Michigan fell in devastating fashion to Ohio State in Columbus last year.
by Evan Oesterle
I want to be clear before I get into this. I have been a Michigan fan since I could walk. I knew I was coming to this school since I knew what college was. The pictures on my walls, the jerseys in my closet, and the license plate on my car all bear the block M. I will always be proud to be a Michigan Wolverine. That doesn’t mean I can’t be critical of the football program at the University of Michigan. So I am going to do just that.
While I've been alive, Michigan and Ohio State have played 20 times in football. Michigan is 5-15. Michigan won 3 of the first 5 meetings before I could read or ride a bike, but the Buckeyes have won 15 of the last 17. Currently, Ohio State has their second win streak of at least 6 games in the series in the that same time span. (Actually, the two streaks were sandwiched between Michigan’s only win in the last 14 years, when Luke Fickell was the interim head coach and the Buckeyes were in the midst of their tattoo scandal. I only count this as a win in the series out of respect for the players who played their hearts out on that field, to eek out a single digit win over the worst Buckeye team of this century.)
Michigan and Michigan State have also played 20 football games in my life. The series is currently 10-10. After Michigan won 8 of the first 11 before I could do algebra, MSU has won 7 of the last 9, some in humiliating fashion, some in heartbreaking fashion. Losing to rivals hurts at any school. But at a school that starts every football game by hearing, “We are the greatest University in the world” from the tantalizing voice of James Earl Jones, at a school that has won the most football games in the history of the sport, at a school that has the biggest football stadium in the country, at a school that pays its head coach nearly $10 million per season, at a school that claims to be the Leaders and the Best, it is especially difficult.
I want to be clear before I get into this. I have been a Michigan fan since I could walk. I knew I was coming to this school since I knew what college was. The pictures on my walls, the jerseys in my closet, and the license plate on my car all bear the block M. I will always be proud to be a Michigan Wolverine. That doesn’t mean I can’t be critical of the football program at the University of Michigan. So I am going to do just that.
While I've been alive, Michigan and Ohio State have played 20 times in football. Michigan is 5-15. Michigan won 3 of the first 5 meetings before I could read or ride a bike, but the Buckeyes have won 15 of the last 17. Currently, Ohio State has their second win streak of at least 6 games in the series in the that same time span. (Actually, the two streaks were sandwiched between Michigan’s only win in the last 14 years, when Luke Fickell was the interim head coach and the Buckeyes were in the midst of their tattoo scandal. I only count this as a win in the series out of respect for the players who played their hearts out on that field, to eek out a single digit win over the worst Buckeye team of this century.)
Michigan and Michigan State have also played 20 football games in my life. The series is currently 10-10. After Michigan won 8 of the first 11 before I could do algebra, MSU has won 7 of the last 9, some in humiliating fashion, some in heartbreaking fashion. Losing to rivals hurts at any school. But at a school that starts every football game by hearing, “We are the greatest University in the world” from the tantalizing voice of James Earl Jones, at a school that has won the most football games in the history of the sport, at a school that has the biggest football stadium in the country, at a school that pays its head coach nearly $10 million per season, at a school that claims to be the Leaders and the Best, it is especially difficult.
Close losses to rivals have become the norm under Harbaugh.
Since Lloyd Carr retired, Michigan has had 3 head coaches who couldn’t beat their rivals or win the conference (0 conference titles since Carr). Two of those coaches (Hoke and Harbaugh) have had average recruiting classes ranked top 10 or better.
Each of these coaches has either had a good offense (Rich Rodriguez), or a good (great?) defense (Hoke, Harbaugh), but not both. Only one Michigan quarterback who played for these three head coaches has taken a snap under center in the NFL. And he was a 5th year senior grad transfer whose first NFL throw was a pick 6, literally last weekend. The offensive line, kicking game, and quarterback have been constant issues for all 3 head coaches. None of them have solved the quarterback problem for longer than a couple weeks.
I’m convinced there has never been a worse decade of Michigan football. Look for yourself: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Michigan_Wolverines_football_seasons
The only comparable decade would be 1959-1968, when Bump Elliott was the head coach. But Elliott’s 1964 team won a Rose Bowl. So I still give the current decade the edge for badness.
Each of these coaches has either had a good offense (Rich Rodriguez), or a good (great?) defense (Hoke, Harbaugh), but not both. Only one Michigan quarterback who played for these three head coaches has taken a snap under center in the NFL. And he was a 5th year senior grad transfer whose first NFL throw was a pick 6, literally last weekend. The offensive line, kicking game, and quarterback have been constant issues for all 3 head coaches. None of them have solved the quarterback problem for longer than a couple weeks.
I’m convinced there has never been a worse decade of Michigan football. Look for yourself: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Michigan_Wolverines_football_seasons
The only comparable decade would be 1959-1968, when Bump Elliott was the head coach. But Elliott’s 1964 team won a Rose Bowl. So I still give the current decade the edge for badness.
Wanna talk about struggles against rivals? Damn.
How many decades were there in this school’s history where the basketball program was better than the football program? The basketball team was a bad call away from being in a tie game in the National championship. The football team’s best season was 2011 when they won the Sugar Bowl and went 11-2 in a season where they still lost to Michigan State and at Iowa (wait sound familiar) eliminating them from national title contention.
Had this clean block not been called a foul on Trey Burke, Michigan would have had the ball down by 3 points late in the 2013 National Championship game.
So now what? Harbaugh is about to be in year 4, with a team made up of 95%+ of his own recruits. The team returns 17 of 22 starters, and could be getting a huge boost from Ole Miss transfers Shea Patterson (QB) and Deontay Anderson (Safety). The schedule is difficult (@ND, @MSU, @OSU, vs PSU, vs Wisconsin) but there are no excuses left. Tim Drevno needs to be fired. The offensive coaching staff, or more specifically, the play calling, wasted this season. If the offensive line and quarterback issues aren’t solved over the offseason, I will call Harbaugh’s Michigan tenure a disappointment. I won’t say he should be fired or is a bad coach, those statements are both lies. But I can say that I’ll be disappointed without a conference championship and wins against OSU and MSU. Actually, I'll be devastated. It would take a decade of dominance to offset my entire memory of Michigan football, which starts right around the 2006 game against Ohio State (a 42-39 loss). It would take that same decade of dominance for me to start to have confidence going into games against Michigan State and Ohio State. It hurts knowing that all of those alumni who came before me recognize this as the worst decade of their Michigan fan hood, while that same decade is all I know of Michigan football.
I am proud to be a Michigan Wolverine. In fact, it is great to be a Michigan Wolverine. We are the leaders and the best. My kids will go to this school, and hopefully their kids will after them. Go Blue forever, but I’m sick of losing.
-Evan Oesterle
Opinions are my own
Feel free to leave a comment below, or tweet me @E____money
I am proud to be a Michigan Wolverine. In fact, it is great to be a Michigan Wolverine. We are the leaders and the best. My kids will go to this school, and hopefully their kids will after them. Go Blue forever, but I’m sick of losing.
-Evan Oesterle
Opinions are my own
Feel free to leave a comment below, or tweet me @E____money
RSS Feed
