Moment was too big too often for young Buckeyes
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A scarlet sunrise greeted a soon-to-be gray sky Saturday before The Game. Was it a sign? If so, of what? Red sky at morning, Ohio State take warning? Or an early indication of Michigan’s further descent into rivalry hell?
The answer arrived only a few hours later with the snow. As the white stuff accumulated in the Big House, the Wolverines finally found their footing after nearly a decade of futility. And the Buckeyes’ season slipped
into a cloud-covered sunset.
Ohio State lost a lot inside a Michigan Stadium packed with 111,156 fans, the youngest of whom were not yet born when UM last defeated OSU in 2011.
First, the Buckeyes lost the game, 4227. They also lost any shot at making the College Football Playoff, and with it a chance to win a national championship. And they likely lost any chance of quarterback C.J. Stroud winning the Heisman Trophy.
Finally, and having a longer effect, the Buckeyes lost their mystique. Going back to 2012, Ohio State owned Michigan. We can nitpick the details, but eight consecutive wins against the Wolverines put the Buckeyes in a secure position of superiority. They were Lennonmccartney to UM’S Harrison. And at times Ringo. The talent differential always played out in OSU’S favor, so much that Ohio State fans had begun to take the Wolverines for granted.
No more. The spell is broken, which is good for the rivalry if not for Buckeye Nation. Certainly, many Ohio State fans will fume that burying Michigan every year tops the intrigue of not knowing which team will win. But seeing the maize-colored pompoms waving and fans rushing the field should create a burn inside Buckeyes fans that adds heat to next Nov. 26 in Ohio Stadium. Face it, this game had become more a RIVALLLLLLLLRY than rivalry.
Of course, that does not lessen the sting of what happened on Saturday, when the normally unflappable Buckeyes misfired in nearly every way imaginable. On top of looking surprisingly tentative, Ohio State collected 10 penalties (compared to two for Michigan), failed to protect Stroud in the pocket (UM recorded four sacks) and could not stop Michigan’s run game (297 yards rushing).
Was the moment too big for the young Buckeyes? Only two players on the roster had ever started a Michigan game.
Stroud was not one of them, and his nerves frayed early. As did his vocal cords. The redshirt freshman, who said he battled illness all week, blamed himself for OSU’S five false starts, explaining he lost his voice trying to yell above the din of the crowd.
“I put my heart and soul into this game. To come up short is disappointing,” he said.
By the time Stroud finally found something of a groove, the game was into the second half and Michigan knew it could handle anything thrown its way.
Ohio State’s defense could not. A soft spot early in the season before a coaching switch changed its fortune, the defense regressed against Michigan, which was the puncher to OSU’S punchee.
“It’s the worst thing ever,” Buckeyes safety Bryson Shaw said. “There’s anger in (the locker room). It’s anger.”
The Michigan locker room had a decidedly different vibe.
“It was dominant, the offensive line,” said Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, who broke an 0-5 streak against OSU. “We had continual movement up front by our guys.”
He paused.
“It feels like the beginning.” Maybe it is? Or maybe it’s just a first smudge on Ryan Day’s record. The Ohio State coach experienced a painful twofer by losing his first Big Ten game to Michigan.
Day has been Teflon to date. It’s hard for anything negative to stick to a guy who was 26-0 in the Big Ten until Saturday. But against Michigan the offense sputtered early in the cold. The passing game was expected to stall at times, given the weather conditions. But only 64 yards rushing? You can’t live off the pass in 27-degree temperatures.
In the end, the reality is that Ohio State lost to the two best teams it played in Oregon and Michigan. What does that say about the Buckeyes? Dogging them as frauds is way too knee-jerk reactionary, but if there is one possible crack in the foundation it’s that Day’s way, which is decidedly more finesse than blunt force, may be susceptible to getting overpowered by smash mouth football.
Or maybe, just maybe, Michigan simply found something it has been missing.
Michigan defensive end Aiden Hutchinson hinted as much.
“In January we changed things,” he said. “We decided to stare them in the face and not be afraid of them.” It showed. roller@dispatch.com @rollercd