Tom Brady relished watching his Michigan Wolverines defeat Ohio State in what was likely the biggest upset in the rivalry’s history, but he also questioned how the Buckeyes allowed it to happen.
In an appearance with FS1’s “The Herd,” Brady praised Michigan for staying true to its character as a “very tough, hard-nosed football team” that “runs the ball very well” in their 13-10 upset of Ohio State. Meanwhile, he questioned why Ohio State sought to match Michigan’s run game.
“If I looked at Ohio State’s strengths, they have a great 7-on-7 team. They got guys that you can throw the ball to. In the second half, they don’t even target their best players,” Brady said. “It’s like, I may as well have been out there playing receiver for Ohio State. I can’t run. I couldn’t catch. But it doesn’t matter if you don’t throw me the ball, just like they didn’t throw a lot of their best players the ball in the second half of that game.”
In the second half, Ohio State gained 41 yards on 12 carries, averaging 3.41 yards per carry. While Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson may be the most gifted running back combo in college football, they had to navigate a shaky offensive line and Michigan’s formidable defense. The Wolverines are third in the country in rushing yards allowed per game.
Brady said Ohio State’s strategy was contrary to what his teams would accomplish in big games.
“Whenever we got to big games, let’s say the Super Bowl, you’d say, there’s 70 plays left in our season,” quarterback Tom Brady explained. “After six or seven months of effort, there will be only 70 plays. What do we want the 70 plays to look like? Then you reverse engineer it and say, okay, we’re going to need 40 passes and 30 runs. So, what 40 passes do we want? We can create 150 of them if you wish.
“Now, there’s 110 of those that won’t get called. So why don’t we just dial it down and dial it back to only the specific ones where our best players are going to touch the ball, doing the best things that they do, and we’re going to go out like that. If we lose, we lose. If we win, great. But we’re not going to lose doing things that we don’t do well. Coach [Bill] Belichick would always say, coaches lose games and players win games.”
There was one sequence in which Ohio State’s persistence in sticking to the run may have cost them the game. Following safety Caleb Downs’ interception, which put Ohio State on Michigan’s 16-yard line in the third quarter, the Buckeyes ran the ball twice in the following three plays. One of those runs involved a delayed handoff on third-and-10, with Henderson tackled at the line of scrimmage. On the next play, kicker Jayden Fielding’s 34-yard field goal attempt went wide left, leaving the score tied at 10.
Since Saturday’s loss, Ohio State’s approach in the red zone sequence has received much criticism. FOX Sports’ Joel Klatt, who called “The Game” for FOX, saw that period as the time when the energy shifted in Michigan’s favor, noting the Wolverines’ ability to create pressure with four-man rushes as a crucial element in their shock victory.
Brady stated that Belichick would begin each game week by outlining what each unit needed to do to defeat the following opponent. Ryan Day and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly’s error against Michigan reminded Brady of one Belichick made against the Chiefs a few years ago.
“There’s times where we can misevaluate what those things are,” Brady admitted. “I’ll never forget that we faced the Chiefs once and doubled Travis Kelce, not Tyreek Hill. Maybe one of the first times we played Tyreek Hill, he went for 180 or 200 [receiving yards], something wild.
“[Belichick] came in the next day and told them, ‘Hey guys, we’re never doing it again. We botched up. If we play these guys again, we know who we’ll double, and it will be Tyreek Hill.”
Brady is undoubtedly referring to the Patriots’ season-opening loss to the Chiefs in 2017. That season, New England advanced to the Super Bowl.
Just like that loss for the Patriots, Ohio State’s loss to Michigan on Saturday isn’t the end of the season, despite what some of its fans may believe. As the Buckeyes prepare for the College Football Playoff, Brady has pinpointed what their coaching staff must do going ahead to avoid another defeat like Michigan’s.
“You’ve got to have some formula for what you’re trying to accomplish,” Brady told the crowd. “What is the target that we need to hit?” We need the coaches to convey that to the players in all three phases of the game so they can go out there with something to hit. If they do it and you can easily recognize it, I believe your team will have a good chance of winning.”
