Michigan football once again fell victim to its own stodgy, conservative coaches and lost to Ohio State 25-21. It would not have mattered anyway as far as the Big Ten title, as Penn State beat Michigan State and so PSU and tOSU share the title. Michigan on the other hand looks forward to a second tier bowl bid and a chance to maybe finish 8-4.

Michigan had a 21-12 lead in the fourth quarter, and this seems to always be the cue for Lloyd Carr, Jim Hermann and Terry Malone to start playing "not-to-lose." They did this against Wisconsin and Minnesota and lost both games. They were fortunate to beat Michigan State and Penn State despite this dubious strategy. And they lost to Ohio State by playing not to lose instead of playing to win.

Michigan could have put the game away by going for it on fourth and four late in the game, but punted instead. Then Jim "The Moron" Hermann went with the soft zone prevent defense which allowed Ohio State to milk the clock and score the winning touchdown.

Just like what happened in the Wisconsin and Minnesota games.

And so Michigan slides further down the pike towards the Bump Elliott era of malaise and mediocrity. Bump probably did not have nearly the talent to work with that the current staff has, so at least he had that excuse. It is becoming more and more clear that Lloyd Carr, Hermann, Terry Malone and company have no excuse other than that they are stuck in the 1950s or maybe 1970s at best.

My prediction...Michigan will probably end up winning the Weed Eater or Motor City Bowl or whatever mediocre Bowl they end up in. And sadly we will probably get more of the same next season...at least two regular season losses and either a loss in a major Bowl or a meaningless win in a minor one.

Unless, of course, there is Regime Change At The Big House.