Did Lloyd Carr flash a smile after Michigan escaped with an eight-point victory over Ball State? Was Jim Tressel grinning on his way home from Champaign to Columbus?
OK, we’re imagining things.
But the point is Carr and Tressel had every reason to rejoice after their teams struggled last Saturday.
Carr said earlier this season that his team’s five-loss performance of 2005 had motivated the Wolverines.
“You can’t buy disappointment,” he said.
You can’t buy shock value, either.
Michigan’s performance against Ball State was disturbing enough that quarterback Chad Henne admonished his teammates for “reading too many press clippings about themselves.”
The Buckeyes, meanwhile, had to accept Illinois outscoring them 10-0 in the second half. That should be enough to make the Buckeyes refocus.
So with one Saturday left before the potential No. 1 vs. No. 2 game–not much would be on the line, other than the Big Ten title, national championship and Heisman Trophy–let’s look at five concerns for each team:
OHIO STATE
1. Grounded
Antonio Pittman (25, above) averaged a season-low 1.8 yards per attempt at Illinois. And the Buckeyes rushed 22 times in the second half for just 20 yards.
If the Buckeyes couldn’t move the pile against Illinois, which ranks in the middle of the Big Ten in rushing defense, how will they fare against a Michigan “D” that’s allowing 1.3 yards per carry?
Tressel thought play selection was a problem, saying: “I thought we lost a little bit of our balance.”
Whatever play the Buckeyes called in the fourth quarter, the Illini were there to stop it.
2. Losing his grip
Second-string tailback Chris Wells’ size-speed combination is so dazzling, a Buckeyes assistant coach once mentioned him in the same breath as Jim Brown. But Wells has lost four fumbles this season and coughed one up Saturday without being touched.
“How concerned am I?” Tressel said. “Tremendously concerned.”
3. Man down
Starting left tackle Alex Boone has been sidelined with a knee injury, putting the spotlight on his replacement, Tim Schafer. Although Tressel said Schafer has done “a solid job,” he gave up a third-quarter sack when Illinois’ Will Davis beat him to the outside and ran down Troy Smith, who revealed Thursday that he been playing with a sore thumb on his passing hand for several weeks.
Tressel said Boone is questionable for Saturday’s game against Northwestern.
4. Nobody open
Smith is a dynamic scrambler, but he only looks to run when he can’t find an open receiver. He rushed a season-high 11 times Saturday, including three sacks. Not a good sign for the Buckeyes.
Illinois coach Ron Zook might have given Michigan a blueprint for defending against Smith by using a controlled pass rush.
“This is a guy you try to stay in front of and not give him running lanes,” Zook said. “Sometimes you’re trying so hard to get sacks, you create seams.”
5. No pressure
Sure, Ohio State needed to recover an onside kick to put the clamps on Illinois. And the Buckeyes trailed Penn State 3-0 at the half. But that’s the scariest it has been. How will the team respond in a close game?
If last year’s Michigan game is a guide, the Buckeyes will be fine. Led by Smith, who completed 27 of 37 pass attempts for 300 yards, they scored the final 13 points in a 25-21 victory.
MICHIGAN
1. Mario’s brothers
Michigan’s passing game hasn’t recovered since Mario Manningham (86, above) injured his knee Oct. 7. Henne has thrown just three touchdown passes in the four games since.
And after throwing for just 116 yards against Northwestern and 155 versus Ball State, Michigan ranks 82nd in the nation in passing offense (but a respectable 28th in passing efficiency).
Manningham, now fully recovered from arthroscopic surgery, needs to rediscover his timing with Henne. They will get their chance Saturday at Indiana.
2. Third-and-gone
It’s tough to make third downs when you complete just 50 percent of your pass attempts. That’s what happened against Northwestern, when Michigan went just 4 of 15 on third downs.And that wasn’t exactly a fluke. Michigan ranks sixth in the Big Ten in third-down completion rate, at 39.4 percent. Ohio State is tops at 50 percent.
3. Pass tense
Michigan’s run defense isn’t just good. It’s comically good, allowing 30.3 yards per game. Only one other team, Texas, is allowing fewer than 60 yards per game.
But Michigan’s secondary remains unproven, especially after Ball State’s Nate Davis lit up the Ann Arbor sky last week for 250 yards. A week earlier at Miami of Ohio, he threw for 98 yards.
We know that cornerback Leon Hall is an All-American. But what about defensive backs Morgan Trent, Jamar Adams and Ryan Mundy?
4. Flag football
Maybe it’s nitpicking, but Michigan has been the second-most penalized team in the Big Ten, at 48.5 yards per game. Only Michigan State (58.4 yards) has been worse.
Then again, let’s not overemphasize penalties. Northwestern has been by far the most disciplined team in the league (29.4 yards per game), and that won’t even equate to a bowl game in Detroit.
5. Buckeye beat-downs
The players can’t look ahead, but that won’t stop us. Just as Carr owned Ohio State’s John Cooper (5-1 from 1995-2000), Tressel now has a monthly mortgage on Carr (4-1 since 2001). That has to flummox the Michigan coach.
Beating Ohio State in 2001 would have given him a share of the Big Ten title. And avoiding a loss to the Buckeyes in 2004 would have allowed the Wolverines to win the title outright.
All that will add a little extra sauce to next Saturday’s showdown.
———-
tgreenstein@tribune.com
