Michigan acting head coach Sherrone Moore reacts to a video replay during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Ohio State, Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023, in Ann Arbor, Mich. (AP Photo/David Dermer)
Hail to the Victors! For the third season in a row, Michigan proved to be superior to Ohio State. It was a tight game from start to finish, but ultimately, Michigan’s defense sealed the victory with a good pass rush by Jaylen Harrell and an interception by Ohio native Rod Moore. This was perhaps the most satisfying win of the three straight wins vs. the Buckeyes, because all the excuses for Ohio State were stripped away – there was no snow, there was no Connor Stalions, and there wasn’t even a Jim Harbaugh. Both teams were (relatively) healthy. And Michigan came out on top.
A win is a win. Michigan has at least one of these every year, where the team overcomes a bit of a scare from an inferior team. Last season it was a close game against Maryland and a narrow victory over Illinois. The near loss to the Illini obviously didn’t turn out to be disastrous for the Ohio State game in 2022, and maybe this one won’t, either. I don’t think this game will determine the outcome of the OSU contest. Maryland was a bit of a trap game between Penn State and Ohio State, and maybe the team wasn’t fully locked in. They seemed to be loaded for bear early in the game when they jumped out to a 23-3 lead, but they seemed to sputter and let Maryland get back in the game. Clearly, though, the team will have to play better to beat the Buckeyes.
I apologize for the delayed/short post. I had a crazy busy weekend and I was on the road for much of it, so I didn’t have much of a chance to write.
Great win. It shouldn’t be underestimated how great of a victory this was, in light of all the distractions in recent weeks. Michigan went into Happy Valley missing its head coach, a head coach that was stupidly suspended at the end of the day on Friday with zero new information in the previous week. I postulated last Monday on Rivals that the Big Ten might make a decision late on Friday, making it impossible or at least unlikely that Michigan would be able to get an injunction/temporary restraining order in time to get Harbaugh available for Saturday. Sure enough, that’s what happened. Supposedly, commissioner Tony Petitti released the suspension to the media before notifying Michigan itself, so M heard it first through the media. From a public perception standpoint, Petitti is lucky Michigan won this game, because the uproar would have been deafening if suddenly the Wolverines lost a game less than 24 hours after its head coach was suspended for such stupid reasons.
Who cares if Sherrone Moore cried? It was an emotional victory, for all the reasons mentioned above and more. I wish he didn’t cuss a couple times on national TV, but he’s not paid to be interviewed in an emotional moment after games. You know who is paid to do that? Jim Harbaugh. If the Big Ten wants family-friendly interviews after games, maybe they should let the guys who are head coaches coach the games and be interviewed, since that’s part of their job. The cussing would be a bigger deal if it was Harbaugh, who has two decades of head coaching experience. So f*** the Big Ten.
I was a little nervous. Something was gnawing at my brain going into this game, and that was whether Michigan would look sloppy against the Boilermakers in the midst of Sign-gate. I was never nervous about the outcome of the game, but just about whether it would be a tight contest. Maybe something like a 14-10 contest at halftime. Or 17-13 in the third quarter before pulling away. The distraction of Sign-gate combined with the rustiness of coming off a bye week concerned me. So I was glad to see Michigan jump out to a 17-0 lead almost immediately. But the second quarter was boring for Michigan. Michigan was outgained by Purdue, as well as outscored 6-3, sending it to halftime at 20-6.
Michigan 49, Michigan State 0 (image via AP/Al Goldis)
Emotional edge FTW. Going into this game, I felt like Michigan had more of a reason to win this game. I mean, aside from the fact that Michigan State sucks and surely really wanted to win because sucking isn’t fun, Michigan should have had more of a reason. This stems mostly from the fact that Gemon Green and Ja’den McBurrows were viciously attacked in the tunnel last year. But this past week’s cheating allegations probably cheesed off the Wolverines quite a bit since their accomplishments were considered to be tainted by some. But it seems like emotion sometimes forces players and/or coaches to press. So in my game preview, I predicted a 34-10 victory. I thought Michigan might come out a little slow, might get caught by a trick play, etc. But it turns out Michigan didn’t have any trick plays up their sleeve. They didn’t really have much of anything up their sleeve.
