Michigan football: What’s next after epic failure at Ohio State?

The most difficult thing about the Ohio State game being so important to Michigan is that now there’s nothing you can do about Saturday’s result for another 365 days.

That’s a long, long time.

Saturday’s 62-39 loss was a complete embarrassment. The numbers alone are shocking, but how it all happened was even worse. This was a Michigan team that seemed primed to finally get over the hump against Ohio State. Instead, they were completely dominated — again — in every phase of the game.

The loss ruined what had been a very special season thus far. The 10-game winning streak  was so much fun, and it seemed like the 11th win was a mere formality. Michigan looked like the better team for a good while, and that had more to do with Ohio State’s recent struggles, especially on defense.

But when it was all said and done, it was Ohio State that the clear advantage once again.

There’s nothing positive that be said about the outcome, not one shred of moral victory anywhere. Jim Harbaugh was hired four years ago to get Michigan to the top of the Big Ten. Despite all the improvements this year, the Wolverines are still coming up short.

”We’ll come back motivated to make darn sure it doesn’t happen again,” Harbaugh said Saturday.

What else can he say, really? Michigan will just have to go back to work, and continue to recruit hard to narrow the talent gap.

As bad as the loss is, it can’t completely diminish what was accomplished this season. Let’s not forget that Michigan was a five-loss team last year, and Big Ten teams like Wisconsin, Penn State and, dare we say, Michigan State were beating the Wolverines and pushing them around in the process.

This whole “Revenge Tour” thing was nice while it lasted. It said something that Michigan had avenged those losses and, in the process, staked a claim that they had passed those programs in the Big Ten. That does matter, now and in the future.

Back since the days of Bo and Woody, supremacy in the Big Ten meant winning the Michigan-Ohio State game. There’s nothing wrong with that. Being No. 2 isn’t anything to pound its chest over, but it’s also far better than being the fourth- or fifth-best team in the conference.

So what’s next for the Wolverines? Well, there’s still a season to finish here. The final stain on last year’s disaster was a subpar performance in the bowl game loss to South Carolina, and what made that worse was that Michigan was the only Big Ten team to lose a bowl game a year ago. Michigan will almost certainly get a bid to one of the New Year’s Six bowls, and a lot of that depends on what happens with Ohio State and the College Football Playoffs. Michigan could still wind up in the Rose Bowl, though the Fiesta or Peach seem more likely if Ohio State doesn’t get a Playoff bid.

Regrouping after this loss and preparing for what should be a high-profile bowl game is one way to put an exclamation mark on the season.

That would be far better than one more question mark. That would really make the next 365 days even longer.

Tom Brew

Tom Brew has been a recognized reporter in Big Ten sports for decades. Among other projects, he writes about Big Ten football for Saturday Tradition.