Can A Coin Always Land On Tails? A Study of UM-OSU since 2001
November 19th, 2017 at 10:28 PM ^
Re: 2002, Braylon was called for a weak offensive PI that negated a touchdown, causing us to settle for a field goal. Those four lost points loomed large at the end of the game, when we drove to about their 20.
November 19th, 2017 at 10:37 PM ^
November 19th, 2017 at 10:48 PM ^
NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART.
:)
but yeah, all of those losses really really have sucked.
November 19th, 2017 at 11:02 PM ^
I can't take this anymore....
November 20th, 2017 at 6:07 AM ^
When Brady Hoke had the wind at his back (that is, before his UMich career was somewhat clearly doomed) he did a pretty good overall job recruiting if you look as class rankings, etc.
He must've also been an excellent motivator for the "Ohio" game. Look at how close they were in '12 and '13.
November 20th, 2017 at 9:01 AM ^
I think if you were to look at the late Moeller/Early Carr era (not coincidentally, and probably more accurately, "the John Cooper era") this swings around heavily in favor of Michigan. Meaning that OSU had a lot of games they "should have won" and very few they "just plain lost." It was an era of clear underperformance from Michigan where they would lose 3 or 4 games but put together a great effort and gameplan for OSU.
I think this also gives some of the middle aged and older M fans too much hope in the last few years, the sentiment being "we used to upset OSU all the time, even when they were better/more talented" when the reality is we were more or less equally talented but had been underperforming throughout the season. The absence of any neutralizing effects (such as bad weather) the last decade has really shown the vast talent and depth disparity between the teams, with the notable exception of last year.
November 20th, 2017 at 11:23 AM ^
the past to explain past failures at the expense of one game's outcome when during the year you're every team's bowl game and the only issue here is The Game.
You either win it or you don't, and it just plain sucks to lose regardless of how the rest of the year has gone, but especially when you don't have much to play for regardless of why. There's so much in beating these guys that's extracurricular, but it's just like beating them is like great, orgasmic sex.
Lloyd went 8-4 two years in a row and then won an NC from 1995-1997, and it wasn't like Ohio State was chopped liver in those years. They were either undefeated or only once beaten and Top Ten ranked most of that time.
These games alter careers one way or another with impact unlike any other win or loss.
November 20th, 2017 at 12:25 PM ^
Yeah 93 to 96 they were vastly better than us each year and they only won once. And then in the years where it was pretty even, we got a lot of the coin flips. Flip side of the coin.
November 20th, 2017 at 3:36 PM ^
1995 and '96, yes. But our '93 and '94 teams were extremely talented and simply underachieved overall.
November 20th, 2017 at 11:13 AM ^
I posted something like this 2 years ago and got drummed out of here. The reality is that Lloyd Carr could very easily could have beat Tressel almost every game. Go ahead and flip a coin- you will be surprized at how often you get streaks of 5 heads or 4 tails. Carr did have a lot of bad luck in those games- it could have gone either way.
Carr has been tarred by the haters in this fan base ever since his losses to Tressel. He was the last really good coach we had and had tons of personal integrity (against the Tressel recruiting bribery machine).
Its all image- Tressel and Harbaugh have the image and people love it- Carr just seemed like a cranky old guy but was a very good coach.
Its all image- people are superficial and being a coach is like being a homecoming King.
November 20th, 2017 at 2:00 PM ^
Good post
Carr's biggest failure, IMO, was his lack of successor. This cursed us to the Rich Rod years. Right or wrong, he was clearly the block of Les Miles. I know the arguement against him, but no was we go 3-9 in 2008 with LM (& other subsequent awfulness).
November 20th, 2017 at 11:15 AM ^
Starts drinking ... Brutal, just brutal.
November 20th, 2017 at 11:37 AM ^
2006 wasn't that close. Even though the score looks close, M was down by 11 quite late into the fourth quarter.
Just checked the boxscore from that game. sigh. not as close as it looks.
November 20th, 2017 at 11:48 AM ^
November 20th, 2017 at 11:44 AM ^
Here is the deal . . . we haven't been good in this span of time. Luck does have something to do with it . . . but, let's face it . . .Overall, we have been deficient in offensive line play and quarterback play . . . two areas were OSU has absolutely owned us. I think Harbaugh has what it takes to reverse the trend, at least get us competitve. But, not this year. It would take many fortuitous bounces for us to win with this current team. Give them a year or two.
November 20th, 2017 at 12:29 PM ^
I don't disagree with the analysis, but somebody posted something about our inability to make big plays. My thought would be in most if not all the 'could of won' games, I bet we had fewer big plays in critical moments. We all focus on the bad spot last year while not mentioning the ridiculous play Samuel made to get there. Some of this may be luck, but over the last several years we can make plays against Northwestern and Indiana, but not OSU and MSU. I think it's more than bad luck. I think we need to re-learn how to win big games
November 20th, 2017 at 8:03 PM ^
Statistically speaking it's not that hard to flip a coin 16 times and get tails 14 times. In fact, I just tried it out with a coin flipping simulator and it took 96 flips to get a sequence of 16 with only 2 heads.
That being said, the fact that football isn't a perfectly random coin flip makes it even more frustrating.
November 22nd, 2017 at 2:31 PM ^
November 23rd, 2017 at 12:50 PM ^
...with our team. Michigan has been competitive these last few Harbaugh years, and that is what I want from any team I favor. I'm even OK with mistakes...these are 18-20 ish kids who try their best, and UM plays as a team again...and they don't give up, which was evident in the RR and Hoke eras.
What I hate are the demoralizing and outright stupid Officiating mistakes that DO de-moralize these kids. Touchdowns taken away that were touchdowns (Wisconsin this year), and bad calls (or no calls) on critical plays that once again turn the tide and de-moralize players, as well as give the game to the opponent. I don't like to see us win because of this, and like it less to see us lose. I guess that's just life, but it sure does seem we've had a very long string of bad coin tosses going the wrong way.
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