The Wayback Machine Tour of The Victors: Team 138, Games 1-9
Game 1: Florida
Game 2: Cincinnati
Game 3: Air Force
Game 4: Purdue
Game 5: M.A.C.
Game 6: Indiana
Game 7: Penn State
Game 8: Rutgers
Game 9: Minnesota
Saturday, 11 November @ Maryland Stadium
Michigan 35-10 Maryland
8-2, B1G 5-2
One has to feel for the terrible Terrapins of Maryland, unwelcome as they are in the B1G, because in the first three games of the season they lost for the rest of the year both their starting quarterback, Tyrrell Pigrome, & backup quarterback, Kasim Hill; they soldiered on for most of the year with third-string quarterback Max Bortenschlager, though the valiant Wolverines also faced fourth-stringer Ryan Brand. Who knows what the year might have been like had either Pigrome or Hill been uninjured.
Michigan led 28-0 at the half & played extremely conservatively in the second half. 'Twas extremely valuable experience for young Maize & Blue quarterback Brandon Peters, who threw two touchdown passes to complement the three rushing touchdowns, including two by Chris Evans. Evans surpassed five hundred rushing yards for the season, joining Karan Higdon & Ty Isaac, giving Michigan three rushers with five hundred-plus yards in the same season for the first time in a quarter century, since 1991. Blessedly, placekicker Quinn Nordin made all five extra point kicks.
Saturday, 18 November @ Camp Randall Stadium
(№ 5) Wisconsin 24-10 Michigan
8-3, B1G 5-3
Camp Randall is a tough place for any visiting club to win & the valiant Wolverines didn't do themselves any favors by allowing the pesky Badgers, whose bread & butter is their rushing attack, to score on a punt return for a touchdown in the first quarter. Still, Uncle Don's Murder Machine kept that trademark rushing attack contained & the offense managed a touchdown to go into halftime tied 7-7. Michigan mustered a third-quarter field goal to take a 10-7 lead, but that was all the offense could manage against the stout Wisconsin defense. The Murder Machine did a credible job against the pesky Badgers, but yielded two touchdowns & a field goal in the second half. Holding the pesky Badgers to twenty-four was not ideal, but it should have been enough, except for the valiant Wolverines' lethargic offense. Of course, none of this was helped by Peters being knocked out of the game by a clean tackle from a Wisconsin defender that, unfortunately, led to Peters being driven into the turf head-first. Peters was carted off the field & replaced by John O'Korn.
We all know that Michigan's "skill" players are young, in many cases true freshmen & true sophomores, but by this point in the season that excuse was beginning to wear awfully thin, especially given that Wisconsin's quarterback Alex Hornibrook is a redshirt sophomore & leading rusher Jonathan Taylor is a true freshman (B1G Freshman of the Year, first-team All-B1G, second-team All-American). This was an excruciatingly frustrating year, with Michigan's problems running deeper than quarterback. It's plain to see the almost unlimited potential of so many of our young players, but it is growing increasingly difficult to wait patiently for that potential to be realized, especially as the losses kept piling up. We all knew 2017 was going to be a step backward from 2015 & 2016, what with all the graduations & departures of our best & most experienced players on both offense & defense, but very few of us thought the offense would take as big a step backward as it did. In many ways the Harbaugh rebuilding project remains ahead of schedule, but the quick (relative) success in the first two years (Teams 136 & 137) created expectations that the third year (Team 138) comprehensively failed to meet.
Saturday, 25 November @ Michigan Stadium
(№ 8) Ohio State 31-20 Michigan
8-4, B1G 5-4
The most fascinating thing about The Game is that is was a game at all. On paper, with John O'Korn starting as Michigan's quarterback, the valiant Wolverines should not have had a snowflake's chance in the furnace against the hated Buckeyes, yet for much of the game, much to my astonishment, Michigan actually seemed to hold the advantage over Ohio State. Uncle Don's Murder Machine held the vaunted Ohio State offense under seventeenth-year starting quarterback J. T. Barrett IV to minus-six yards in the first quarter! The valiant Wolverines led 14-0 early in the second quarter before the hated Buckeyes stormed back to tie the proceedings at 14-14 at the half. I'd dutifully tuned into The Game expecting to see a rout, essentially a funeral, & was bemused to find myself actually harboring not-entirely-improbable fantasies about a Michigan victory. In the third quarter, the archrivals traded touchdowns, Ohio State holding a 21-20 advantage due to blocking a Michigan extra-point attempt. The game was still eminently winnable until late in the fourth quarter, with Ohio State leading 24-20, when John O'Korn through the most John O'Korn-like interception of his whole misbegotten career at Michigan. That was the final straw that broke the valiant Wolverines' backs & just three plays later (all runs) Ohio State scored a touchdown to seal the 31-20 defeat.
Afterward, much to his credit as a human being, John O'Korn wept during the post-game press conference, taking responsibility for the interception. As I wrote earlier in this series of catch-up posts, John O'Korn might well be a terrific person. He clearly cares about his coaches teammates & is personally hurt by letting them down.
Still, it was pleasing & most unexpected that the valiant Wolverines gave the hated Buckeyes such a hard time, almost more than they could handle. That should have been cold consolation, but I'd marked the Ohio State game down as an all-but-certain defeat from the initial offensive struggles way back in September; so, it actually left me with an almost warm & fuzzy feeling inside. For the second year in a row, the valiant Wolverines had the all-conquering hated Buckeyes on the ropes, only to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. After a decade of decline, disaster, & futility, we are so close! Make no mistake, it hurts like crazy to lose to Ohio State year after year, to not hold up our end of what is supposed to be a rivalry of equals. I spent most of the 2017 college football season paralyzed in inarticulate frustration, & at times I muttered intemperate things about Coach Harbaugh & his highly overpaid assistant coaches. But the truth, my fellow Wolverines, is that the hole we got ourselves into was deep, & took years to dig; it's taking longer than any of us would like to dig ourselves out again, but that is the penance we must pay for the hubris that got us into this mess in the first place. Our rivals are at the top of their game, among the very best clubs in the whole country, & nothing but the very best will topple them from their lofty perches. We are so close to being Michigan again! So close to truly being the leaders & best! Stay the course. "Those who stay will be champions."
Go Blue!
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