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Kirk Herbstreit explains what is separating Ohio State from Michigan in The Game rivalry
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Things have been a bit lopsided between Michigan and Ohio State lately.
With a blowout win this season, the Buckeyes have now won eight straight in the rivalry series. That is only the second winning streak of eight or more games in the series with Michigan winning nine straight from 1901-09. Beyond the current losing streak, the Wolverines have just three wins against the Buckeyes since 2000.
Going back to 2014, just one game has been decided by seven points or less. In those six games, Ohio State has five wins by 11+ points, including back-to-back wins by at least 23 points with 50+ points scored.
So what is holding back Michigan and head coach Jim Harbaugh in the rivalry? According to ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit, the problem comes from recruiting and not so much the scheme of the Wolverines.
Angelique Chengelis with the Detroit News shared Herbstreit’s comments:
“When they hired him, other than the Michigan fanbase, I was elated because I was happy seeing him coming back to college, happy to see him coming back to his school,” Herbstreit said of Harbaugh on Tuesday on an ESPN call advancing Monday’s national title game. “I really thought, ‘Man, here we go.’ Him and Urban Meyer, it’s like Woody and Bo Round 2, is what I envisioned. It hasn’t turned out that way. Obviously, Urban’s gone and Ohio State hasn’t lost yet.
“Not only that, if we’re all being honest with each other, we can talk schemes all we want, but the real part that I’m sure Coach Harbaugh and his staff are looking at, they just have to continue to recruit. If Ohio State is the bar in the Big Ten, and you’re matching up with them — and there have been games where they’ve been competitive and there have been games when they’ve not been — where is Michigan falling short? I think that’s a question when they watch film they have to be able to look at.”
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“I think it’s overall, across the board, the athletic ability of Ohio State right now in the Big Ten is at a different level,” Herbstreit said. “When you watch Ohio State play Clemson, they’re stride for stride right there playing as good if not better. Clemson’s been winning a lot of championships lately.
“That’s the bar right now for Michigan. To me, right now, it’s not necessarily about scheme, it’s more about continuing to go out and get great players who can run. I feel like that’s the area when they play Ohio State they don’t seem quite to be at the same level right now.”
If the results boil down to recruiting, don’t expect results in The Game to change anytime soon. According to the 247 Composite Rankings, Ohio State ranks No. 4 nationally for the 2020 class. Michigan ranks 11th.
Will the dominance of the Buckeyes extend into the 2020s, or will the Wolverines leave their string of misery in the 2010s?
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.