Sunday, November 27, 2011
Buckeyes begin an offseason that’s sure to be tumultuous
By Bill Rabinowitz
The Columbus Dispatch
ANN ARBOR, Mich.
No Ohio State player had felt this way in eight years.
At some point, the Buckeyes were bound to lose to Michigan again, and this seemed a logical time. They had endured a season of continual tumult, and the Wolverines were resurgent.
But when Michigan finally outlasted Ohio State 40-34 on Saturday in the third-highest-scoring contest in the 108-year history of The Game, the Buckeyes’ pain was almost overwhelming.
They hurt for themselves, and they hurt for their coach. With Urban Meyer’s hiring as coach appearing imminent, the Buckeyes wanted to end the final regular-season game of Luke Fickell’s one-season tenure in style.
“I played my butt off for coach Fickell, and I feel I let him down,” senior defensive back Tyler Moeller said. “That’s the biggest thing that hurts. It was definitely emotional [in the locker room].”
The Buckeyes (6-6) finished their first nonwinning season since 1999 and now will await a lower-tier bowl bid. Who will coach that game remains unclear. A choked-up Fickell wouldn’t address his status after the game, saying he wanted the focus to be on the Ohio State-Michigan game.
That was his approach all week. For added inspiration, the Buckeyes even brought in former coach Jim Tressel to address the team before they left Columbus.
“Same thing he says all the time that we used to be bored about,” senior center Michael Brewster said of Tressel’s message. “Now, we couldn’t wait to hear it again.”
The Buckeyes played with the necessary heart, if not always the execution. Their beleaguered defense was without injured linebacker Andrew Sweat and safety Christian Bryant. Then dynamic freshman linebacker Ryan Shazier and safety Orhian Johnson suffered leg injuries. Both gutted it out but were clearly hurting, particularly Shazier.
With a few exceptions, Michigan drove at will. Quarterback Denard Robinson ran for 170 yards and two touchdowns and threw for 167 yards and three scores on 14-of-17 passing.
Buckeyes freshman quarterback Braxton Miller did his best to match him. Ohio State opened up its dusty playbook, and Miller completed 14 of 25 passes for 235 yards — all season highs. He threw for two scores and ran for 100 yards and another touchdown.
But Miller also misfired on several throws that could have made the difference. The last one — a deep ball to an open DeVier Posey on the Buckeyes’ final drive — will haunt.
That Ohio State even had a chance to pull out the victory required a minor miracle. Michigan (10-2) led 37-27 with eight minutes left before Ohio State scored on a quick 80-yard touchdown drive.
Michigan appeared to have scored the clinching touchdown with just over two minutes left on a carry by running back Fitzgerald Toussaint from the 5-yard line. But after a replay review, Toussaint’s knee was ruled down a foot short of the goal line. On the next play, Robinson strolled into the end zone on a rollout, but Michigan was called for 25 yards’ worth of penalties — holding and unnecessary roughness — and settled for a 43-yard field goal.