But what I had hoped was that Michigan would play hard and with a pride and determination that could prove they were headed in the right direction; that they were a competitive team that just hadn’t quite put the pieces together.

Instead they came out and showed they are a sloppy, undisciplined, fundamentally unsound team that makes critical mistake after critical mistake when the game is on the line.What an absolute embarrassment.

The game started in about as good a fashion as Michigan could hope. Ohio State was playing conservative and the Wolverines had chance after chance to jump out to a lead and change the nature of the game.

But in nearly every single instance they dropped passes, committed penalties and turnovers and simply failed to make plays. Their lack of a field goal kicker meant no chance to put points up when drives stalled. Their in ability to hang on to the football kept giving Ohio State chances to get back on track. And the constant dropping of critical passes was demoralizing and game changing.

Like a slow motion car wreck Michigan let the game slip away and the rout was on. Groundhog Day.

A lot of people like to say that Michigan has a good offense. Bullshit. Sure,  Denard Robinson is one of the most talented players in the country – when he can stay healthy – and statistically Michigan can wrack up yards and, at times, points.

But against quality opponents when the game is on the line this offense has failed time and time again. You can’t call an offense good when they can’t score when it matters most. Heck, in the biggest game of the year and likely the biggest game of their coaches career at Michigan the team lays an egg.

I have never been a fan of Rich Rodriguez per se, I liked the dynamism of the offense he brought and I wanted him to succeed because I hated what the media did to him (and because I wanted Michigan to succeed.).

Up until today I believed that firing him would mean giving up a couple of years until the new coach could get his system and players in and start winning. I was unwilling to pay that price. And rationally I still think that may be true.

But you know what? I don’t care. Rich Rodriguez deserves to be fired.  His wins are mostly nail-biters to bad teams.  He is 0-11 against Big Ten teams that end the season with a winning record.

Let that sink in. Rich Rod has never beaten a quality Big Ten opponent in three years.  Rich Rod has never won a big game in his tenure at Michigan. And he is 0-4 against rivals Michigan State and Ohio State.  In fact, the games were closer last year. Quite frankly, take away Denard Robinson and this team has another losing record.

Rodriguez can’t manage to field a competitive defense or functional special teams unit and just because he recruited one incredible athlete he gets to continue coaching?

At this point if Jim Harbough will take the job I say give it to him today. I am sure he can find a way to use Robinson and beat mediocre teams. We have to start over on defense anyways why not go full scale?

Statistics are important but so is winning and losing. And this team finds ways to lose and doesn’t look competitive in any phase of the game when it matters. At some point the coach has to take the blame for that, right?

Against Wisconsin, Michigan essentially followed the same script that’s resulted in its current 1-6 stretch.  A couple of sparkling defensive plays, followed by a second half filled with miscues and missed assignments. When the spread offense looks like it’s starting to click, it stalls and a tight game turns on a dime.

Either the Ohio State game will be a legendary upset or it will put this season out of its misery.  At least that is something.

Via MGoBlog

BTW, this will in no way stop me from enjoying Jeni’s amazing Maker’s Mark Buttered Pecan ice cream.

Put it this way: Ohio State-Michigan has suddenly begun masquerading as an OSU-Toledo game, a switch not without a touch of irony considering the Wolverines lost to Toledo this season.

But the rivalry is tottering not simply because Michigan has had an embarrassment or two, or because of an unprecedented five consecutive OSU wins in the series, or because Michigan has just finished the season 3-9, or even because the Buckeyes hammered their hapless rivals 42-7 yesterday in Ohio Stadium.

It is tottering because the Wolverines looked so weak yesterday that it’s hard to imagine they’re looking at a quick fix. This is a team so bad that even the rivalry couldn’t lift it up, and this is a rivalry that injects so much emotion in the game that it sometimes makes mediocre teams look pretty good.

Rich Rodriguez is a good coach, but he’s not Moses. After Michigan’s woeful performance in the Horseshoe, it seems clear that for Rodriguez to lead his team out of the Big Ten’s second division — not even one of college football’s lower-middle-class neighborhoods these days – it’s going to take more than a few top recruits.

Hunter goes on to all but predict that Ohio State wins the next two meetings. And then gets in a litte dig:

Some rivalry, eh?

If this keeps up, those little gold pants Ohio State players receive for winning the Michigan game may eventually become worthless trinkets around here. They used be rare as a gold doubloon. Now they’re like loose change. Fifth-year seniors have five pairs.

The Buckeyes fans are clearly enjoying things. But you have to think this kind of talk will serve as good motivation for Rich Rodriguez and the Wolverines as they work to regain their winning ways and the respect that comes with it.

File this away for the future.

Image via Wikipedia

After the expected beatdown today that is the only question left.  Has the Michigan Wolverines football program reached the low point?

- First time ever to lose to a MAC school.

_ First losing season in four decades.

- Not going to a bowl game for the first time in over thirty years.

- First time in history Michigan has lost more than 7 games in a season.

- First time Ohio State has won five in a row against Michigan.

This “historic” season has been a cruel and unusual punishment for Michigan fans.  This was the first Ohio State Michigan game in my memory where I simply knew we were not going to win – where I was without hope.

It was a weird experience.  There was a lot less tension and anger.  It was kind of an empty feeling.

When Warren picked off that Pryor pass and then the offense proceeded to fail to score any points I knew the game was over.  I just knew the offense was not going to be able to score enough points to win.  I was hoping for something that didn’t seem embarrassing.  But even that was out of reach.  Nick Sheridan simply isn’t a capable enough player to win against a competent foe like Ohio State.

Want to talk about offensive impotence?  Out of 12 games Michigan failed to score in two or more quarters 9 times!  In two thirds of their games the offense failed to score for half of the game!

So here is the question: assuming Michigan has a Division I caliber player – even if a freshman – can Michigan return to competitive football?

Only time will tell, but I say yes.  As bad as things have been this year, with a capable QB Michigan wins 6 or 7 games in my opinion.  There are a lot of young players who got valuable experience this year both in playing and in learning the system.   I have to think these players will only get better next year.  Provided the horrendous turnovers don’t repeat themselves. I can see Michigan winning 7 games next year even with a freshman at QB.  Heck, Chad Henne had a great freshman season.

Rich Rodriguez has a history of turning programs around and I think at Michigan he can recruit the talent to get it done.

But all that is just hope.  Right now the program is ashes.  The question is whether there is a Phoenix lurking.

Michigan fans have to suffer a long off-season to find out.

From the Ashes