'A great feeling'

Carr's preparation produces 'M' vitality

COLUMBUS - Saturday night in this home of Ohio State, Bucks fans filled the airwaves to release their grievances - some sounding despondent, others sounding angry, an even greater amount sounding their resignation to the fact that Ohio State can no longer compete evenly with the Wolverines.

The Buckeyes have been reduced to a "once in four years" team against Michigan. In the typical student's tenure, the Buckeyes will win every other game at the Horseshoe and lose both games in Ann Arbor. The probability of winning in this rivalry is no longer a coin flip.

Once a greater opponent on Michigan's schedule than intrastate rival Michigan State, Ohio State has taken a recess. The Buckeyes are only capable of winning a game in this series in which they clearly have the superior team, such as in 1998.

Reasons are afloat for this downturn. It's a mental issue for the players, some talk-radio respondents say. "2-10-1 since John Cooper arrived in Columbus," others bellow. "That's all there is to say."

Those are fine excuses, but it ignores Michigan's methodical approach to these games. Lloyd Carr knows Ohio State inside and out and his team reflects that mastery.

No one in Columbus wants to give credit to Carr, but that's not a surprise. Nothing the Buckeyes and his counterpart Cooper do surprises Carr in the least. He has the preparedness of an Eagle Scout - matches, knife and compass.

And the Wolverines, like their leader, are impeccably prepared for this game every year.

"It always comes down to preparation and performance," Carr said, noting that this past week of practice was one of Michigan's best all season. That was just what Carr had hoped for - earlier in the week he stressed the importance of preparing for Saturday by taking care of practice responsibilities day by day.

It's not to say the Wolverines shut down Ohio State. They gave up a long kickoff return on a fake reverse handoff at the start of the game. But Michigan remained in emotional control.

A 9-0 first-quarter deficit didn't cause Michigan to panic. The Wolverines knew it was a 60-minute game, and they played that way.

On the offensive end, Carr expected Ohio State to crack down on Michigan's running game and force Drew Henson to throw over cornerback Nate Clements and the rest of the Buckeyes' skilled secondary.

That's exactly what Ohio State did. Cooper threw eight men in the box with the expressed goal of halting Anthony Thomas. The Buckeyes succeeded in that objective, holding Thomas to 60 yards on 29 carries.

Rather than beat his head against the wall running against eight men, Carr went to the air.

Henson got Thomas involved with two screens, one of which went for a 70-yard touchdown that cut Ohio State's lead to 9-7. David Terrell won his individual matchup with Clements, and his five catches kept multiple Michigan drives alive.

The Wolverines finished with 303 yards passing to just 88 yards rushing. Ohio State won the ground battle with 149 yards, an indicator of victory had this game been played 30 years ago.

The Buckeyes had more rushing yardage than Michigan in each of the past four meetings - and lost three of those games.

"I don't think anything that's happened in the past has a particular impact on an Ohio State-Michigan game," Carr said.

In refusing to take history at face value, Carr made certain to coach the way the game dictated. In staying focused, Carr prepared his team for everything the Buckeyes had to offer. That's the mark of a coaching job well done.

Whether or not Columbus callers realize it, Carr's readiness for this game had more of an impact on this game than any contrived Buckeye-related excuse.

- Chris Duprey can be reached at cduprey@umich.edu.

DAVID KATZ/Daily

Even the oft-stoic Lloyd Carr finds the opportunity to crack a smile.

DAVID KATZ/Daily

Junior receiver David Terrell assures onlookers that the Michigan offense has everything in hand Saturday.