[Goose]

When you move away from your strength, it’s generally not going to lead to a good result.  JH thrives on tough physical football.  He is now back to playing his strength.

I basically agree with you, but I would add to physical football 1) having a very good defense that can get stops against a dynamic offense, and 2) having enough quick strike capability to handle getting behind and to keep the defense honest. This is the "going over the top" Shaw used to frequently reference (and which we no longer can do). It also helps greatly if your opponent doesn't have a defense that can match up with your OL.

And there’s no reason he can’t beat Ohio State playing that way. If you want some proof  go back to 2012 and 2013 Stanford versus Oregon. Particularly the 2013 game which is one of the most beautifully executed offensive game plans I’ve ever seen.

I don't think that is a good comparison. Oregon did not have the athletes Ohio State has. They were never in that class. While they did have some exceptional athletes, they had plenty of starters who were "good, not great". Oregon also did not have a defense that could stand up to Stanford's offensive line  all game long. What killed Ohio State last year against Michigan was that their OL couldn't defeat Michigan's DL and it got worse as they got tired. It also didn't help that tOSU got frustrated and simply refused to take what Michigan was giving them. This frequently happens to teams that have not been challenged all year when they run into a peer competitor. They simply refuse to believe that certain plays just aren't going to work that day.

Harbaugh is not going to beat Ohio State by trying to play their style of football. They are much better at it.

Probably correct. They are much better at it. The question is whether Harbaugh can repeatably put together a defense that is good enough to hold tOSU down and whether Harbaugh can repeatedly put together a team that can play "smash mouth" football and still be able to come back if they fall behind. We don't know about either one this year, but it looks like Michigan's defense is up to the task, at least so far. Year over year, we shall see.

[Goose]

When you move away from your strength, it’s generally not going to lead to a good result.  JH thrives on tough physical football.  He is now back to playing his strength.

I basically agree with you, but I would add to physical football 1) having a very good defense that can get stops against a dynamic offense, and 2) having enough quick strike capability to handle getting behind and to keep the defense honest. This is the "going over the top" Shaw used to frequently reference (and which we no longer can do). It also helps greatly if your opponent doesn't have a defense that can match up with your OL.

And there’s no reason he can’t beat Ohio State playing that way. If you want some proof  go back to 2012 and 2013 Stanford versus Oregon. Particularly the 2013 game which is one of the most beautifully executed offensive game plans I’ve ever seen.

I don't think that is a good comparison. Oregon did not have the athletes Ohio State has. They were never in that class. While they did have some exceptional athletes, they had plenty of starters who were "good, not great". Oregon also did not have a defense that could stand up to Stanford's offensive line  all game long. What killed Ohio State last year against Michigan was that their OL couldn't defeat Michigan's DL and it got worse as they got tired. It also didn't help that tOSU got frustrated and simply refused to take what Michigan was giving them. This frequently happens to teams that have not been challenged all year when they run into a peer competitor. They simply refuse to believe that certain plays just aren't going to work that day.

Harbaugh is not going to beat Ohio State by trying to play their style of football. They are much better at it.

Probably correct. They are much better at it. The question is whether Harbaugh can repeatably put together a defense that is good enough to hold tOSU down and whether Harbaugh can repeatedly put together a team that can play "smash mouth" football and still be able to come back if they fall behind. We don't know about either one this year, but it looks like Michigan's defense is up to the task, at least so far. Year over year, we shall see.