including 75- and 85-yard TD runs. Defensive back Mike Sanrisil literally pushed the ball out of the hands of an Ohio State receiver in the end zone, in one of the best defensive plays I’ve seen. One Buckeye player, Gee Scott, got so frustrated halfway through the third quarter he followed a Michigan player out of bounds and deliberately head-butted him. Here’s the clip. Michigan even pulled off a trick play, where LB/RB Kalel Mullings threw a jump pass to Luke Schoonmaker on 3rd & 1, netting Michigan 20 yards.
Bruce Feldman, a 20+ year veteran college football reporter called it “the most memorable regular season game I’ve ever covered.” Here is a link to a 6-minute clip of him discussing why. We are quite possibly witnessing the birth of a new era. Michigan, the underdog both this year and last year against Ohio State, has had dominant victories. Not just wins. Dominance. With two consecutive seasons straight to the playoffs, here comes Michigan. Hail!
