Recap: Ohio State 34 Michigan 40

The last drive wasn't enough

When people remember the 2011 Ohio State Buckeyes (6-6, 3-5), what will come to mind? That this was the first team to lose to Michigan in 7 years? Maybe they'll remember it as Braxton Miller's coming out party, where he led the Buckeyes to a 6-6 record, which would have been much worse without him. 

Perhaps the line of thinking will go towards the team that came after Jim Tressel and before Urban Meyer. Whichever way people remember it, this season was rough for OSU fans, and they most likely will try and forget it.

When OSU took the field, there was some serious energy on offense, before Braxton Miller connected with a wide open Philly Brown for the first score of the game. Better yet, it was a long pass that completed an outstanding drive, that was perhaps one of the best drives this season. The common phrase this game was "Where was this play-calling all season?". 

It seemed as if Fickell, coaching in what may be his first and last Michigan game was pulling out all the stops and kidnapping Jim Bollman's playbook for the day, to allow Braxton to actually be set free. The 18th-ranked Wolverines and first-year head coach Brady Hoke notched their first win over the arch-rival Buckeyes since 2003, prevailing 40-34 in what was by far the most entertaining Ohio State-Michigan game since the one-versus-two game in 2006. The offense's on both sides exploded, but the same could be said about the defense's.

Ohio State's "Silver Bullets" have been another feature of the 2011 season that most will want to forget. While their were ups (Wisconsin, John Simon, Ryan Shazier), their were without a doubt downs (Secondary, Injuries). Without Andrew Sweat, Ryan Shazier was leading the linebacking core and putting them on their backs. It seemed to be working until Shazier seemed to hyper-extend his knee.

Immediately the effect of the injury was felt, which tells us the state of this linebacking core. The teams offense's combined for 74 points and 816 yards of total offense. There was one tie and five lead changes in the back-and-forth affair. But Michigan (10-2, 6-2), which trailed 24-23 at halftime, drove for a pair of second-half touchdowns and held on for the win. UM pulled it out with an interception by Courtney Avery with 39 seconds left, finally ending years of frustration at the hands of the Scarlet and Gray.

The win for Michigan most likely wrapped it up for their BCS chances. They play no more games, and must hope that they sneak in to that #14 spot in the BCS, and they are chosen as an at-large bid. For Ohio State, there have been rumors that the Gator Bowl President has been pushing for a Ohio State-Florida match up. Of course, if it doesn't pan out, OSU will be heading to Texas, to play in either the Meinke Car Care Bowl, or the Ticket City Bowl. Which would you prefer?

Denard Robinson completed 14/17 passes for 167 yards and three touchdowns and also carried the ball 26 times for 170 yards and two scores. Fitzgerald Toussaint added 120 yards on 20 carries. Kevin Koger, Junior Hemingway and Martavious Odoms each caught touchdown passes.

For OSU, Miller completed 14 of 25 passes for a career-high 235 yards and two touchdowns with an interception and also had 16 carries for 100 yards and a score. He could have had easily 300 yards, but a few missed deep passes really hurt the Buckeyes chances to win, and also were overthrown. 

It was a rookie mistake, but to miss wide open receivers near the endzone can't be done again and again. Next year is going to be special, that is for sure. DeVier Posey, playing in his last Michigan game was pretty damn good, and earned a lot of respect from me. He caught 3 passes for 58 yards with a long of 43 and 1 TD. Of course, he was also wide open 2 more times that would not only have been touchdowns, but 40+ yarders. He also was the one wide open on the sideline where Braxton missed the opportunity to seal the game winning throw with 1 last overthrow. It's too bad, but he can build on that and improve.