#2 Ohio State (9-0, 12-0) at #13 Michigan (6-3, 9-3) Post Game

[CWSooner]

Is Fields the Buckeyes' secret sauce?

[MrNubbz]

Michigan's O-Line did a good job of neutralizing Chase Young,did not hear his name called.Warinner deserves a lot of credit saw that some times he'd put a TE behind the tackle to pick up young.Who was that tackle? - Runyon maybe anyway nice job.Larry Johnson gotta work with Chase and tell him to stop reading his press clippings

[FearlessF]

Is Fields the Buckeyes' secret sauce?

it certainly helped to have a young kid come in late and play that well

[MichiFan87]

I was at The Game. I certainly had no expectations of seeing them win, but I did expect a closer game, which it should've been.

Offensively, Michigan had some good drives early and then made some dumb mistakes, between the fumble inside the 20, settling for 2 FGs when they probably should've gone for it, calling a few too many running plays when it was clear that the passing game was the team's only chance, and then some bad passes, bad drops, and questionable play-calls. Michigan could've and probably should've gotten 42 points.

Defensively it was even more frustrating. Dobbins is good, but he's not as good as Michigan made him look. The DL just got dominated and the LBs allowed some bigger plays than they should've too. The secondary did okay, but they got beat bad on a few big plays and whenever Fields was able to scramble around the coverage often broke donw to allow a first down.

All that said, someday OSU will fall back from its current level of dominance. Until that happens, though, it is what it is.

[Honestbuckeye]

Michigan's O-Line did a good job of neutralizing Chase Young,did not hear his name called.Warinner deserves a lot of credit saw that some times he'd put a TE behind the tackle to pick up young.Who was that tackle? - Runyon maybe anyway nice job.Larry Johnson gotta work with Chase and tell him to stop reading his press clippings

Chase has nothing to apologize for- he played extremely well.  He impacted UMs whole playbook.  Michigan had a nice plan for Chase.  He was double teamed, even triple teamed several times, or chipped by a back or tight end.  Or- the entire line slid his direction.  In effect- they took way his inside moves and outside moves by forcing him into a blocker.

Late ter in the game- on the only few plays I saw him one on one- he got pressure on the QB and even got one good hit on him.
also- UM got the ball out quick about 80% of the time.
But this strategy had had a cost.  OSUs inside guys had a huge game.  Hamilton an Landers were stuffing the run and getting enough pressure to effect the throws.  Especially in the second half, when OSU made the adjustments in their secondary. 
They really missed Wade- and often went with 4 LBs in the first half.  or put Arnette on the slot and Riep outside
in the second half they moved Arnette back outside where he is comfortable- until he got hurt.  Then both Cam Brown and Riep were in there- both 2nd teamers.  The OSU staff did a great job adjusting and limiting the passing game. 
A lot of those dropped passes were heavily contested. 

https://www.buckeyextra.com/sports/20191130/ohio-state-michigan--on-chase-youngrsquos-limited-production-garrett-wilsonrsquos-big-catches-and-other-notes

[Temp430]

The Buckeyes put 120 points on Michigan the last two years.  Ohio State rushed for 264 yards and Michigan rushed for 91.  Michigan's OL and DL were both out played.

[FearlessF]

so, the question I would have.......

How as Michigan recruited the past 5 seasons in the trenches?

We know Michigan has recruited very well overall, was it mostly WRs and DBs and LBs and RBs?

having the Bosas and Chase Young help, I imagine they were all 4 or 5 stars

[Temp430]

Michigan has not recruited as well as Ohio State and has to do better.   I think Michigan is making progress but it takes a while to develop linemen.  Right now I would say Michigan's greatest need is for a dominate NT which is something you don't get out of high school no matter how many stars they're rated.  

[MrNubbz]

Young certainly wasn't doubled teamed the whole game,UM's line did an admirable job vs the D-Line as a whole what killed M later was dropped passes and questionable play calls.Shaun Wade being out allowed Shea to dump the ball earlierMchigan was consistent in chipping him,doubling him,kept the RBs on his side,and quick passes a combination of those things.Michigan stuck to their O-Lines plan.Moving forward that's what the other teams they face will be doing.And have top flight Q's doing it - hold on to our hats.There was a few flagrant holding calls against him however



By Stephen Means, cleveland.com

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- There was one thing missing from Ohio State football’s 56-27 win over Michigan on Saturday.
The best player in college football didn’t play like the best player in college football. The Wolverines were the first team to keep Chase Young from getting his hands on their quarterback this season. That put an end to an 11-game streak where he recorded at least 0.5 a sack in a game. He came into Saturday’s game with 38 total tackles, 19.5 for loss, 16.5 sacks and seven forced fumbles. His only stats in the game were two quarterback hurries.
Young said that he’s seen plenty of double teams and interesting methods plans from teams this season to try and slow him down. The only thing that made what Michigan did that he found unique in was the Wolverines’ willingness to stick to their plan for an entire game.
“They just did it more consistently,” Young said. “Other games I might get one or two (where) they would show it. It was like every third down there was an extra guy. It was definitely a challenge. I like challenges, I’m a competitor so I’m not backing down from nothing.”
Wisconsin will be the first team that gets a chance to duplicate Michigan’s success when it faces the Buckeyes in the Big Ten Championship game. The rematch will give the Badgers a second chance to face him. In the first meeting, Young recorded six tackles, five for loss, four sacks — tying an Ohio State record — and two forced fumbles. That game put his name into the Heisman Trophy ceremony.
“Obviously we didn’t have a very good answer in our game,” Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst said on the Big Ten Championship Teleconference. “So we have to be better"

[medinabuckeye1]

Are there demographic trends handicapping Michigan?
Cruising through some population-change maps, Michigan and Ohio seem to have about the same rate of population growth.
Is it just that Ohio State hires HFCs who are better recruiters?

Ohio has always been a more fertile recruiting area than Michigan.  For one thing Ohio's population is larger.  Additionally, a portion of Michigan's population lives in an area where hockey is the #1 sport.  

I've said before that I think that the nationalization of TV games has been terrible for the schools that were dependent on non-local talent (notably UNL, TN, and M).  None of those three can compete nationally with local talent so they *HAVE* to recruit nationally.  IMHO, recruiting nationally has become more difficult due to the fact that a kid can get on TV no matter where he plays so he doesn't have to go to a far-away school for that purpose.  

[FearlessF]

Television is the root of ALL evil

[MrNubbz]

I've said before that I think that the nationalization of TV games has been terrible for the schools that were dependent on non-local talent (notably UNL, TN, and M).  None of those three can compete nationally with local talent so they *HAVE* to recruit nationally.  

Good Points,but if UM/UNL/UT were hot now instead of the late '90s,recruiting prolly wouldn't be a problem.Alabama for instance has a population of under 5 million.But recruit nationally and have FLA/GA next door

[NorthernOhioBuckeye]

don't forget transfer QBs

You are correct. Let's see.

TTUN had 1 QB transfer in, 0 transfer out  - Net +1
tOSU had 1 QB transfer in, 2 transfer out (and one of them is the favorite to win the Heisman)  - Net -1

That has to be the difference.

[medinabuckeye1]

Good Points,but if UM/UNL/UT were hot now instead of the late '90s,recruiting prolly wouldn't be a problem.Alabama for instance has a population of under 5 million.But recruit nationally and have FLA/GA next door

I specifically used the term "locally" rather than "in state" for a reason.  Oklahoma is an even better example than Alabama.  They are a tiny population state with very few high-end football recruits.  However, Dallas, Texas is roughly half-way between Norman, Oklahoma and Austin, Texas which means that Oklahoma is at least relatively local to a HUGE pool of talent in the Dallas metro area.  

Similarly, Alabama not only has a significant number of high-end recruits in-state but they are also adjacent to MS, GA, and FL each of which are pretty fertile recruiting territory.  There are plenty of high-end football recruits "local" to Tuscaloosa.  There aren't local to Ann Arbor, Lincoln, and Knoxville.