The pinnacle of elation, transformed into the definition of heart break, in the span of two plays!
Did anyone else feel this way when Michigan scored the game
tying touchdown in the last minute of Saturday's game? There wasn't one
person in the country that thought this Michigan team, which has done
nothing but regress since week 2, would hang with the juggernaut that is
THE Ohio State University. OSU, coming into the game with a 23 game
winning streak and a number 3 ranking in the BCS, had every intention
of rolling over said Michigan team on it's way to their first Big Ten
Championship game. Out of nowhere the home team stunned everyone with a
performance that simply stated, "no matter what the world thinks, we're
going to show them what this team is made of". In an instant classic,
The Buckeyes escaped 42-41 when a 2 point conversion pass by Devin
Gardner was intercepted in the end zone. Which if converted, would have
been an upset matching 1995, 1996, even the epic 1969 24-12 game.
The question of the day throughout The Sports Bar after the
game was, do you agree with the call to go for 2, or see what happens in
overtime? The overwhelming consensus was, Wolverine Nation agreed with
the decision to go for the win in regulation ( but hated the actual play
call), for a myriad of reasons.
- 1. At 7-4 (3-4 in the B1G), what is there left to play for?
- 2. The defense was getting shredded in the second half. It would probably have been more of the same had the game gone to overtime.
- 3. Devin Gardner could barely walk by the end of the game after spraining his ankle in the third quarter. That being said, he displayed extreme toughness and heart on Saturday.
In conclusion, it's been an extremely painful and frustrating
season from a fan's perspective. Every year, every team has a goal to
improve every week, this team did the exact opposite from game 2 through
game 11. This team somehow found a way to play their best game of the
season at the time they needed it most, they just came up one play
short. But this game has fans wondering, when it comes to play calling
and performance, where was this all season? Fans have been begging for
staff changes, most notably a change at Offensive Coordinator. Head
Coach Brady Hoke announced Monday that there would be no staff changes,
so we will have to see if this epic performance can carry over and
inspire a young team and coaching staff to avoid another 5 loss season
next year. With games at Notre Dame, Michigan State, and Ohio State,
that will be tough to avoid. The development of the players and the
identity of this team is squarely on this coaching staff, and if there
are no improvements next year, change will be on the horizon come next
off season.
We hope you will share some of your thoughts below or stop by The Sports Bar Ann Arbor to Eat Sports, Drink Sports, Watch Sports and Talk Sports!
http://the-sportsbar.com/
