Much like the other defeat that bookended the 10-2 season of 2018—a devastating loss to Notre Dame in South Bend that as the season wore on, became a tough 7-point setback on the road to an eventual #3-ranked and CFP-bound Irish powerhouse—the outcome, however horrific it may have played out before Michigan alumni and fans, doesn't seem quite so lopsided in retrospect.
First, the loss itself. While no OSU team had ever put a point a minute on a Michigan team in series history, there have definitely been worse beatdowns. Exactly 50 years ago, Woody Hayes hung 50 on "that team up north" in what would be the signature win over his arch-rivals. The margin of defeat in this 50-14 slaughter was nearly two touchdowns worse than 2018, and could have been wider had Woody succeeded on a two-point conversion after his team's final touchdown in the waning moments.
With two minutes left and the Nuts inside Michigan's 10, Woody, good sport that he was, trotted his starting unit back out onto the field with the goal of running up the score. After attempting a touchdown through the air, quarterback Rex Kern handed to All-American fullback Jim Otis who ran it in from the two-yard line (see pic). Once his giddy starters finished celebrating in front of Michigan's stunned defensive subs, the insulin-imbalanced coach went for a two-point conversion in what he would later famously justify as his only option since he wasn't able to go for three. As we all know, Michigan took revenge on the #1 Buckeyes the following season with new coach and former Woody disciple Bo Schembechler's historic upset, largely motivated by the number 50.
10 years ago may have been the most lopsided contest of them all: a 42-7 curb stomping that was actually worse than the score indicated. The Buckeyes outgained Rich Rodriguez's hapless Wolverines 416-198, jumping out to a 14-0 lead and outscoring Michigan 28-0 in the second half. The blowout loss euthanized a 3-9 season for Michigan, its worst campaign since Bump Elliot's 1962 squad finished dead last in the Big Ten with a 2-9 record (and a 28-0 loss in Columbus). Ironically, both teams inexplicably recorded wins over top-10 opponents, Bump's '62 team taking down #9 Army 17-7 and Rodriguez's '08 team coming from 19-0 down to defeat the #9 Wisconsin Badgers 27-25.
Imagine. The two worst teams in the last 80 years of Michigan football, and each has the same number of top-10 wins as Jim Harbaugh in his first four years combined.
Speaking of Harbaugh, this year's defeat by the Buckeyes wasn't even his worst bludgeoning as coach. His rookie season at the helm ended with a 29-point slaughter at the hands of Urban Meyer's Buckeyes, 42-13. A 28-point second half by Ohio State blew open a 14-10 game, with Ezekiel Elliott tearing through the young Wolverne defense for 214 yards. The Buckeyes ran for an astounding 369 yards that day, on what was then the nation's #4-ranked run defense. And that drubbing happened within the friendly confines of the Big House.
The most recent installment of this rivalry was more even statistically than any of the aforementioned annihilations. The Wolverines gained 401 total yards—551 if you add in a whopping 150 penalty yards surrendered by OSU—with rushing yards nearly even at 171-161. And the Wolverines possessed the ball for nearly 11 more minutes than the Buckeyes.
Then there's the matter of "what if". What if the Wolverines, who held the ball for 19 minutes in the first half alone, could have capitalized on those possessions? Two drives of more than five minutes each ended in short field goals of 39 and 31 yards. The latter ended after normally sure-handed tight end Zach Gentry dropped a third down pass in the corner of the end zone that quarterback Shea Patterson dropped right into his mitts (see my pics).
And "What if" the Wolverines didn't make it so easy for the Buckeyes to score points in the second half? The large display in the once-open end of the Horseshoe read 62-18. But as poorly as the defense played, it's still unfair to assign all of those points to them. One Ohio State tally came as a result of a blocked Michigan punt returned for a touchdown in the third quarter. Two more scores came on drives of 22 and 19 yards following interceptions by Patterson and freshman Joe Milton. 41 short yards and one colossal special-teams miscue were the difference between 62 points and 41. Two more points than the offense ended up with.
Sure, you could counter that Ohio State kneeled out the clock at Michigan's 10-yard line and may have been able to add another seven points if it wanted. To which I'd respond in Lee Corso fashion, not so fast my friend. Coach Don Brown's top-ranked defense had already risen to the challenge twice in denying the Buckeyes the end zone on separate first-and-goal opportunities inside the five-yard line, keeping the Wolverines in the game. Were the outcome in doubt in the final minutes, who's to say what would have happened? Hard to fault an offense that tacked 39 points on the scoreboard but they sure didn't make it easy on the defense in the second half.
Lastly, as difficult as it is to see context, if you squint hard enough you can see the tide turning. And yes by the way, I am being serious.
Don't believe me? Consider this: Michigan was a 4 1/2-point favorite in Columbus. When was the last time Ohio State upset Michigan in this rivalry? To pull off an upset you have to be an underdog. Since Jim Tressell brought his first Buckeye team to Ann Arbor in 2001, the Wolverines have been favored exactly twice prior to this season. And each time, in 2003 and 2011, Michigan beat Ohio State. As lopsided as this rivalry has been of late, it's been deservedly so.
Consider also that in Harbaugh's four years at Michigan, his teams have steadily improved, each upgrading a deficiency from the year before. Prior to this season, the glaring weakness was the quarterback position. Coach looks to have solved that problem a few times over, first by luring four-star phenom Patterson away from the SEC and Ole Miss, then by stocking his team with bonafide recruits Milton and Dylan McCaffrey (who broke his collarbone in the final minutes of the Penn State game and whose deftness and speed would have made him a welcome option in Columbus last month).
At the end of his fourth full season, Harbaugh has returned a winning tradition to the Michigan football program. His first graduating class leaves the school with 38 wins, the highest total since Lloyd Carr's 2000 class who boasted 41 victories, including a 12-0 record and national championship in their freshmen year. Some schools like Clemson and Georgia were able to flip a switch and become championship caliber. It's been more of a slow burn in Ann Arbor, which, punctuated by an 0-4 record against THE rivals, understandbly draws the ire of die-hards and donors alike—particularly given the enormity of Jimmy's coaching contract.
As difficult as it is to hear, as excruciating as it is for me to type, special things are coming. This year brought Michigan's first piece of championship hardware, its first-ever Big Ten East Division championship trophy (see pic). It's a title shared with Ohio State who won the right to represent the division at the Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis (which it won over Northwestern, 45-24), but it's legit. Even should they lose to Florida in the Peach Bowl on December 29, the Wolverines have all but secured their second top-10 finish in the last three years (and third top-11 finish of Harbaugh's four-year tenure). With a 2019 recruiting class that's currently ranked #8 and tops in the Big Ten, the trajectory seems to continue upward.
Couple that with the retirement of Meyer and a 2019 schedule that brings the big three of Ohio State, Notre Dame and Michigan State to Ann Arbor for the first time ever, and it sets up to be the mother of all revenge tours, one that may end on the biggest stage of all.
Right now however, all we see is 0-4. If a special season for the Wolverines is on the horizon, being the abused and battered fan base that we are, we won't believe it until we see it.
