Michigan football team has 'everything' to gain with a win over Ohio State

Van Bergen’s sentiment is hard to argue.

Michigan has seen its season spiral out of control since a 4-0 start propelled it prematurely into the Associated Press Top 25. The Wolverines (5-6, 1-6) have lost six straight Big Ten games and need to beat Ohio State to avoid a last-place finish and their first back-to-back losing seasons since 1962-63.

To make matters worse, the hated Buckeyes (9-2, 6-1) just locked up their fifth consecutive conference crown and have won five in a row in this not-so-close-recently series.

“We’ve had a lot of disappointments later in the season and we all remember having a bitter taste in our mouths walking away from Ohio State last year in Columbus,” Van Bergen said. “I think that taste is still there. For us to go out, get a sixth win and beat Ohio State for the seniors at home would just be huge. It’d be a great lift for this team.”

Beyond the bowl possibilities, a win Saturday (noon, ABC-TV) in Michigan Stadium might bring much needed stability to the program.

With an NCAA investigation ongoing and losses mounting - 15 and counting the last two years - fans are becoming impatient with second-year coach Rich Rodriguez.

Michigan leads the Big Ten in points scored, but its offense has disappointed in big games. Defensively, the Wolverines have regressed.

Rodriguez spent the bulk of his media time this week reassuring fans that wins are on the way and deflecting questions about how the losing has affected him.

“I’m sitting here telling you that we’re not happy, certainly, with our record, but there are other things that I see that we know the groundwork has been laid,” Rodriguez said. “This is not going to be a situation that we have to go through, I don’t believe, in the future. I’m talking about battling in the last game of the year for a bowl bid. We certainly have higher goals as everybody does that follows our program and should have.

“Progress is being made. It’s a lot slower than anybody wants, but we’re going to be there and we’re going to be there where everybody wants us to be at some point in time.”

Whether “some point” is soon enough for Michigan fans remains to be seen, but there’s no doubt beating Ohio State would soften the blow of another disappointing season.

The Buckeyes have owned Michigan in recent years, winning a 1-2 matchup to go to the BCS title game in 2006 and drubbing the Wolverines last year, 42-7.

That was the most lopsided loss in the rivalry in 40 years. Rodriguez said he feels better about his team’s chances this year, despite Michigan’s recent struggles.

The Wolverines have been outscored in the second halves of their last four games, 99-19, and haven’t beaten a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent since Sept. 26.

“We're not going to go there and just show up and hope it's close,” Rodriguez said. “We're going there to compete and win and see what we can do. It's going to be a tremendous challenge. But it's been a tremendous challenge for anybody that's played Ohio State in the last several years. Our guys know that.”

Ohio State leads the Big Ten in scoring defense in conference games (13.0 ppg) and has forced 28 turnovers this year, an Achilles' heel of the Wolverines’.

Defensive end Brandon Graham, one of the year’s few consistent bright spots, said that won’t be a problem this week - the focused Wolverines won’t beat themselves.

“What’s better than to beat O-State and get into a bowl game off them?” Graham said. “That’ll feel so much better, and everything else will erase itself because you’re always thinking about we might have had a bad year but we beat O-State. That’s what it boils down to.”

Dave Birkett covers University of Michigan football for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by phone at 734-623-2552 or by e-mail at davidbirkett@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.