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Thursday, November 20, 2008
No, Javon Ringer will not cheer for Michigan
Michigan State: Pasadena can still happen. All the Spartans have to do is beat Penn State (as 14.5-point underdogs on the road) and get a Michigan win against Ohio State (as 20.5-point underdogs on the road).
But root for Michigan? Get real:
“Um,” running back Javon Ringer sighed when asked if he could root for U-M. After a 10-second pause, he continued.
“Honestly, I don’t know. I know the whole thing — if we beat Penn State, we need Ohio State to lose to Michigan — but, man … I don’t know, man. I don’t even know if I can get that out of my mouth. I’ll just try not to pay attention to them and try to focus in on our game, and whatever happens with that game happens.”
The Big Ten situation is actually quite simple.
Penn State beats Michigan State, Penn State goes to Rose Bowl.
Ohio State beats Michigan and Penn State loses, Ohio State goes to Rose Bowl
Zeus touches Beaver and Ohio stadiums with thunderbolts, Michigan State wins and Ohio State loses, Michigan State goes to Rose Bowl.
Not only does Ringer need 438 rushing yards to beat the Nittany Lions, the Spartans need Terrelle Pryor to switch uniforms and play for Michigan for the Wolverines to beat Ohio State.
Still, it’s a good question, and even steel-jawed Mark Dantonio got a quip in.
“I’m not rooting for Michigan,” MSU coach Mark Dantonio said Tuesday. “I’m going to focus on our task at hand here and worry about the things we can control here. I have too many good friends and too many people that would not let me back into their house if I did that, so, uh, you know… go Bucks.”
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Missed this Pryor dissing of Michigan
I don’t recall this anecdote from John Heuser of The Ann Arbor News when it first happened:
It was a mid-January night, and the nation’s No. 1 high school football prospect entered Crisler Arena to chants of “We want Pryor! We want Pryor!”
After Terrelle Pryor settled into his seat, a cheerleader at the University of Michigan-Iowa men’s basketball game handed him a yellow T-shirt. Later, when the quarterback from Pennsylvania left Crisler through the arena tunnel, he tossed the shirt to a man nearby and indicated he didn’t want it back.
Perhaps Pryor’s action on his recruiting visit was a sign of things to come.
Of course, that was back when everyone was throwing attention Pryor’s way. Maybe he was trying not to show favortism by wearing the shirt from one school. Or, maybe the visit to Ann Arbor sitting with Rich Rodriguez really did change his mind on the spot.
Either way, it has been Ohio State’s gain, and Pryor has big shoes to fill against Michigan. Troy Smith left the Buckeyes as arguably the best Wolverines battler in Buckeyes history. He went 3-0 as a starter in the game, and he could be called the MVP in all three games he played.
Todd Boeckman continued the win streak to four games last year, but it wasn’t quite as impressive (granted, the conditions were horrible. Rainy, cold. No one did well. Oh, sorry Beanie Wells.)
Talk has centered this week on how different Michigan’s fortunes would be if Pryor had gone to Ann Arbor. It’s on Rodriguez’ mind, too, as much as he wouldn’t like you to know it.
Some Wolverines — including a Chaminade-Julienne High School product — are even saying it.
Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez said that after Pryor signed with Ohio State, he stopped thinking about the recruiting loss. But when senior safety Brandon Harrison was asked if he had pondered how Michigan’s season might be different with Pryor at quarterback, a grin crossed his face.
“Well, you never know,” he said, pausing. “Yeah.”
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Poll: How much will Ohio State win by?
With Michigan’s abysmal record coming into this Saturday’s rivalry game, it’s easy to predict an Ohio State victory. So we want you to tell us, will it be a blowout or a close game?
[an error occurred while processing this directive]After voting, check out photos from past Ohio State vs. Michigan games and take our OSU-Michigan trivia quiz
