COLUMBUS — Watching the Michigan football seniors walking off the field after Ohio State's 37-7 drubbing of Michigan, there were a lot of familiar faces.

Familiar because even though the faces weren't all the same as the seniors who walked out of Michigan Stadium for the last time last year, the expressions on the faces were the same.

Disappointment, sadness, mixed in with some doses of anger and a smidgen of disbelief. It's become the Michigan football cocktail against hated rival Ohio State.

This year's regular season ended the same way it has for seven straight years, meaning a full three classes have graduated from Michigan without ever beating Ohio State. And though there was a lot of talk during the week leading up to "The Game" this year about winning this one for the seniors, the Wolverines couldn't put it into action on Saturday.

"Well, you feel bad for the seniors because those guys have hung in there," offensive coordinator Calvin Magee said after the game. "You just tell em 'We got another game.' We do still have another game, and every opportunity like this you learn from it and we're going to."

This year's seniors, unlike those in the two classes before theirs, won't end the season on a loss to Ohio State. Michigan still has a bowl game to prepare for.

For senior offensive lineman Perry Dorrestein, the thought of that bowl game provides an easy avenue for the team to bounce back after such a devastating loss.

"The good thing about that is, that's different from the past two years, is we got a bowl game right now," Dorrestein said outside Ohio Stadium after the game. "We don't know who's it gonna be against but yeah, we got another month."

In fact, the looming bowl game seems like it's already done a great job of softening the devastating blow the Buckeyes dealt this team. Redshirt junior wide receiver Kelvin Grady didn't speak with media after the game, but about an hour and a half after the contest he posted this on Twitter:

"Ugly game... on a positive note we still have the bowl game."

But the bowl game isn't just an opportunity for the seniors to make up for what is arguably one of the worst losses of Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez's tenure and go out on a winning note. The practices preparing for the game are also a good way to keep the players' minds off what for many may be the most crushing loss of their careers.

Junior center David Molk said it's essential to get back to practice immediately.

"You just gotta go back to work," Molk said after the game. "You just gotta do what you're used to, you know?"

While it will be therapeutic for the Wolverines to hit the ground running once they arrive back in Ann Arbor, the emotions after a game like this one, like the expressions on the seniors' faces, remain mostly the same.

Both Dorrestein and Molk, when asked if they can put the loss into words, came up empty.

"I mean," Dorrestein paused for a while. "Not really. It's one of those when you look at the scoreboard, and it's like, there' s a bunch of expletives that come to mind."