Michigan had the "BluePrint" to beat Ohio State, 35-21, in 2003. The Wolverines lost the "BluePrint" in 2004 and didn't find it until a 40-34 win over the Buckeyes in 2011. And then, immediately, they lost it again and haven't found it…until now, claims Wolverines' offensive coordinator Josh Gattis.
"Corona may limit us to work from home…… but don’t think we’re sleeping! 2019 is over but the lessons learned live on! 2020 we won’t be so kind to beat ourselves … The BluePrint is out!" Gattis tweeted on Monday night, alongside a clip of Giles Jackson's 22-yard touchdown run in the first quarter of last year's eventual 29-point butt-whooping at the hands of Ohio State.
That's cute, says Ohio State, who 30 hours earlier received a commitment from Jakailin Johnson, a four-star (247Sports) cornerback recruit from St. Louis, the Buckeyes' ninth top-100 recruit in the 2021 class. On Monday, they added three-star corner Devonta Smith and four-star running back Evan Pryor. And on Tuesday, four-star running back Andre Turrentine pledged his commitment.
Four recruits in 48 hours.
The nation's top-ranked class boasts more five- (two) and four-star (10) recruits than any other FBS program. They have 10 top-100 pledges, also the most in college football and eight more than Michigan, whose two-man class ranks 29th nationally and seventh in the Big Ten. It's early but barring an unprecedented voyage of recruits from Columbus directly to Ann Arbor, that gap won't shrink. In fact, it could widen in the next six months.
Josh Gattis, who engineered an offense that ranked 58th nationally in yards per play, 79th in yards per rush, and 37th in yards per pass attempt in his first season, may have found something during his coronavirus quarantine film sessions. No, seriously. He might've found something.
The one big problem: There's nothing to suggest that something will lead to anything as Michigan falls further behind a hated rival that's dominated the series for nearly two decades.
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