USC is going to beat us 45-0.

But goddamn, I've never, ever felt so relieved.

That wasn't pretty. In fact, it was frequently ugly after the third quarter. My balls shriveled. My eyes watered. That Pryor pick? Instant swampass. I don't know what to think. In fact, I'd rather not think at all. I'd like to be a mindless, heartless drone right now.

But damn it, we shall persevere. We won. We did it in the ugliest fashion possible, but we got out alive. Michigan didn't. That's still comforting, right? Prior to this game, I thought there was a vast gulf between where Michigan was in 2007 and where Ohio State is in 2009. Now, I have nothing to base that perception on. We still have 3-9 on them for sure, but aren't we at least beginning to look like latter-day Lloyd Carr teams?

Michigan in 2007:

Michigan in 2006

In 2005:

In 2004

and lastly, 2002:

Now look, I only did some cursory research here, and some of these might be those lesser opponents just making it look prettier at the end of the game, Joe Tiller-style. Nevertheless, a definite trend developed towards the end of the Lloyd Carr regime of playing wholly outmatched teams uncomfortably close. Now, look at some games the Buckeyes have played of late:

Two games I'm willing to call an outlier. Three resembles a trend. The fourth happened today.

I'm not saying Jim Tressel is Lloyd Carr, but... what separates Lloyd Carr in say, 2002 or 2003, from Jim Tressel right now? This is a line of thought I've been seriously following for the better part of a year now. I'd like some input from Michigan fans on this. Very soon - September 19th? -  this could come back to bite Tressel in the rear. Now, Toledo probably won't even have the caliber of athletes Navy does, being a MAC squad that has struggled mightily of late, competing in recruiting with a Big Ten dead-set on raiding Ohio for talent. But can you really, after what you saw today, rule out another close game?

As you can probably garner from the first sentence of this post, I've given up hope on beating USC. The secondary is incredibly raw, and Anderson Russell will bite on just about any play-action handoff, which is, of course, the Trojans' bread and butter. He's not the goat - we won this time - but man alive, take your eyes out of the backfield, dude! I'm even more iffy on Illinois. As I said in the thread, I can't quite push the the panic button yet - young team, opening day jitters, Navy might be a 10-win squad - but it is very, very enticing.