Random BuckNotes about last Saturday’s de-pantsing of the Worst Team in Michigan History:

Most Buckeye fans knew that the 21 point line was an underestimation of some sort (most of our predictions here at MotSaG were in the 40s to 10-ish range), but no question the betting lines were equalized at three TDs because of (1) the sheer size of, and (2) the optimism of, Wolverine Nation. UM fans were desperately hoping for a repeat of Bo’s first year. Alas, reality arrived in the third quarter.

	Between the number of interceptions thrown by UM’s "quarterbacks" (heh), and OSU’s ability to get them, I went into the game personally confident in a defensive score. If you have to find something positive to say about Rodriguez, it would be for keeping his QBs from challenging OSU’s secondary. 8 of 25 is pathetic, but that’s 8 of 25 with no interceptions/pick sixes. Still, it would have been nice to see Jenkins score one more TD as a Buckeye.
	Having just given RichRod a compliment, let me give him some grief: some UM fans continue to give him a generous pass on the year, as if 3-9 has nothing whatsoever to do with coaching. I know UM has some bad players, but coaches and players fistfighting with each other on the sideline during a game? That’s a lack of institutional control, there. Tim Brewster only won a single game last year, and I don’t remember seeing Minnesota coaches and players going at it on the sideline. And wasting Feagin’s redshirt on a kick return a couple of games ago? Inexcusable.
	Speaking of 3-9, You know your team stinks when your “little brother” rubs it in a little. “Embarrassing,” indeed.
	Seeing a Michigan quarterback crawl off the field after a hit made me all warm and fuzzy inside.
	Zoltan The Magnificent should have his nickname changed to Zoltan the Rockette. His freakin’ leg was up in the air more often than a Broadway show dancer’s.
	A little more of Sam McGuffie’s entrails were just found on the OSU 22 yard line. Could someone from the UM Athletic Dept. please come and pick them up? Bring a small cooler. And give his mother some aspirin for the uterine pain.
	THAT WAS A SAFETY. The officials gave UM a "pity spot," which kept Tressel from breaking Woody’s record for biggest margin of victory. Ah well.
	Speaking of the officials’ pity for UM, Robo was definitely interfered with on that fourth down conversion attempt. If that had been called, UM wouldn’t have scored on the following drive. Result: Shutout. However, all in all the refs did a good job of letting the players play. They knew what game they were officiating.
	Would someone please take Bob Griese into the dirtiest bathroom in the Horseshoe and give him a swirly? Seriously – I hope ESPN finally gets his bias and sends him to Foutsville. We get it, Bob – Woody didn’t want you playing for him, then your son played for UM, so you hate OSU. Enough already. Go away. You stink as an analyst, anyway.
	Guess what? Mike Hart is now 0-5 against OSU. "But he didn’t play on Saturday." Yeah but he really didn’t play in 2007, either.
	Attention Todd Boeckman: I gave you a standing ovation in my own living room. I wish I could remember you as being one of the best OSU quarterbacks ever, but I honestly can’t say that. I will instead say that you absolutely personify everything that’s wonderful about leadership, sportsmanship, and teamwork. I wish things worked out so that you had had a better offensive line, like Krenzel enjoyed. No matter what, though, I hope you have a fantastic career, wherever you go.
	Beanie’s gone. *sniff* We want you to stay, but nobody is going to give you grief for going. Stay healthy & run angry in the NFL, dude.
	Next year’s WRs: Hartline/Sanzenbacher/Small/Posey/Thomas. NOT BAD. Not bad at all.
	Finally, some closing words for the Little Animal. We’ve anointed several OSU stars as "Wolverine Killers" in recent years, and his legacy deserves no less. Stars like Troy Smith, Beanie, and Ginn beat them three times. But Laurinaitis beat them four. His legacy started when he stepped in after Scott Bobby Carpenter broke his leg on the first play of the 2005 game. Carr orders a play directly at the new LB, trying to take advantage of his inexperience, and he blew it up. He continued to blow it up until the final whistle Saturday. By the way, the biblical reference on his eye black? “Father, the hour has come, glorify your son, so your son may glorify you.” I think we can all tolerate a little blasphemy to acknowledge that your father is indeed proud of you.

And with that, we sit back and wait to see where OSU will end up on January 1st.

How’s THAT for a quick season? Is it just me?

Tomorrow the top-10 ranked Buckeyes will play The Worst Michigan Team In History. Seriously. In 111 years, no OSU team has faced a statistically worse UM opponent.

UM fans, if you think that makes Buckeye fans breathe easier or act overconfident, guess again. Games like this always make me nervous. On paper, OSU should have an easier time with the Wolverines tomorrow than they had against I-AA Youngstown. Which is precisely why I’m hoping the OSU team doesn’t think of it that way. If there’s one weakness with this current class of senior leaders, it’s that time and time again they’ve failed to take the big games seriously. Cakewalking into Florida. Infighting against LSU. Choking against USC.

However, if there is a reassuring theme from the Tressel era, it’s that he’s always been successful at getting the players fired up for Michigan. Even in his one loss, the overmatched Buckeyes kept it close into the fourth quarter.

Unlike what you’ve read in the papers, The Worst Michigan Team In History did not miss out on a bowl game this season. Actually, they earned a spot in the “Horseshoe Bowl,” and that’s how the Worst Players in Michigan History are looking at it.

Below are the tables comparing apples to apples between the good and bad guys.

The tables list the opponent(s) in chronological order down the first column, and include the following ‘important’ stats: total points (Pts), total yards (Yds), total first downs (Dwns), and turnovers (TOs); for each team and its opponent (Opp).

Table 1: The Worst Michigan Team In History

Table 2: Ohio State

The values in Table 3 indicate a team’s overall performance, percentage-wise, against the average numbers the common opponents collectively allow.

For example, in the table below, Michigan scored an average of 12% fewer points on these common opponents than what those opponents typically allow, while their defense allowed those same opponents to score 15% more points than what they would typically get, and so on.

Table 3: Performance against what Common Opponents Typically Allow

Notes:
The Worst Michigan Team In History gets a lot of guff for its poor offensive performance, but as the charts show, the defense deserves just as much, if not more, blame for this season’s woes. Some rationalize that this is a direct result of the poor offense – “the defense is on the field too much.” But this is absolute bunk. Look at OSU – statistically, their offense is about as poor as UM’s, but OSU is in position to win 10 games this year. Why? Because they have a decent defense. UM has no excuses.

Also: Holy 17 to 6 turnover ratio for OSU, Batman! To me, this is the most satisfying defensive improvement from last season, and the one that’s most likely to impact tomorrow’s game.

Only one question this week:

• Final score?

sportsMonkey’s Prediction:

• Ohio State wins its conference record 4th straight Big 10 Championship with a 932 to negative 50 drubbing of The Worst Michigan Team In History.
• Seriously, OSU, 42-13. Tradition and adrenaline keep it interesting in the first quarter or two, but the Buckeyes pull away and don’t look back.

el Kaiser’s Prediction:
First of all, let me thank sportsMonkey for handling Michigan week for me here at MotSaG while I was away on a business trip to the Freezing tip of Northern Maine, working in the FREEZING cold for hours on end. I had a grand total of 10 minutes of internet the whole week, so I was clueless to what was going on in the ‘Sphere. Of course I had no doubt that SM would skewer the The Worst Michigan Team In History because that’s just how he rolls. And thanks for the trips down Memory Lane, Monkeyman.

So my prediction is for a blowout, OSU: 47 UM: 10

Gotta love Corso.

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