Banner Logo
Home
The Real Kato
About Me
Twitter
Facebook
Frozen Lunches
Links
Kottke
Daring Fireball
Amalah
Secret Agent Josephine
Dooce
Contact



Archives
Most Recent

2024 March
2006 November
2006 October
2006 September
2006 August
2006 July
2006 June
2006 May
2006 April
2006 March
2006 February
2006 January
2005 December


Categories
All Categories 

bloggers 
books 
commentary 
dating 
food 
funnyhaha 
interesting 
life 
movies 
music 
politics 
reviews 
science 
site-business 
sports 
style 
techwatch 
television 
theater 
travel 


Recent Comments
On College Football 2022: Week 6 Recap and Week 7 Pre...
Ken said:
Yeah, we've both had our share of hope and disappointment in this game. Let's just hope for a good b...
On College Football 2022: Week 6 Recap and Week 7 Pre...
Dan* said:
I'm not sure how I feel about this game. On one hand, I feel pretty optimistic that we have the tale...
On College Football 2022: Week 1 Preview
Dan* said:
Glad to see you'll be back writing football again, Ken! Congrats on the easy win today. You didn't ...
On College Football 2021: Week 10 Recap and Week 11 P...
Ken said:
Yeah, sorry one of our teams had to lose. I've come to appreciate Penn State as a classy and sympath...
On College Football 2021: Week 10 Recap and Week 11 P...
Dan* said:
Hey Ken, congratulations on the win yesterday! Some really odd choices by our coaching staff in that...


<< Previous: Michigan vs. Ohio St... | Next: Happy Thanksgiving >>

College Football Recap... and, er, Preview
Friday, 2006 November 24 - 8:37 am
Michigan 39, Ohio State 42. N.C. State 9, North Carolina 23.

Michigan 39, Ohio State 42. It's probably obvious that I'm disappointed in the outcome of the game, but boy, was it a good game.

It wasn't a big surprise that Ohio State would be able to move the ball, but they really exploited Michigan's one weakness: lack of talent and speed in the secondary against four and five wide receivers. Michigan's nickel backs and safeties simply couldn't cover Ohio State's receivers long enough to allow the defensive line to get pressure on Troy Smith. Even Michigan's best cornerback, Leon Hall, got beat by Ted Ginn.

What was a surprise was the big plays given up by the Michigan defense, a team which hasn't given up big plays all year. Now, several of those big plays were arguably the result of slips on the terrible OSU turf. Michigan defensive linemen and backs had footing trouble all day, and that noticeably affected their play.

Not that Michigan didn't play well. The offense was superb all day, scoring twice as many points as OSU has given up all year. Mike Hart ran the ball effectively, rushing for 142 yards on the day and scoring three touchdowns. Chad Henne passed for 267 yards and two touchdowns as receivers were easily able to get open. Michigan's defense frequently got OSU into difficult 3rd-and-long situations (but only to see Troy Smith make a play to convert the first down). And although OSU ran for 187 yards, 108 came on two big plays by Chris Wells and Antonio Pittman. Not counting those plays, the OSU rushing game was 27 attempts for 79 yards, less than three yards per carry.

It was almost enough. And if not for a crucial personal foul penalty in the fourth quarter, maybe Michigan could have won the game.

Let's talk about that penalty for a second. Troy Smith was scrambling out of the pocket. Near the sideline, he is hit by two Michigan defenders. One makes helmet-to-helmet contact, and that's why he's flagged. Helmet-to-helmet contact has been a point of emphasis for officials since last year, but... was it a dangerous and intentional foul? In this circumstance, I don't think so. I think if you'd had a running back carrying the ball on that play, the referee might have kept his flag in his pocket. I don't fault the referee for making the call, but penalties are judgment calls, and at such a crucial point in the game, maybe you decide, "let's not have the outcome of the game decided on a penalty". Granted, I think OSU had a few questionable calls go against them as well, like that roughing-the-center penalty when Michigan was punting the ball. But that one against Michigan was a potential game-changer.

There's one Michigan offensive play I wish we had to do over. Henne missed a wide open Mario Manningham streaking down the sideline, early in the game. Was Manningham slowed by the poor turf? Was their timing off due to Manningham's missed practice time following his injury? I don't know, but he was open by fifteen yards and that would have been a touchdown. If we had scored that, maybe we go into halftime tied instead of down by fourteen, and maybe that changes the way the rest of the game goes.

It was a game for the ages; it lived up to its hype. And interesting, Michigan remained #2 in the BCS rankings, setting up the possibility of a rematch for the national championship. More on that in a little bit.

If any Michigan fan gives Lloyd Carr crap for losing that game, he doesn't deserve to call himself a Michigan fan. Michigan played aggressively and almost beat the best team in the country, on the road in a very hostile environment. I don't think you could have asked for any better.

N.C. State 9, North Carolina 23. This game was just pathetic... a microcosm of N.C. State's entire season. Three turnovers. Nine penalties for 82 yards. N.C. State never makes it to the end zone.

So if UNC coach John Bunting was fired, but he beats Chuck Amato, does that mean Amato needs to be fired too? Hmm. At the very least, Amato needs to shake up his staff.

Other News

USC 23, Cal 9. USC has bounced back from its upset loss to Oregon State, and is now again the favorite to play OSU in the national championship game.

Florida 62, Western Carolina 0. Florida beats up on a 1-AA creampuff, and nobody cares.

Arkansas 28, Mississippi State 14. Arkansas hangs on to win this game and clinch the SEC West, setting up an SEC championship game with Florida. Will the winner of that game go on to play in the national championship? Hard to say.

Notre Dame 41, Army 9. Notre Dame also remains in the title hunt, with a big game coming up against USC.

Cincinnati 30, Rutgers 11. Rutgers' unbeaten season is over, but they still might win the Big East.

Wisconsin 35, Buffalo 3. Wisconsin goes 11-1, and will almost certainly play in the Citrus Bowl.

Virginia Tech 19, Wake Forest 14. Although Wake Forest can still get to the ACC championship with a win against Miami, this loss tarnishes what had been a very good season.

Boston College 38, Maryland 16. Although Maryland was ahead of BC in the ACC race, this one can hardly be considered an upset... BC's shown themselves to be a pretty good team this year.

National Championship Implications

It's come down to USC, Notre Dame, Arkansas, Florida, and Michigan. If USC beats Notre Dame, they're almost a lock to get in, since they only trail Michigan in the current BCS standings by a miniscule fraction. If USC loses, it gets more interesting. Would Notre Dame pass Michigan, who walloped them earlier in the year? I don't think so. So then would voters bump up the SEC champion (Arkansas or Florida) to avoid a Michigan-OSU rematch? Perhaps.

I think USC is the most deserving of a chance to play OSU, assuming they beat Notre Dame. You can't discount USC's drubbing of Arkansas early in the season, or Michigan's drubbing of Notre Dame. As for Florida? I frankly don't think they're a championship-caliber team. We'll see how they fare against a weakened but still-dangerous Florida State team this weekend.

Would I like to see a Michigan-OSU rematch? Well, there's two parts to that question. If you ask me who's the second-best team in the country, and the best of the one-loss teams out there, I'd have to say Michigan, by far. But if you ask me if Michigan deserves a rematch, I'd have to say, they've had their chance. A rematch game wouldn't have the same luster as last weekend's game. If Michigan won, would it prove that they're the best team? If Michigan lost, would it simply multiply the disappointment of last weekend's loss?

My concern is that Michigan won't get a worthy opponent in the Rose Bowl. Since conference champions are tied in to certain bowl games, that leaves Michigan with: Notre Dame, Boise State, the Big East champion, the Big East runner-up, or possibly Oklahoma. Meh.
Permalink   Bookmark and Share
Posted by Ken in: sports

Comments

There are no comments on this article.

Comments are closed for this post.
Login


Search This Site
Powered by FreeFind