Why The Ohio State Buckeyes Were Cracked Opened
The 118th edition of THE GAME was played Saturday in Columbus, Ohio, between the Michigan Wolverines and the Ohio State Buckeyes. For the Buckeyes, it was a day many wanted to forget.
The number three Wolverines came into the home of the Buckeyes and kicked their butt up and down the field for 60 minutes. They won the game going away 45-23, and now Ohio State is on a two-game losing streak against their biggest rivals.
The last time Ohio State lost back-to-back games to Michigan was in 1999 and 2000, and most of the Buckeye’s current roster wasn’t even born yet.
The last 20 years have been Ohio State dominant in this game. Since 2001 and before Saturday, Michigan won the game three times, and one came in 2011 when Ohio State had one of its worst seasons in recent memory.
Former Ohio State head coaches Jim Tressel and Urban Meyer lost one game in 18 years and Meyer went a perfect 7-0.
It wasn’t too long ago that current Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh had no answers for the Buckeyes, and he started 0-5 in this rivalry game and lost to Meyer four straight seasons. Current Ohio State head coach Ryan Day beat Harbaugh in 2019 with mostly all Meyer’s guys, and since that day, Ohio State has not won a contest against the Wolverines.
The Disaster
Ohio State came out in this game, went down the field, and scored a touchdown quickly, and it looked like it was going to be one of those high, fast, and moving days for the offense. The only issue was that was the best the offense looked for the day.
The offense scored 16 points from there on out and only mustered up three points for the entire second half. Coach Ryan Day was outcoached for the second year in a row by Harbaugh, and this time was just a total embarrassment.
Quarterback C.J. Stroud had a rough field day and lost his chance at any Heisman Trophy. Wide receivers and tight ends were dropping passes and not helping the quarterback. Stroud didn’t want to take chances at times when he had guys open and checked it down for a two-yard gain.
The running back room was a mess yet again. Miyan Williams, who got hurt vs. Indiana a few weeks ago and missed last week’s game vs. Maryland, was back but didn’t see the field much. TreVeyon Henderson did not suit up in this game with injuries. Here is the head-scratcher that nobody knows what was going on. Former Arizona State running back Chip Trayanum who transferred this year to play linebacker got 14 carries in this game. He ran the ball once all season long and is your go-to running back in the biggest game of the year.
Freshman running back Dallan Hayden, who had a great game vs. Maryland last week and took over the game, was nowhere to be found in this one. He carried the ball twice for seven yards after he ran the ball 27 times for 146 yards and three touchdowns last week.
The defense that was supposed to be so improved this year under new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles forgot to show up. Michigan quarterback J.J McCarthy last week vs. Illinois couldn’t hit water If he fell out of a boat and suddenly he turns into Joe Montana vs. Ohio State.
Look at these @UMichFootball TD plays 😲 ▶️ 69-yard pass ▶️ 75-yard pass ▶️ 45-yard pass ▶️ 75-yard run ▶️ 85-yard run pic.twitter.com/20gZzfrq4b — Michigan On BTN (@MichiganOnBTN) November 26, 2022
Michigan had receivers at times that were so wide open that it seemed like the defense only had eight men on the field. Ohio State could’ve put 15 players on defense, and they still would’ve found ways to leave someone alone.
The run defense was pretty good in the first half, then in the second half decided to start, and the rest was history. First, Michigan’s running back Donovan Edwards had a 75-yard touchdown run, followed by an 85-yard touchdown in the 4th quarter, putting the game away.
DONOVAN EDWARDS TAKES IT 85 YARDS TO THE HOUSE TO SEAL THE WIN FOR MICHIGAN!!#OSUvsMICH pic.twitter.com/2YimSEH7y3 — Brian Y (@byysports) November 26, 2022
The Buckeyes showed no guts, no heart, no will, and they rolled over and died and watched Michigan roll over them, and they looked like they didn’t even care.
Michigan Is The Tough Team Now
I’m not going to question how severe Jaxson Smith-Njigba’s hamstring injury is because it has kept him out most of the year but was this a big-time injury that he couldn’t suit up and go out there to play in the biggest game of the season.
All we heard was how they were going to get him ready for the Michigan game, and everyone knew that they didn’t need him for games like Maryland and Indiana, but the game kicked off on Saturday, and he was inactive once again.
Michigan’s star running back Blake Corum looked like he needed a new knee a week ago against Illinois suited up, and even though he only played a handful of snaps, you could tell how much pain he was in and was there the entire time with his team.
Michigan used to be the weak team that would give up easily and had no guts to do anything, but the tables have now turned. Coach Harbaugh has his guys ready to go and fight in this game, and Coach Day and Ohio State want to run the other way when they see a Wolverine.
Ohio State recruits to beat schools from the SEC and try to win a championship, but the only issue is they can’t compete for one because they can’t get passed Michigan. Michigan recruits to beat Ohio State, and is it working? Michigan knows they don’t belong on the field with a team like Georgia, but when they see Ohio State now, they are the team to beat.
Coach Day better figure this out quickly because the fans and students of this program deserve better. But instead, they spent their hard-earned money and time to go to these games, and the team showed no will and didn’t want to be on the field.
There must be a winner and loser, but this is the second year in a row that the team was outcoached and just beaten down after we heard Day talk for 365 days about how they will be more physical this season.
Michigan played one easy schedule this year, from playing three horrible non-power five schools to only playing Penn State before they went to Columbus. Unfortunately, it turned out that the enormous cupcake on their schedule this year was the number two team in the country.
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