Real Kato Blog: College Football Recap: Week 13

Michigan and N.C. State both win in glorious fashion.

Michigan 40, Ohio State 34. Well, give credit to Ohio State for coming out with an aggressive pass-heavy gameplan. Michigan played with eight defenders in the box and just one deep safety most of the day, and OSU countered by taking frequent shots downfield, sometimes resulting in big plays. But this year, it was Michigan's turn to play "Tresselball", grinding out yards in long possessions with the faith that over time, OSU's gambles would fall short.

The score was close and the outcome of the game was in doubt until the final minutes, but to me, this was a game that Michigan physically dominated. If not for a few Michigan errors (a fumble by Denard Robinson and a fumbled punt snap by Will Hagerup), the margin of victory could have been larger. Michigan had 5.5 yards per rush (compared to OSU's 4.4) and ended up rushing for 277 yards (to OSU's 137). OSU out gained Michigan through the air, but most of those yards came on a handful of big plays. Denard Robinson, meanwhile, was crisply efficient on 14-17 passing with three touchdowns and zero interceptions.

With that, the streak is finally over; Michigan finally gets the OSU monkey off its back, at least for a year. There are rumors that OSU will land head coach Urban Meyer, and with 18 returning starters next year, OSU will be dangerous. But Michigan will have a senior Denard Robinson and a second year under Brady Hoke, Al Borges, and Greg Mattison. I think The Game will be huge next year.

By any measure, this has been a successful season for Michigan. Most people expected 8 wins for the team this year; 10 wins and a victory over OSU was dancing into dreamland territory. We should give a ton of credit to the coaching staff for turning the defense into a top-10 unit. But let's not forget that it's Rich Rodriguez that gave us Denard Robinson and the spread offense that has carried us all year long. Of course it's impossible to know where we would have been had Hoke been hired in 2008... but I think it's important that we recognize everyone's contributions to this season's achievements.

Grades: Offense A, Defense B-. The offense was solid against a talented OSU defense. The defense was porous in the secondary partly due to the aggressively run-stopping scheme, and partly due to the corners being outclassed by the OSU receivers. But the run defense was sound and we had good pressure on Braxton Miller most of the day.

N.C. State 56, Maryland 41. N.C. State was all but dead in this game. They trailed 41-14 in the third quarter, due in most part to a slew of first half turnovers. But then, the tide of turnovers changed, and Mike Glennon caught fire... and the Wolfpack had a ridiculous 35-point fourth quarter as part of a 42-point unanswered run and the largest comeback in school history. With that, N.C. State becomes bowl eligible and completes the salvation of a season that had looked hopeless in October.

Other Notable Games

#1 LSU stomped #3 Arkansas 41-17. It is widely believed that Les Miles ran up the score to account for the possibility of losing the SEC title game to Georgia; by winning in impressive fashion, it improves the odds they could lose that game and still be ranked #2.

#2 Alabama demolished #24 Auburn 42-14. I frankly don't know why Auburn was ranked coming into this game, with just one quality win against South Carolina combined with drubbings at the hands of most of their ranked opponents.

#5 Virginia Tech blanked Virginia 38-0 to win the ACC Coastal division. They'll meet Clemson in the ACC championship game.

#6 Stanford beat #22 Notre Dame 28-14. Notre Dame couldn't do much in this game; the Stanford defense kept them bottled up most of the day.

#8 Houston remained undefeated, beating Tulsa 48-16. Houston is a possible BCS opponent for Michigan. That would be an interesting and somewhat scary matchup.

#12 South Carolina beat #17 Clemson. Clemson has lost three of their last four games and will need to get their act together when they meet Virginia Tech.

#13 Georgia beat #23 Georgia Tech 31-17. Georgia has had a solid season but will be a huge underdog to LSU in the SEC title game.

#14 Michigan State got to ten wins, beating Northwestern 31-17. The Spartans could still see themselves left out of the BCS if they lose to Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship... which would be delicious if Michigan gets a BCS bowl bid.

Speaking of #16 Wisconsin, they utterly demolished #19 Penn State 45-7. Penn State was nowhere near as good as their 9-2 record would have suggested; they won tight games against mediocre competition most of the year. Wisconsin finally exposed them, and will now get the chance for revenge against MSU.

#21 Nebraska beat Iowa 20-7. This may have not been the season the Cornhuskers were hoping for, but at 9-3 it was a solid Big Ten debut. Nebraska is a classy team and it's good to have them in the conference.

USC pummeled UCLA 50-0, but because of USC's postseason ban, UCLA still goes to the Pac-12 championship game. USC seems to be one of the best teams in the Pac-12, but their season is done anyway.

Florida State beat Florida 21-7 to close out Florida's awful 6-6 season. (6 wins are awful if they come against FAU, UAB, Tennessee, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, and Furman.) I think the Gators still need some more humility after all their arrogance from the Spurrier and Meyer years.

And finally... Ron Zook, your failure is complete. Illinois lost to Minnesota 27-7; they end up 6-6 after a 6-0 start. I'll be shocked if Zook still has a job next season. Meanwhile Minnesota has reasons to be optimistic next year, even after a dismal 3-9 season.

This probably ends my football blogging for the season... I'll have to find something else to write about now. I don't think I'll go back to American Idol blogging. Maybe I'll return to my roots and start writing food reviews again. Oh, and of course there's the election next year too...

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