Dealt a bad hand
In Saturday’s loss, Ohio
State did what Michigan
has tried to do all year: win
with its backup quarterback.
» SportsMonday Column,
Page 2B
New chapter
Wilton Speight announced
Sunday afternoon, through
Instagram, that he will be
transfering from Michigan
for the 2018 season.
» Page 4B
It was all there for the
taking.
With 2:47 left in the
fourth quarter, Michigan
needed 77 yards. 77 yards
to beat a team it can
never beat. 77 yards to
erase 13 years of bitter,
tear-inducing history.
The Wolverines had
everything they wanted
in front of them. And yet
again, for the 13th time
in 14 years, they were
left stunned, able only to
picture what might have
been.
It
was
almost
as
predictable as watching
Charlie Brown get the
football yanked out from
under him.
“We had a few mistakes
offensively, we had a few
mistakes
defensively,”
said Jim Harbaugh, “and
we had a few more than
they did.”
What made Saturday’s
31-20 loss to No. 9 Ohio
State all the more brutal
for Michigan? Just how
things ended.
After
the
Buckeyes
missed a late fourth-
quarter
field
goal
attempt that would have
extended their lead
to seven, the
Wolverines
huddled
around their
head
coach.
The
crowd
readied itself in
anticipation for a
historic drive, the
type that can cement
one’s legacy here.
That
hope
disappeared
just
as
quickly as it came.
The staff called for a
play-action pass. John
O’Korn dropped back,
surveying
the
field
quickly, before throwing
perhaps
the
worst
interception the crowd
at Michigan Stadium has
seen in years.
Three plays later, Mike
Weber Jr. walked into the
end zone and celebrated
with visiting Ohio State
fans. The majority of the
crowd headed for the
exits.
After the game, O’Korn
took full responsibility.
Harbaugh said that the
intended receiver, Kekoa
Crawford, had run the
correct
route
against
Ohio
State’s
defense.
His
fifth-year
senior
quarterback
simply
misread the coverage.
Just
another
mistake.
“It was
one of
those
ones
that you
just
see
it wrong and
as soon as the
ball is in the
air,
you
wish
you could have
it back,” O’Korn
said, “and you
know
what
the
result
is going to
be,
but
you can’t
change
it.”
Of
course,
it
was
a
game
chock-
full
of
those type of mistakes.
There
was
an
overthrown pass on
4th-and-4 that saw Chris
Evans, who had been
wide-open,
lying
on
the field in pure agony
over the incompletion.
Naturally,
Michigan
had only been in that
situation
because
it
botched
a
routine
handoff
on
2nd-and-1.
Before
both
of
those, there
was a dropped
interception — as
easy as the gift the
Buckeyes got at the end of
the game — that allowed
Ohio State to score just
seconds later.
Hell, it’s been a series
chock-full of those type
of mistakes. Every year
there’s something.
Wilton
Speight
fumbling
a
snap
near Ohio State’s
goal-line.
The
defense
allowing
Curtis
Samuel
to wriggle
free
out
of
the
backfield,
setting up the play
that
will
forever
be
known as The Spot. A
previous coaching staff
sending out the offense
in the same formation
with the same 2-point
conversion
play
even
after the Buckeyes called
a
timeout,
noticing
something
they
didn’t
like.
All
of
those
—
along
with
O’Korn’s
interception
Saturday
— are marked indelibly
into the identity of this
program. Those type of
plays have left it on the
wrong side of history
time and time again.
Michigan easily could
have
pulled
off
the
upset Saturday. It easily
could have pulled off the
upset in previous years.
Quite simply, it couldn’t
execute. It hasn’t been
able to execute for too
long.
And
that’s
just
recipe for heartbreak.
“The hardest part for
me is you come here to
win this game, and our
senior class wasn’t able to
do it,” O’Korn said after
the game as he broke
down crying. “I hold
myself responsible for a
lot of that, and it sucks,
and I can’t imagine a
worse feeling right now.”
ORION SANG
Daily Sports Editor
For the sixth straight year, the Buckeyes owned the rivalry
MONDAY
The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | November 27, 2017
B
Michigan
- Ohio State
AGAIN
EVAN AARON/DAILY