Turns Out, Nico Collins Was Right About Ohio State
Michigan got a massive monkey off its back by beating Ohio State a month ago and set the Wolverines up for a magical finish to the 2021 season. Before that, however, OSU had been running away with the rivalry. The Buckeyes were riding an 8-game winning streak and had won 15 of the last 16 matchups. Earlier this year in March, former Michigan wide receiver Nico Collins was asked about the perceived talent gap between Ohio State and Michigan and his answer sent some waves through the media markets in both Ann Arbor and Columbus.
"It's the same type of talent," Collins said. "It's not a difference between the two. The athletes they've got and we got, I'd say we match up. They don't have more athletes than we got. I feel like we're pretty much equal, or we pretty much have more than them. Talent wise it's no advantage for them — none at all."
When he said it, everyone was thinking, "Come on, Nico." After all, in 2018 and 2019, when Collins was actually on the team and contributing, OSU won by 23 and 29 points, respectively.
After Collins said what he said, I wrote an article taking a look at his words...
I'm a big Nico Collins fan. I enjoyed covering him as a recruit, he was a joy to cover while at Michigan and he's likely going to be a solid pro. I was really looking forward to seeing him in the No. 1 jersey last fall and truly believe he would've put up terrific numbers had the season been more normal. With all that said, Collins was asked about the talent gap between Michigan and Ohio State, and his answer left a lot to be desired.
In his defense, it's a tough question to answer. Collins is a proud, athletic and talented guy. And he likely thinks very highly of his former teammates at U-M. Collins probably feels like he can hang with anyone on OSU's roster, and individually, he's probably right. He's not going to sit in front of the media and say that Ohio State is far more talented than the Wolverines, even though most would say that they are. Instead, he'll say what he said in the video above.
But the other angle is, what if he's right? What if the raw talent gap actually isn't as wide as it looks on the field? Ohio State recruits like few other programs in the country, but Michigan has done very well on the recruiting trail as well. Jim Harbaugh and his staff have had talent to work with, but they've come up well short against the Buckeyes and other programs who have recruited as well or better. Everyone would say that Ohio State has reeled in more talent than Michigan, but are they truly 30-40 points better than the Wolverines? Michigan has been outscored 118-66 during its last two meetings with the Buckeyes and many believe it would've been even more lopsided in 2020 than it was in 2018 and 2019 had the game been played.
Additionally, Michigan has been putting players into the pros. Wolverines haven't been picked as high as Buckeyes have, but several from recent classes are playing regularly on Sundays. When you've got NFL talent littered throughout a college roster, you should be competitive against just about everyone. Michigan has not been competitive against Ohio State in a long time.
So which is it? Is the talent gap with Ohio State extremely wide like it looks like it is on the field? Or Does Michigan have comparable talent like Collins says? If the talent is comparable, then the coaches have been underperforming in the worst way. If the talent gap is as massive as it appears, then the outcomes are understandable, but how did it get like that?
It's very interesting to read all of this now, after U-M was able to handle OSU and dominate Iowa en route to a Big Ten title, but it's my last paragraph that really has me thinking, "Wow...this season has been truly incredible."
Anyway you slice it is unfortunate. Michigan fans want a win against Ohio State more than anything. Harbaugh wants the same. Obviously the players do too. But a win against the Buckeyes seems like a fantasy heading into year seven of Harbaugh's tenure. I for one didn't see it playing out like this, but here we are. To Harbaugh's credit, he's tried just about everything you can think of to correct issues — this year maybe more than ever. There are six new coaches on the staff, four doing a job they've never done before, another graduate transfer quarterback coming in and a lot of talent in the freshman class. If Harbaugh can make it all work, and the Wolverines can do several things they've never done on his watch, it'll be the best coaching job he's ever done.
It turns out, it was/is the best coaching job Jim Harbaugh's ever done. And it also turns out that Collins was 100% right.
Ohio State is very talented, but so is Michigan. It just took the right mix of coaches, leaders, ideas and approaches to put it all together. And that's exactly what happened this season. It all came together. And that's why Michigan can absolutely beat Georgia this Friday.
Harbaugh has figured it out, the other coaches are all on the same page and, as Collins said nine months ago, there's no advantage for Ohio State. Not anymore.
