Watching the 1996 game on ESPN classic and wondering how in the hell OSU lost to Michigan in both 95 and 96 when they were undefeated going into the game. Those teams were LOADED. Michigan was very young and very underachieving. Michigan was 8-4 in 1996 losing to Alabama in the Orange bowl. Cooper really did suck as a coach and Michigan, outside of the 1997 season, ALWAYS underachieved under Loyd going 8-4 or managing to lose games when they should not have. This is the one item that I want Harbaugh to change at Michigan. Stop having one great season and then turn around and lose 4 the next season. It seemed very lazy on Loyd's part. Was Loyd really that good of a coach? Michigan always played several uninspired games under Carr every season except for the 1997 season unless you count the Iowa game which they almost lost that year. What in the hell did Carr do in 1997? I know both coordinators were replaced and that was good, however, Debord was not that much better than Fred Jackson. Hermann inherited a LOADED defense as well.
1995/1996 Ohio State Buckeyes
- Thread starter scfanblue
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Those mid-1990s Ohio State teams --- it's really incredible. Their roster was like Miami teams in the 2000-2002 era --- they should have never lost!
But they were as mentally weak as a 4-year-old. Tai Streets caught that TD pass in the 1996 game and most folk, be they Michigan, OSU or neutral fans, just KNEW it was "Game Over --- Michigan's gonna win this one!!!" Never mind the fact that Michigan still trailed after that TD, 9-7, and there was still 29:00 left to play.
But they were as mentally weak as a 4-year-old. Tai Streets caught that TD pass in the 1996 game and most folk, be they Michigan, OSU or neutral fans, just KNEW it was "Game Over --- Michigan's gonna win this one!!!" Never mind the fact that Michigan still trailed after that TD, 9-7, and there was still 29:00 left to play.
In the 96 game I watched today, Michigan ran the counter play over and over and sliced the Buckeye defense the entire second half. John Cooper truly could not beat Michigan because the Buckeyes had more talent across the board. Tressell came in for 2000 and made the Michigan game the focal point of the Buckeyes season and taught OSU that they could actually beat Michigan every year and that is exactly what they learned to do. Tressel also shut off Michigan's recruiting pipeline in Ohio. On the other hand, Loyd Carr also had some loaded teams and managed to win a naitonal championship with only one of them. I really believe that Michigan was stuck in the Bo 1970's, 1980's mode until Carr stepped down in 2007. I love Bo, however, Michigan's unwillingness to adapt to the rapid changing of the game in the 2000's including schemes, recruiting, etc is exactly what led to the rapid downfall of the program until the hiring of Harbaugh. After Bo died in 2006, the athletic leadership was left scrambling and trying to play catch up with the Buckeyes while other programs began to pass them by including MSU. This led to the coaching search debacle that left Rich Rod fired and the hiring of Hoke for nostalgic reasons. I believe Hoke's miserable failure finally shut up the old guard inclding Carr himself. Now, Harbaugh is a guy who understands the importance of the tradition but could care less unless it translates into wins.He understands the modernity of the college football landscape and now has the total freedom to bring Michigan back into the modern age. I think he is at the helm of a sleeping giant in college football. Much like Saban was at Alabama and Tressell came to in 2000. I still can;t believe how bad John Cooper was.
When Cooper call it Buckeye Stadium, he lost me. He actually said this when he spoke to the school after being hired. Got the job because he beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl. Go figure?
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