I don't know what it is with Lloyd Carr having Penn State's number, much less any other coach's number, but for some reason, that's definitely the case with Michigan over Penn State.

Joe Pa can deny it all he wants like he did at his presser, but Carr has the ability to simply put his Wolverines on auto-pilot (which he oftens does anyway, but I digress) and grind out wins against PSU with little-to-no-effort.

The fact is that Michigan simply owns Penn State right now.

While it may sound as if I'm about to gloat, the truth is I actually feel sorry for Penn State fans. This was supposed to be their year. They were the ones with the senior quarterback, the senior All-American middle linebacker, the talented wide receiver corps going up against Michigan's shaky defensive backs. But it just wasn't meant to be, yet again.

As I sat in a merely moderately-crowded Buffalo Wild Wings in a suburb of Ann Arbor to watch UFC 76 the other night, at least a dozen or so isolated groups of PSU fans made their way in to drown their sorrows in beer and BBQ sauce, and I couldn't help but feel a little bit of their pain.

It's basically how Michigan fans feel about Ohio State right now, and in both cases, the main problem is that both UM and PSU's coaches are still coaching as if it's the 1980's, perhaps even the 70's.

Make no mistake about it, Carr and Joe Pa are both holding the Big Ten back and making the league look bad. College football may be rife with parity right now, but it's still a sport of the haves and the have-nots when it's all said and done, and the only team in the Big Ten that can match UM and PSU in its recruiting base is the Buckeyes. But OSU is the only one who knows how to run a modern-day offense that is versatile and unpredictable enough to score against the top defenses in college football with any sort of consistency.

While many UM fans around here were delirious with joy over the fact that Michigan pulled off the upset, even shocked in some cases that UM hung in the game, I had this one called from the day UM lost to the mighty Mountaineers of Appalachain State.

I'm not bringing this up to showcase what a brilliant prognosticator I am, I'm merely stating that Michigan is doomed to this same cycle under Carr. The Wolverines will continue to play the same way they've always played, innovating only when completely necessary and just a little bit at a time. And in the Big Ten, where they control much of the Midwest region's top talent, that will continue to be good enough to put them in contention for the league crown every year.

As for Penn State, Joe Pa will continue to do the same but at a lesser rate, because, well, he's basically not much different from Carr, only older. That's just the way it is.

And Ohio State? As long as Carr and Joe Pa roam the sidelines at UM and PSU and that sweater-vested feller remains in Columbus, they will be the favorites to win the league and go to a BCS bowl if not the national title game.

With that being said, let me offer my deepest sympathies to Penn State fans. Sorry we had to dash your hopes yet again, but please don't hate us. If you can find it in your hearts, try and look a little deeper and maybe you'll see that Michigan fans feel the same pain and the same frustration that you do.

See you next year in Happy Valley and good luck against the Buckeyes.

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