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Posted on Fri, Nov 20, 2009 : 3:55 p.m.

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

By Dave Birkett

RYAN-VAN-BERGEN-112009_.JPG

Michigan defensive tackle Ryan Van Bergen, right, says a victory on Saturday against Ohio State would mean "everything" to the Michigan football team. (Photo: Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com)

Michigan defensive tackle Ryan Van Bergen was succinct when asked what a win over the ninth-ranked Ohio State football team would mean to his reeling team: Everything.

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.

Comments

Jaxon5

Sat, Nov 21, 2009 : 10:44 a.m.

M also has everything to lose with this game. With an almost certain OSU victory, Ohio State takes over as the all-time Big Ten Football champion with more outright Big 10 Championships than any other school. After today, Michigan is not the champion any longer.

wersch213

Sat, Nov 21, 2009 : 10:23 a.m.

The program and administration is "acting" just fine suckeye. We got rid of our John Cooper when Lloyd left. The ones who are crying are not true Michigan fans or supporters of other schools who love see Michigan down. The Michigan OSU rivarly is alive and well. There is always something at stake. Why don't you guys just keep taking back seat to Cincinnati lol...

thosha

Sat, Nov 21, 2009 : 9:57 a.m.

from a buckeye diehard get rid of ur john cooper hope it doesnt take u 13yrs to figure it out,michigan is top 5 program in the NATION not big ten act like it, ur nxt coach should be b kelly from cinn. or harb. from stanford nxt yr they will be gone,how can u go from a team that destroyed florida in the bowl game to losing to stiffs if it wasnt for rb hart fumbling twice inside the ten yardline that game shouldhave been a blowout wont hear that on ESPN,the BEST rivalry in ALL of sports sadly has come to this, ohio state wont overlook this game at all ohio state has 3 clocks in their weightroom one reg, one countdown to the nxt game, one countdown to the next MICHIGAN game if oh loses it will be cause they where outplayed this game is still big just alot bigger for mich.i was at the 06 game i wanted that game more than nat cham main reason if u cant beat ur main rival u dont deserve nat championship i would have never stop hearing yea oh won champ BUT could not beat mich that was the gold medal game for me DONT get wrong i wanted that championship REALLY bad im still not over tressel going for it on 4 and 2 on his own 29 yrd line with 2min in the half he gave that game away there now he makes woody hayes look like air coryell from the 80s.!!! come on michigan get it together we need u college football needs u ur a top 5 program not top 50 act like--go bucks

wersch213

Sat, Nov 21, 2009 : 9:40 a.m.

Jim Harbough turned his back on Michigan years ago when he called out their academics and standards. Anybody who thinks Jim Harbough would be a good fit is a moron. How long has Jim Harbough been at Stanford...oh that's right, he is on his 3rd year and his 2007 record was 4-8, 2008 it was 5-7, and 2009 he is 7-3. Rich Rodriguez is doing the same thing while building his program...anybody who is a true Michigan fan sees Harbough as a lateral move at best and it will set the program back 2-3 more years. Please know what your talking about when screaming out for Jim stinking Harbough. Rich Rodriguez is the right fit, he needs time!

GoblueinNE_PA

Sat, Nov 21, 2009 : 1:40 a.m.

I will root for the team like I do every weekend, but I also know, deep down, that we don't have a chance. For only the 2nd time in my lifetime, we have a non competitive game between Michigan and the chit hole to the south. I'm hoping the kids somehow pull together on their own because they damn sure won't get any leadership from the sidelines. One more year of this crap and we can say "bye bye" to the Idiot.

uminks

Sat, Nov 21, 2009 : 12:08 a.m.

All I ask is they play hard and hit hard. I don't want to see this team give up again. Keep on fighting and who knows may be a last second field goal win?

ConsiderHarbaugh

Fri, Nov 20, 2009 : 11:43 p.m.

The U of M Administration is probably not nimble enough to seize the opportunity at hand this offseason in terms of both fan base opinion and a top-flight Michigan head coach prospect -- namely Jim Harbaugh. But it will be right there for them to pursue if they have the vision. Most people would readily accept a strong decision to terminate the RR era due to it being a bad fit all the way around. And one need only read today's Wall Street Journal article about Jim Harbaugh to gain a sense of all he would bring to bear in terms of high potency recruiting, a winning brand of football and legitimate academic priorities. Mighigan Football would not merely return to a solid footing, but could well evolve to a higher all-around level than ever before. A strong statement, yes. But think about it.

Hogan

Fri, Nov 20, 2009 : 11:06 p.m.

If UM looses and looses big then ALL UM fans need to look at this honestly. A second half crash will only mean that RR has lost the team.

wolverine73

Fri, Nov 20, 2009 : 10:48 p.m.

So, Rodriguez says " at some point in the future " Michigan will be where we all want it to be. What point might that be? In say, ten or more years? At any rate it will be long after he and his bunch of no nothing coaches are long gone. And after we have suffered through numerous losing seasons with his inability to recruit or coach here in the big time. This isn't some hillbilly backwater, it's Michigan. Everything we have built up over the last thirty years is being DESTROYED by this guy. And I'm not buying the line that the " cupboard was bare " when he got here. When I last looked, LLoyd's guys beat Florida in his final game. His recruiting must not have been too bad. The defense gave up some points in that game but the offense still scored more than Florida and won the game. What other Big 10 team has beaten an SEC team lately? None, certainly not OSU. The stadium might be finished next year but the team will be " unfinished " for years to come.

azwolverine

Fri, Nov 20, 2009 : 8:58 p.m.

OSU is beatable...Brandon Graham is a beast...Carlos Brown is a game breaker...Tate has the potential for a big game. Here's to hoping. Go Blue!!!

maulerblue

Fri, Nov 20, 2009 : 6:58 p.m.

Let's go blue! Let's go blue! Let's go blue! Beat the suckeyes! We must protect this HOUSE!

Jaxon5

Fri, Nov 20, 2009 : 6:31 p.m.

There is absolutely no comparison between the 1969 team and the 2009 team. Absolutely none. M does have a lot to gain by winning. And, they have a lot to lose. A loss will solidify this season as one without improvement over last season in the Big Ten. OSU 45, M 7.

tulsatom

Fri, Nov 20, 2009 : 6:23 p.m.

The 1969 team was 7-2 going into the Ohio State game and had a decent defense. The 2009 team has a decent offense but a poor defense by any measure. The defense will have to play their best game of the year to stand a chance to win this one. U-M can upset Ohio State, but they will have to play two strong halves, not turn the ball over, and hope Ohio State sleepwalks like they did at Purdue. I'd love for that to happen, but in a rivalry game like this, I'm afraid Ohio State will bring their A-game.

wersch213

Fri, Nov 20, 2009 : 4:49 p.m.

I am a realist, but I am also a huge Michigan fan. This is the one game where true Michigan fans need to support their team and be positive regardless of what has happened this year. They didn't give Bo and the 1969 team much of a shot to beat OSU and they took the lumber to OSU that day. Michigan has what it takes to win this game. I am very proud of this team for tacking the abuse they have from the media and other fans the second half of the year and they are still going to play their ass off wearing the maize and blue. Michigan will win tomorrow, don't know the score and don't care...but they will pull this out because I'm a Michigan fan through the good times and bad and I believe they can do it.

Danny

Fri, Nov 20, 2009 : 4:43 p.m.

Melanie, A victory Saturday against OSU would mean "everything" to the Michigan football team. I agree!