They Say 'Use Your Head,' but Oh, What a Headache!

I'm major bummin', but at least they made it close ...

Well, yesterday's 'Game of the Millennium' turned out to be a heart-breaker, and OSU walked away with a 42-39 victory over The Victors. Michigan certainly played well, but not well enough to win. OSU certainly showed why they're #1, but in my humble opinion, here's the real reasons why the Michigan Wolverine's lost to those OSU Buckeyes.

1. Michigan lost 5th-year Senior Strong Safety #19 Willis Barringer to an injury. Consequently, and not once, but TWICE, when Ohio State running backs were able bust through a blitz-packed Michigan Defensive Line, Barringer wasn't in center-field to help prevent both 60-yard touchdowns. 14 easy points for OSU. Also, perhaps Barringer would have helped slow Troy Smith's 5-wide onslaught.

2. Crable's helmet crushing hit in the 4th quarter. On a 3rd and 15 scramble (outside of fieldgoal range, btw, and with Michigan only behind by 4), OSU's Troy Smith was flushed out of the pocket and forced to lob an incompletion. Well, the play would have been a incompletion if Shawn Crable hadn't used his own helmet to come crashing into Troy Smith's helmet as Smith was forced out-of-bounds. The result? A personal foul, 15-yard penalty, automatic 1st down for OSU, and a subsequent OSU touchdown, put OSU two scores and 11 points ahead of Michigan. Michigan was able to recover 8 of those points, but without any time-outs and a failed on-side kick, all the Wolverine's could do was watch. I can't blame Crable too much; he was simply playing tough football and had noplace else to go. Still, it may have been the event that cost Michigan the game.

3. On Michigan's 2nd possession, early in the game Chad Henne over-threw Mario Manningham for what would have been a touchdown. The first possessions for both teams resulted in touchdowns. Michigan had a fantastic opportunity to score 7 on it's second when Mario Manningham BLEW past the defending OSU Corner. Henne's pass sailed 5-10 yards past Manningham, and the great opportunity to put another early nail into OSU was lost.

4. OSU's lousy turf. In some way or another, I'm sure I can blame the above three reasons on OSU's loose turf. Barringer's injury, Crable's bone-headed foul and Manningham not running as fast as Henne expected. I'm not the usual conspiracy theorist type, but if there were to be a conspiracy theory this year, I might predict people will point to the turf. It seems almost too convenient that Michigan slipped and slid much more than OSU appeared to.

I'm not happy with the outcome, but none-the-less, it was a great game. OSU's offense certainly trounced Michigan's supposed impenetrable defense. The BCS rankings show Michigan still at #2 today, so maybe they'll play again in Glendale, AZ for all the marbles. Wouldn't that be a riot if they were to play again ... and Michigan were to win. Sure, OSU can have the Big Ten title. We'll take the National Title.

Go BLUE!