BY: MARK SNYDER (Detroit Free Press) — There is never an ideal way to enter Ohio State week, but this has to be one of the worst.
Michigan’s football program is at a modern low point, as losses mount, the coach is under scrutiny and dissension bubbles.

The fact that there is a positive motivational tool left — a win sends the Wolverines to a bowl — is a thrilling bonus.

Yet that might be the lone bright light in the current mess.

Already the Big Ten champion after beating Iowa in overtime, Ohio State enters Ann Arbor where it has been for the past five years — atop the conference.

Yet the changing stakes for the Wolverines rarely have been so striking.

In 2006, U-M played the Buckeyes for a spot in the BCS national title game. In 2007, the Wolverines played for a share of the Big Ten title.

This season, well …

“The main thing is getting these seniors to a bowl game,” said U-M freshman quarterback Tate Forcier, whose team had its 30-plus year bowl streak snapped last season. “Especially for me, because I’ve known the guys for a while being in my brother’s (Jason) class. It’s so important. I have to do what I have to get them to a bowl game. If it’s spending 10 hours on film this week, I’m going to do that. We’re going to get them to a bowl game.”

That optimism is admirable but much different than that of past players. Their focus was not about the outside stakes, but about the inside attention, that beating Ohio State was its own prize. Whatever came with it was the bonus.

On a team loaded with underclassmen, learning the rivalry, which will get a big reminder by the 1969 team’s Ann Arbor reunion this weekend, is a process.

“They know about it,” Forcier said. “Pretty much all the freshmen know about it hearing everybody else talk about it. But our guys are hungry. The best thing about us is we’re young.”

That might be the best thing for the future but not for this week. For now, it’s scary.

To beat Ohio State, Michigan needs to force quarterback Terrelle Pryor into mistakes. But the defense has allowed the past four quarterbacks it has faced (Daryll Clark, Juice Williams, Joey Elliott and Scott Tolzien) to post sterling numbers.

“I asked the team to be (the) most focused they’ve been all year, and they’ve been pretty focused,” coach Rich Rodriguez said. “But this is the biggest game of the year, every year, and our guys know that. It’s not a game that’s going to be hard for either team to get fired up. It’s Michigan and Ohio State.”

No related posts.