<p>Well, it has come to this. Michigan vs OSU. There are no national championship implications this year (well, if OSU wins convincingly and a couple of upsets occur in the coming weeks, maybe for OSU), but the stakes are pretty darn high. To the winner goes the outright Big 10 Championship, a guaranteed Rose Bowl trip. Oh, I almost forgot, since Michigan and OSU have a small rivalry going on, to the winner also goes the bragging rights for one who excrutiating year. </p>
<p>There is very little mystery here. The team that scores more points will win. Hehe! Ok, so the outcome requires some more analysis. Frankly, if Hart and Henne play and are close to 100%, I think we can win this game. If Henne plays and Hart doesn't, again, I like our chances. But if Henne and Hart do not play or play injured, we are doomed. OSU's defense is too good and their offense will score points. This is not going to be a defensive game. This is going to be a well balanced game and if Michigan is to win, we have to find a way to score over 20 points.</p>
<p>UM is weak in the D secondary with some young guys starting. Not really good against the run either. I was surprised how open our ends were getting on fairly deep routes. Hart is ready but Henne looks doubtful and Mallett is not ready mentally. Home field is the only hope but I see it TOSU 28 UM 14.</p>
<p>If Henne does not play, I agree with you Barrons. OSU should win with relative ease. Mallett has talent but zero confidence. If Henne and Hart play at better than 80%, I think we win.</p>
<p>There are rumors going around that this is going to be the last UM home game for coach Carr. If this is true, then I expect Michigan to pull out a win. The players will be playing out of their minds to win one for Lloyd.</p>
<p>There is no way that the game can be won without Hart or Henne. Against Ohio State, offensive balance is essential, so Hart with no Henne means good rushing offense, but horrendous pass offense. Henne with no Hart means good hookups with Manningham, but no ground game. Basically, unless both prongs are going, OSU will concentrate all of their efforts on either shutting down Hart, or going after Henne. We have to be able to mix it up. Also, at home in the Big 10 is underrated. It will make an impact on the outcome-if OSU can get pwned by Illinois in Columbus, then the chances of them being beaten by Michigan in front of a 110000 strong maize out, are fairly high.</p>
<p>niceilike, I agree that Michigan has to be able to pass and run vs OSU. However, if Henne plays, we will be able to run effectively, whether it is Hart, Brown or Minor who carries the ball. But without Henne, we are screwed, unless Mallett has the game of his life, but if last week is any indication, Mallett cannot get it done this year. In short, we can do without Hart, but there is no way we can get it done without Henne. We need a consistant, reliable and confident QB passing the ball to AA and MM. If Henne in the backfield throwing the ball, our OL wil be opening massive holes on the OSU Dline and our RBs will have an easy time going through.</p>
<p>On the contrary, I think this game depends on how well our guys can stop the run. Our rushing defense hasn't exactly been dominating lately. We yielded 232 yards to a PJ Hill-less Wisconsin team (most of them came in the 2nd and 3rd quarters); and almost 200 yards against MSU. If we let Wells and company run all over us in the first half, we are in for a long day.</p>
<p>Whatever happens, I hope the U-M fans stay classy. It's an emotional game, and I would hate for emotions to override judgment--something that seems to happen often at some schools, and I've always been proud that U-M wasn't typically one of them.</p>
<p>Since I'm a writhing ball of hopeful optimism and pessimistic dread about the outcome, I'm trying to decide whether to watch the game, or find something to keep me away from the TV/radio. Seriously.</p>
<p>UM fans are classy. Arrogant, but classy.Never had any problems with Michigan fans, outside of a "sit down" from them. They're different breed than OSU fans, who want to fight and riot. Here's to Michigan winning (it helps out bowl hopes)!</p>
<p>The most obnoxious Michigan fan I've ever seen didn't look like he had any personal affiliation with Michigan, other than rooting for them and wearing a particularly ugly assortment of Maize and Blue clothing--hilariously, the MSU fan he was harrassing so rudely could tell the same thing. The Spartan was like "Did you even GO to Michigan? To ANY college?" Hee.</p>
<p>This "The Rivalry" documentary on HBO is good. Watching it reminds me of why I'll watch this game after all.</p>
<p>That was one of the most disgusting displays of football I have seen in my life. They should just forfeit the bowl game and send Carr and his staff packing as soon as possible. I wanted Carr to go out with a win, but this guy is obviously just inept. I feel so bad for all the seniors, and I don't mean just the players..</p>
<p>agreed. i think allowing henne to play beyond the first quarter was a big mistake. he is a better quarterback, and he has better mental toughness for handling the situation, but if he doesn't have a throwing arm, then there's no point. Manningham missed 3 passes, but he didn't get enough looks. Mallett wouldn't have had that hard of a time at home. Also, *** was Hart doing. He showed glimpses of his abilities in the first quarter, but then he was neither given the ball, nor could he do anything with it the few times he got it. The defense played an amazing game-the only major error was the failure to stop beanie wells second touchdown drive, but 14-3 and 7-3 aren't different scores. The bottom line is that the offense didn't step up, and they couldn't because of poor decisions by Carr.</p>
<p>U of M's lines got pretty dominated, although it seemed like the D was always on the field. Offense couldn't do anything, I don't know what the University sees in DeBord. Manningham can go straight to the pro's for all I care.</p>
<p>Be careful what you wish for, everyone who wants Carr out. Look what happened to ND. They fired Willingham as soon as they had one bad season, and now they're praying for someone who will just make them respectable. Carr represents Michigan's program well, and whatever happens, I just hope people give him the respect he deserves.</p>