As disgusted as I am about this most recent loss to Sparty, the parallels to our game this weekend and Sparty's takedown of the Buckeyes in the Shoe in 2015 give me some hope for our bounce back.
The 2015 Buckeyes were one of the most talent laden squads college football had seen in years. The NFL Draft results that following spring proved that. Despite their immense talent, they underperformed for most of the year, struggling with mighty Northern Illinois at home early on. They were coming off their championship run, and were playing well below their talent level.
They also had a two play callers in the Nebraska re-tread Tim Beck and former offensive line coach Ed Warriner. They lacked continuity and cohesion all year. It was documented how glad Nebraska was to give Tim Beck to Urban. I think the folks in Lincoln might have even paid for his gas and tolls to get the heck out of Lincoln. This reached a boiling point when Zeke Elliott was only given 12 carries in the Sparty game, and it led Meyer to become much more involved in the play selection next week in Ann Arbor.
Sparty came into Columbus as 2 touchdown underdogs when it was announced Connor Cook was out. The game was also played in a downpour with stronger winds. JT Barrett was already regressing as a passer, but that weather didn't help OSU one bit. Dantonio slowed the game down with Tressel ball and let poor play calling and self inflicted wounds beat the more talented Buckeye team.
This is Dantonio's formula, and it has worked against an even more accomplished coach (Urban, and I HATE saying that) with a more talented team in 2015. This is also what removed the Buckeye complacency and led them open up a can on us in 2015 in the Big House.
It's been said how much HATE Sparty has for Michigan, but I think they have to have a good amount of hate for OSU too. Sparty usually had a lot of 2 and 3 stars out of Ohio who never got a sniff of a Buckeye offer. That leads to a nice sized chip on their shoulder for OSU.
So, here's the rundown of parallels of what did both the 2015 Buckeyes and 2017 Michigan team in to lesser Sparty teams;
1. Terrible weather
2. Multiple playcallers calling a terrible game
3. Underestimating Dantonio and his Tressel ball formula to level the playing field and mitigate the talent gap
4. Motivated hate for the opponent
I have hope that this wakes up Jimmy and our staff like it did in 2015 for Urban.
The 2015 Buckeyes were one of the most talent laden squads college football had seen in years. The NFL Draft results that following spring proved that. Despite their immense talent, they underperformed for most of the year, struggling with mighty Northern Illinois at home early on. They were coming off their championship run, and were playing well below their talent level.
They also had a two play callers in the Nebraska re-tread Tim Beck and former offensive line coach Ed Warriner. They lacked continuity and cohesion all year. It was documented how glad Nebraska was to give Tim Beck to Urban. I think the folks in Lincoln might have even paid for his gas and tolls to get the heck out of Lincoln. This reached a boiling point when Zeke Elliott was only given 12 carries in the Sparty game, and it led Meyer to become much more involved in the play selection next week in Ann Arbor.
Sparty came into Columbus as 2 touchdown underdogs when it was announced Connor Cook was out. The game was also played in a downpour with stronger winds. JT Barrett was already regressing as a passer, but that weather didn't help OSU one bit. Dantonio slowed the game down with Tressel ball and let poor play calling and self inflicted wounds beat the more talented Buckeye team.
This is Dantonio's formula, and it has worked against an even more accomplished coach (Urban, and I HATE saying that) with a more talented team in 2015. This is also what removed the Buckeye complacency and led them open up a can on us in 2015 in the Big House.
It's been said how much HATE Sparty has for Michigan, but I think they have to have a good amount of hate for OSU too. Sparty usually had a lot of 2 and 3 stars out of Ohio who never got a sniff of a Buckeye offer. That leads to a nice sized chip on their shoulder for OSU.
So, here's the rundown of parallels of what did both the 2015 Buckeyes and 2017 Michigan team in to lesser Sparty teams;
1. Terrible weather
2. Multiple playcallers calling a terrible game
3. Underestimating Dantonio and his Tressel ball formula to level the playing field and mitigate the talent gap
4. Motivated hate for the opponent
I have hope that this wakes up Jimmy and our staff like it did in 2015 for Urban.
