Being Outplayed at the Big House

Last Friday, November 27, 2015 Dave Halpin and I left for Ann Arbor in order to see the University of Michigan Wolverines demolish the Ohio State Buckeyes. Dave, a new member of our Monday night football group, had never attended a football game. The preceding Monday I inquired whether Dave wanted to attend the college game of all games. He said yes and I contacted, Michigan Football Association Network President Jim Betts for two tickets to the game. Yes, we had tickets.

I must admit that I was disappointed after the Michigan loss to the Spartans earlier in the season. I figured that loss would greatly inhibit their chances to play in the Big Ten championship game. Then, Michigan, was victorious against the Golden Gophers, the Hoosiers, the Knights and the Nittany Lions. I was concerned that the Michigan defense, at times, looked spotty at best. However, the Wolverines did win those games even though both Minnesota and Indiana ran the ball against them exceedingly well.

Then, I witnessed the Spartans being victorious over the Buckeyes. That Michigan State squad completely shut down the mighty Ohio State running attack. Not only that, the Buckeyes did not look that awesome on  that particular Saturday, and particularly when their star running back Elliott criticized coach Meyer for not allowing him to run the ball more. I wanted to believe that the Wolverines were poised for an upset over the favored and higher ranked Buckeyes. Thinking, or should I say rationalizing the reality, I wanted my Wolverines to win that game against the Buckeyes.  If Michigan won that game, and Michigan State lost to Penn State’s Nittany Lions then, Michigan would play in the championship game. So Dave , immersed in  the wonderful dynamics of being at the  Big house with approximately 112000  fans would also later have an opportunity to meet, coach Jim Harbaugh on his radio show the following Monday.

Game day started off well as we arrived in Ann Arbor early in the morning. We parked and accompanied another fan to the Stadium while walking by the numerous tailgates. We reached the Stadium and headed for the Michigan Football Association Network tailgate. There, we ate and talked with former players Dierdorf, Caldo, Fisher, Newell, Wangler, Betts and Brandstatter. After eating and interacting, we walked around the Stadium, taking in all the sights even stopping at an M den were Dave bought a warm M hat. All was good. We headed to our seats, which were close to the field and in view of the 35 yard line.

The game was somewhat even at first as the Michigan defense held the Buckeyes on 3 downs near our end zone, and they had to punt. We couldn’t believe that a flag was thrown. Michigan was penalized for a phantom running into the kicker call. The game was close, and somewhat even at this point. However, with that first down the Buckeyes subsequently marched down the field and scored their first touchdown. Possibly, Michigan would’ve gone into the halftime with the lead, instead of being behind 14 to 10. Was that a momentum shift, or was that foreshadowing of things to come? The only thing that was certain was that Michigan was unfairly punished.

Now in the second half, the Wolverines were pulverized. They were outplayed and the Michigan players did not make the plays. Offensively, Michigan’s front five could not block Ohio State’s with the result, Michigan averaged about 2.2 yards per running play. Even Jabrill Peppers failed to ignite the running attack. Rudock was able to pass the ball under duress until he was injured. On defense, the Wolverines defensive line was pushed around, leaving gigantic holes for the pistol offense generated by quarterback Barrett and running back Elliott. They averaged about 7.7 yards per running play. Michigan’s linebackers were nowhere to be found as well. For those 30 minutes, Michigan was severely outplayed and were no match for Urban Meyer’s team. His offensive and defensive line and linebackers athletes were more spectacular and physically better than Harbaugh’s. And just recently, Michigan’s defensive coordinator and linebackers coach was promoted to become the head football coach of the University of Maryland Terrapins.

So in Harbaugh’s first year coaching, his performance was similar to Schembechler’s in that they both lost to Michigan State. However, Schembechler’s team beat the mighty   Woody Hayes Buckeyes team and finished the season with an 8-2 record compared to Harbaugh’s 9-3 record. The Michigan-Harbaugh story is not finished, and I will not make any predictions. Hail to the Victors and Go Blue.

PS

Dave loved his first football experience.