For those who looked to that wow factor finish to the in-state rivalry between Michigan and Michigan State, you got it. Sort of.
Sure, the Wolverines had one last Hail Mary gasp in a 14-10 loss to the Spartans at Michigan Stadium. That almost-finish is an ironic distraction from what really happened on Saturday in the Big House.
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The Spartans are who they are, and that was good enough to upset Michigan again. That's never going to change under Mark Dantonio — even on the heels of a 3-9 season.
Michigan State gets the first down in the final three minutes, doesn't botch the punt in the final minute and knock down that last pass. They've been doing that since 2007, and that's why Michigan State is 8-3 in games involving the Paul Bunyan Trophy under Dantonio. The days of "Sparty No" are long dead and gone.
They are who they are.
The difference in this game wasn't bye-week rust, the last play, the refs, the nature of an in-state rivalry or the wind, rain and wrath of Mother Nature. You can't blame it on the rain. Not in Big Ten country.
The difference was five turnovers. The difference is Michigan doesn't know who they are on offense, and in Year 3 under Jim Harbaugh that’s a problem that needs to be fixed soon. Or this will happen again.
Forget the overreactions about Harbaugh's rating — over, under, proper — that's another distraction. The Wolverines are 1-4 against Michigan State and Ohio State under his watch, but they are 23-3 against everybody else.
It's foolish to think the urgency is limited to one game against Ohio State right now. That's nothing more than an attention-grabber for angst or a hot seat that just isn't there. The identity must be found on offense, or the Wolverines are going to start losing to those other teams. Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke did that, and that's when you have real problems long term.
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In the short term, the offense is the issue. It's five games into the season, and they aren't off-setting their weaknesses. The brunt is going to fall on John O'Korn, who threw three second-half interceptions in his first start of the season. Those are his fault, but it's not like the Wolverines are putting him in position to succeed.
Plus, he's a backup quarterback making his first start. Florida State has one of those, too, and they are 1-3. That's not an excuse for Michigan's game play, however.
You can't fall behind 14-3 when you know the flood is coming in the second half. Michigan still can't run the ball when it matters — they averaged 2.6 yards per carry. The offensive line struggled again, and outside of Donovan Peoples-Jones and Tarik Black in a year or two, there isn't a dynamic presence at receiver.
That had been a theme all season, and Wilton Speight's potential season-ending injury doesn’t change that. They are who they are, and they need to find a way to adapt or this will happen against Penn State, Wisconsin and Ohio State. It might happen against Indiana next week.
The last one is a stretch, mainly because Michigan’s defense will keep them in every game. The Wolverines have allowed just four touchdown drives this season that started in opposing territory, and they held the Spartans to 2 of 14 on third down. The defense helped set up the Wolverines' only touchdown with gift-wrapped field possession.
But Michigan State took advantage of Michigan's first fumble to score a touchdown, and had that one drive with some brilliant play-calling, punctuated by a screen to Madre London for a 16-yard touchdown with 8:07 left in the first half. The Spartans held on from there, and it worked. That's a good plan.
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Here was the other difference. On third-and-4 from its own 41 with 4:20 left in the fourth quarter, Michigan ran a do-nothing draw with Chris Evans. They wouldn't let O'Korn make the play. It didn't work, and the Wolverines punted. It was almost a white flag on the game on the line.
Michigan State faced a similar third-and-3 a at 1:58, and Brian Lewerke fumbled a snap, composed himself and cut through a kick-out block from Tyler Higby and rolled over bodies to pick up the game-clinching first down. No punt fumble. No frills. A holding call set up the frenetic finish, but it would take a miracle for the Wolverines to win.
It didn't happen. It seldom does. Michigan State might have got lucky with the punt fumble in 2015, but the Spartans reclaimed the Paul Bunyan Trophy the only way how in a smash-mouth Big Ten football game.
Michigan will get Paul Bunyan back when they can do the same.
