Mich-OSU, Schembechler-Woody, etc...

[SentToStud]

Unless you are from Michigan or Ohio, well into your 40's or a big time college football history fan, the significance of Schembechler's passing and the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry may not resonate as it does with some of us. Some random thoughts...

Schembechler, an Ohio native, coached Michigan for 20 years. Won or shared 13 Big10 titles.

Schembechler vs Woody Hayes was one of the most competitive rivalries ever. Schembechler played for Woody at Miami-Ohio and coached under him at Ohio State. All of the stuff of legends you can read about Woody and Bo are true, and then some. Before Schembechler got the Mich job, OSU and Woody pretty much dominated the rivalry. Bo was obsessed about beating Woody and went 5-4-1 in their 10 years of coaching against each other.

Hayes hated, absolutely hated Michigan, For years he would only refer to Michigan as "that school up north."

Once with OSU ahead by 34 points against Michigan, Hayes went for a 2-point conversion. When asked why he went for two he replied, "They wouldn't let me go for three."

I also remember reading that Hayes, well after his coaching days were over and despite being very sick, insisted on attending and speaking at an awards ceremony honoring Schembechler. He insisted on attending, he said, "Only because it was being held in Ohio."

Hayes attended and spoke for about 30 minutes. He died the next day.

I once had a 10 minute conversation with Schembechler. I was and am very good friends with one of his players who I lived next door to in Ann Arbor. At my friend's wedding, I introduced myself to Schembechler who asked me, "What makes you worthy of being Mark's friend?" He spent the next several minutes lecturing me about the virtues of his former player, none of them having to do with football. I don't think I was the first --nor last-- to get the lecture.

I saw a quote in today's Detroit Free Press from Dan Dierdorf, a former player who said the big game today will be known as, "Just the game they played the day after Bo died."

There are tons of great Schembechler stories out there and if you're a fan of this kind of stuff, they're great reads.

[hoovesupsideyourhead]

but..id love to see mich woop up on them..but my razorbacks are ready to top the bcs....lol

[SentToStud]

Originally Posted by hoovesupsideyourhead

but..id love to see mich woop up on them..but my razorbacks are ready to top the bcs....lol

lol. you got one of those plastic pig hats? saw one at a garage sale a while ago. wife said no. if i only had a basement....

How could they call that personal foul? College football is fixed, I firmly believe that. Guys running full speed and has faked going out of bounds earlier in the same game and kept running, Michigan defender launches himself at the guy and hits him while the qb is still clearly in bounds.
Give me a break, they would have been punting and the refs couldn't wait to throw the flag, instead of punting it leads to a touchdown.
Blah, when are they ever just gonna let the players decide the outcome instead of the refs?

[pmayjr]

dude, I rooted for Mich- let me say that first and foremost so you don't think my opinion is biased.

HE DESERVED THAT PERSONAL FOUL. IT WAS ACTUALLY 3 PERSONAL FOULS IN 1. 1- Troy Smith was pretty much out of bounds with nowhere else to go when he got hit. 2- it was a helmet to helmet hit and 3- Smith had clearly thrown the ball when he got hit.

What a costly penalty, and too bad it prolly ultimately decided the game. The pass ended up being incomplete. Mich woulda had the ball down 4 points. At least the game lived up to the hype. I hope there's a rematch for the Nat title.

[SentToStud]

tough spot for that kind of call to have to be made one way or the other. We lost and these games are almost always close with crazy plays.

It seemed we were always a half-step behind and OSU had a couple more big plays than us.

To be honest, I never felt great about Michigan's chances to win once the game started. I feel kind of lucky to have won my Michigan wager.

[saucon17]

No Question these two teams are by far the two best teams
in college football. I wish there is rematch for National Title but,
the poll voters want let this happen.

[sham]

I do not want to see a rematch for the title and here's why:
1) Michigan had their shot and did not get it done. Some teams don't get a shot even if undefeated (Auburn 2 yrs ago, maybe Rutgers this year). Let another team get a shot.
2) What if Michigan won the rematch on a lucky last minute play by one point? Would Mich be the champ or would the loser OSU be the champ?

Originally Posted by pmayjr

dude, I rooted for Mich- let me say that first and foremost so you don't think my opinion is biased.

HE DESERVED THAT PERSONAL FOUL. IT WAS ACTUALLY 3 PERSONAL FOULS IN 1. 1- Troy Smith was pretty much out of bounds with nowhere else to go when he got hit. 2- it was a helmet to helmet hit and 3- Smith had clearly thrown the ball when he got hit.

What a costly penalty, and too bad it prolly ultimately decided the game. The pass ended up being incomplete. Mich woulda had the ball down 4 points. At least the game lived up to the hype. I hope there's a rematch for the Nat title.

1) You say he was pretty much out of bounds, which is like being pretty much pregnant. You either are or you aren't and he wasn't. Futhermore earlier in the game he faked going out of bounds and changed his mind and took more steps. How would one know?
2) WHen he launched himself at Smith the guy was still moving and its real hard to say he timed the launch and Smiths actions to make the contact. If hes standing still yeah, on the run like that? No.
3) Smith had NOT thrown teh ball when the guy launched himself, whats he supposed to do stop himself in mid air?
It was bull****.

[pmayjr]

I guess we agree to disagree. It sucks that the game coulda been decided by that. I rooted for Michigan so I'm sad to see it go down like that.

Originally Posted by pmayjr

I guess we agree to disagree. It sucks that the game coulda been decided by that. I rooted for Michigan so I'm sad to see it go down like that.

Well yeah it does. All I'm saying is that on slow mo they always look like late hits. You have to watch it real speed to get the feel for what kinda hit it is.
That helmet to helmet is a great rule, truly, but when a guy launches himself at someone while both are still moving and running there is no way you can pinpoint a guy's head. Its impossible. It happens more or less by chance.
I didn't see him trying to trash the guy and he was still in bounds and in the PROCESS of throwing when he launched himself. Ref couldnt wait to thrwo teh flag.
I've been real down on Refs in these big games since the ND-USD debacle last year.
Gotta be a rematch. If you play the number one team to a field goal game in their place, and lose on a **** call, well that oughta be it.
By the way, Mich will have their number the next time.
Ohio St was empty on D at the end and it was from pounding Hart at them.
Carr will know to pound them early next time and wear them down and throw later.
Also, that 5 wideout thing caught Mich by surprise but its one of those thinsg that will work the first time, but not the 2nd time when you know what to expect. Its not that hard to defend. Smith didn't like those blitzes either and if carr did one thing wrong it was to not blitz as much as he should have.
Smith came unglued on every single blitz, and if there is a rematch they will send the kitchen sink at him.
Put me down right now, Michigan will be National Champs.

[pmayjr]

Whether it was intentional or not (which I don't), it still happened and needed to be called. They called him for the helmet to helmet, but they coulda called him for any of those 3 different infractions IMO. I'm sorry to disagree with you, but seriously I saw the replay as many times as you did. I don't think it was bull**** at all.

In fact I commend the refs for letting them teams play without making the game too ticky-tack. That pick that Michigan got early in the 3rd quarter. They had just scored to make it a 1 TD game again. And then on OSU's ensuing possession, they get that pick deep in OSU's end. Well the receiver for OSU got crunched by not 1, but 2 Michigan defenders and could've easily been pass intereference. It would've been a close call, but I don't think it woulda been BS if they called it. Yet they didn't throw the flag and Michigan got the interception. They only got a FG out of it (1 of their bigger wasted oppourtunities of the game), but still the refs did a good job of swallowing their whistle there.

[ArlJim78]

Originally Posted by SentToStud

Unless you are from Michigan or Ohio, well into your 40's or a big time college football history fan, the significance of Schembechler's passing and the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry may not resonate as it does with some of us. Some random thoughts...

Well it resonates for me as it does with you. This rivalry was part of my childhood. i didn't realize how significant it was of course until I was much older, but I really believe that there has been nothing quite like it in sports. There are of course many other fierce college rivalries, but as they said on TV these two were like generals leading the troops into battle. The result of this firece rivalry was that it made the two coaches admire and respect each other and it enshrined a high level of excellence into the football programs of each school that remains even today. For sure the game never had quite the same national implications as it did this year, so it made Bo's passing on the eve of this game so poignant.

Bo made us proud to be from Michigan and fans of U of M.

Originally Posted by oracle80

1) You say he was pretty much out of bounds, which is like being pretty much pregnant. You either are or you aren't and he wasn't. Futhermore earlier in the game he faked going out of bounds and changed his mind and took more steps. How would one know?
2) WHen he launched himself at Smith the guy was still moving and its real hard to say he timed the launch and Smiths actions to make the contact. If hes standing still yeah, on the run like that? No.
3) Smith had NOT thrown teh ball when the guy launched himself, whats he supposed to do stop himself in mid air?
It was bull****.

He was clearly out of bounds, does not matter where or when the defender launched) irrelevant. He hit the QB WITH HIS HELMET AND OUT OF BOUNDS. Clearly a penality. And I also wanted Michigan to win.

Dead wrong on this Oracle. Admit it. Although I like your gusto for taking on an indefensible argument.

Neither of these teams would make it thru the SEC road games without a loss.

The Big 10 was a pile o crap as it turns out. Ohio St. beat a decent Texas team. Michigan beat a decent Notre Dame team. Since those loses Texas defense is Swiss Cheese(via injury). Notre Dame schedule now looks like one of the easiest in college football, it did not look like this to me at the beginning of the season. The best team ND beat was Georgia Tech, the first game.

Ohio State having to wait 7 weeks to play... a crime. Will someone please off the college presidents and bowl officials that keep us from enjoying a playoff system. This keeps college football from being the best team sport in the US.

Michigan whining for a rematch... Ohio State just turned the ball over multiple times in a really horrid fashion. They only punted once? Forget it... I dont need to see Ohio State demolish the Michigan defense again.

[pmayjr]

Pgard... I didn't think my eyes were crazy when viewing that Roughing the passer penalty 5 times. Nice to know I'm not alone.

YOU ARE DEAD WRONG ABOUT THE BIG TEN BEING AVERAGE. 2 best teams in the country played in the same game today- and it wasn't Rutgers and Cincy lol. My argument for why OSU and Mich shouldn't play is in the BCS sScenarios thread. They are the 2 best teams, but they shouldn't play.

Originally Posted by pmayjr

Pgard... I didn't think my eyes were crazy when viewing that Roughing the passer penalty 5 times. Nice to know I'm not alone.

YOU ARE DEAD WRONG ABOUT THE BIG TEN BEING AVERAGE. 2 best teams in the country played in the same game today- and it wasn't Rutgers and Cincy lol. My argument for why OSU and Mich shouldn't play is in the BCS sScenarios thread. They are the 2 best teams, but they shouldn't play.

I dont think the Big 10 is average. I think its bad. And I really believe both the teams we saw today would lose in an SEC schedule in the Florida part whatever they call it.

1. SEC
2. Pac-10

4. ACC/ Big 10/Big 12 / Big East tie
Bad.