Michigan didn’t have that much talent missing for that game. The MUCH bigger factor was Michigan had zero desire to be in that football game and it was the gator’s Super Bowl.
There’s always 1-2 bowl games a year like that where you can make real money. Michigan was headed into the OSU game with the playoffs in their control. Beat their biggest rival, and they’re a heavy favorite to win the big 10 champ game and make the playoff. They lost, and their season was over. Meanwhile, UF had no championship hopes past midseason. But they did have a good year going, and winning a NY6 game and 10 games would be a HUGE accomplishment considering the last few years they’d had. Very motivated team vs team who couldn’t care less....we know the outcome. Happens every year in bowl season.