The score stood at 17-17 with 5:35 to go in the third quarter of what was described by some as the biggest edition of the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry of all time. After controlling the game early on, Michigan's eleven point lead had vanished to nothing. Momentum was tilting towards the Buckeyes and they'd just strung together a 12 play drive that saw Ohio State try to steal Michigan's identity. They ran it eight straight plays to finish the drive, smashing Michigan's face over and over and paving the Wolverines down the field and into the end zone for the game-tying touchdown.

The game was hanging in the balance, as Michigan's offense badly needed an answer to re-assert control of the game. They did that over the course of seven plays spanning 75 yards, despite the fact that the Wolverines lost star guard Zak Zinter along the way. JJ McCarthy used his tight ends and his own legs to move down the field, then Corum juked 5* sophomore Sonny Styles out of his shoes on the very next play after the Zinter injury to run it in from 22 yards out. 24-17, momentum back to the Wolverines, with a lead they would never relinquish. Just over 17 minutes of game-time later, ecstasy had overtaken Ann Arbor. 

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The first segment of the game looked little like the rest of the game, a brutal defensive battle that some had anticipated coming in. Ohio State got it first and went three-and-out, Emeka Egbuka dropping a pass that would've picked up the first down. Michigan responded with a three-and-out of their own, a screen to Donovan Edwards blown up by Davison Igbinosun and Steele Chambers. Michigan punted it back to the Buckeyes, who did marginally better on this second series, gaining one first down before Ryan Day punted on 4th & 1 from the OSU 46 after a Xavier Johnson reception came up just short of the sticks. Michigan's second possession went no better, another three-and-out after a couple runs and a JJ McCarthy scramble came up a couple yards short. 

 

[Patrick Barron]

Half of the quarter had rolled off the clock by the time Ohio State took the ball on the next series, the fifth of the game in this defensive battle. OSU QB Kyle McCord dropped back on 1st down and looked to find Marvin Harrison Jr. on a short route towards the middle of the field. Michigan corner Will Johnson stepped in front of Harrison and intercepted the pass, weaving between bodies and getting down to the Buckeye seven yard line on the return. Set up with a short field, Michigan did their usual and ran Blake Corum four times, the final from the half yard line, and ended up in the end zone. 7-0 Wolverines. 

Ohio State finally got it going on offense on their next drive, with Marvin Harrison Jr.'s brilliance getting them down the field. On 3rd & 4, McCord hit Harrison on a backshoulder throw for 24 yards, getting OSU across midfield for the first time. A penalty on Derrick Moore for hands to the face a couple plays later gave Ohio State 15 more yards, but then the drive petered out. Michael Barrett nearly intercepted McCord on 2nd down and then an incomplete pass to Egbuka on 3rd down ended the possession. Jayden Fielding nailed a 43 yard field goal and Ohio State was on the board, down 7-3. 

Michigan's next possession was their first drive of the game and it was quintessential Harbaugh era Michigan, 14 plays, 75 yards, two 4th & short conversions. Michigan showed more willingness to push the ball through the air, 9 yards to Roman Wilson, 16 yards to Colston Loveland, and then 7 yards to AJ Barner on 3rd & 8. Faced with 4th & 1 from the 39, Blake Corum dove over top of the pile to move the chains. Four plays later, after JJ McCarthy scrambled just short of the line to gain, Michigan went on 4th & 1 again and picked it up again, this time via play-action pass to Colston Loveland.

 

[Bryan Fuller]

Now inside the 25, Michigan's first two plays were unsuccessful but on 3rd & 10, McCarthy fit a ball to Roman Wilson into a mind-bending window between multiple Ohio State defenders. Wilson, who caught it inside the 5, reached the end zone, but once he was in the end zone, OSU corner Denzel Burke ended up with the football. The call on the field was that Wilson had the ball with full possession and entered the end zone, thus ending the play before Burke got the ball, while the Ohio State faithful argued that Wilson never had possession and thus it was an interception in the end zone and a touchback. Upon further review, the replay officials left the call on the field and Michigan had a 14-3 lead, much to Ryan Day's chagrin, who continued to chew out the referees. 

There were just over 10 minutes remaining in the second quarter and the game was tilting towards Michigan, but this was the 20 minute period of the game where the pendulum swung to Ohio State. The Buckeyes had little trouble moving right down the field, picking on Michigan reserve LB Jimmy Rolder in coverage on a seam shot matched up with TE Cade Stover to get it going. A throw to Emeka Egbuka and a run for TreVeyon Henderson + an odd holding call on Mason Graham got OSU down inside the 10. On 2nd & Goal, McCord found Egbuka off play-action for an easy touchdown and just like that, the Buckeyes were alive. 14-10. 

Michigan's next drive started alright, a tremendous throw and catch by JJ McCarthy to Cornelius Johnson getting Michigan out to midfield, but the drive unraveled when DT Michael Hall Jr. sacked McCarthy off a beautiful pass rush against Zak Zinter. Michigan booted it deep, which Tommy Doman managed to pin at the 2 with 3:23 left in the second half. That backed OSU up but the Michigan defense couldn't get the stop. A neat play design gave McCord a small window to find Julian Fleming against Josh Wallace and he fit the ball in there, Fleming securing it before he hit the ground for a first down.

 

[Patrick Barron]

Out of the shadow of their own goal line, OSU slung it deep for Marvin Harrison Jr., 44 yards against Will Johnson. DPI was thrown but Harrison caught it anyway and Ohio State declined the penalty. Michigan stood their ground, with a crushing hit by Mike Sainristil on TreVeyon Henderson standing out in particular, and they forced a 52 yard field goal as the final play of the first half. Sherrone Moore's decision to ice the kicker worked, as Fielding's attempt after the whistle split the uprights. Given another minute to ponder it, his actual try drifted wide left and Michigan took a tenuous 14-10 lead to the break. 

Michigan got the ball out of halftime and needed a good offensive drive. They got it thanks to a JJ McCarthy --> Colston Loveland connection followed by heroics from Alex Orji, who was inserted at QB and ran two zone reads, the first of which went for 20 yards. Michigan quickly got into OSU territory, but their drive ran out of steam when replay review deemed that JJ McCarthy's throw to Roman Wilson was out of bounds and incomplete. Sherrone Moore trusted his kicker and put James Turner out there from 50 yards away, but the Louisville transfer banged it through. 17-10 Michigan. 

That leads us to the Ohio State drive referenced in the opening. It began promising for Michigan, with Mason Graham sacking McCord, but a first down to Harrison off a terrible missed tackle by Will Johnson alleviated that pressure. The Bucks went tempo on a screen to Egbuka that picked up 15, and then it was all ground and pound. Over and over again, the tandem of Henderson and Chip Trayanum picked up chunks on the ground, but the heroes were the Ohio State OL, who paved Michigan's defensive front back to Ypsilanti on that drive. By the time Henderson punched it in from three yards away, a deflating feeling had set in across the Michigan fanbase. Ohio State had scored on three of their last four drives, the lone empty one being a missed FG. Michigan's defense was not putting forth much resistance and the offense desperately needed to change the mood. 

 

[Bryan Fuller]

Enter that aforementioned drive. McCarthy did much of the work, a 10 yard strike to Loveland, a 15 yard scramble, and an 18 yard catch-and-run from McCarthy to AJ Barner, the play that Zak Zinter was injured on. The senior guard was carted off in tremendous pain, but the Michigan side was undaunted. On that next play, Corum scampered into the end zone from 22 yards away, weaving just inside the left pylon. Michigan had the lead back 24-17 and the Ohio State momentum was blunted. 

The change in momentum was cemented by a quick three-and-out forced by the Wolverine defense. A toss to Henderson was bottled up, Quinten Johnson delivered a big hit on Egbuka running open down the seam to jar the ball free and force an incompletion, and then pressure forced McCord to spike his third down pass. Punt back to the Wolverines and the Big House smelled blood in the water. 

Given good field position at their own 36, Michigan's next series saw them empty the bag of tricks, as Donovan Edwards reprised his throw against Iowa in the 2021 B1G Championship Game. This time it was a bit underthrown for Colston Loveland but the tight end hauled it in and rumbled down to the 20. Michigan's playcalling went a bit conservative, a pair of runs and a screen for Semaj Morgan that was blown up by Styles and JT Tuimoloau for a loss of yardage. Michigan sent Turner back out there, and the veteran kicker connected from 38. 27-17 Michigan, their two-score lead restored. 

 

[Bryan Fuller]

What happened next was not ideal, as Doman's kickoff went out of bounds and gave Ohio State their own good field position. To add insult to injury, it was around this point that it was revealed that Will Johnson's ankle was iced and taped up. He would not play again the rest of the game, with MHJ guarded by the much shorter Mike Sainristil instead. OSU started with a couple chunk gains on the ground were followed by a pretty backshoulder throw from McCord to Fleming against Rod Moore, which marched Ohio State to the Michigan 25. Two plays later, on 3rd & 8, Ohio State surprised Michigan with a hand-off to Xavier Johnson up the gut in a typical passing situation. Johnson weaved his way for a first down and a couple plays after that, McCord found Harrison on a drag route matched up on Junior Colson. The mismatch is obvious and Harrison zoomed into the end zone for a TD. 27-24. 

With 8:05 to go in the game, it was clear that Michigan's offense was going to need to keep scoring and move the ball to win the game. They did that in classic Michigan fashion, grounding and pounding. McCarthy peppered in a couple throws to Cornelius Johnson, but Michigan was wearing down the Ohio State defensive front, churning out four, five, six yards per run on the ground. Michigan marched deep into OSU territory in the process, soaking up the clock and beginning to burn Ohio State's timeouts. Blake Corum scampered for 14 down to the Ohio State 25 and Ohio State took their first timeout with just over two minutes to go.

This is when Michigan's playcalling went a bit vanilla for my liking, a pair of Corum runs up the middle without much deception or trickiness. Michigan wanted to keep the clock rolling so that Ryan Day would have to burn his timeouts, but it felt like perhaps an end around, or something with a bit more spice may have had a greater chance of success. Ohio State's defensive front predictably bottled up the two runs and on 3rd & 6, Michigan decided to keep it on the ground, rather than let McCarthy have a chance to win the game. It bled the clock some more, but didn't get the first down. Michigan put James Turner out there and from 37 yards away, he made his third FG of the game. 30-24 Michigan. 

 

[Bryan Fuller]

So the stage was set. After Xavier Johnson's kickoff return was stopped at the 19, Ohio State needed to go 81 yards in one minute to win the game and reverse the recent narrative of the rivalry. The first down pass for Cade Stover was ruled incomplete, but McCord made a beautiful throw into the Cover 2 hole between the corner and safety to Marvin Harrison Jr. for a 22 yard gain out to the Buckeye 41. On the very next play, McCord found Fleming down the field. Fleming caught it, ran ever so slightly, and fumbled. Emeka Egbuka recovered the fumble and after a review, they upheld the completion and fumble, rather than ruling it incomplete.

Ohio State had the ball at the Michigan 37 with just over 30 seconds to play when McCord dropped back to pass. Michigan got pressure from Jaylen Harrell and like he has the tendency to do, McCord hung onto the ball a smidge too long. By the time the third-year QB pulled the trigger, he was being impacted and his delivery was extremely short. Michigan safety Rod Moore read the QB's eyes and timed his dive perfectly. The ball arrived, Moore had his hands underneath it, the ball entered his arms and he held on as he hit the ground. No debate about that one... an interception to seal a Michigan win. JJ McCarthy did the kneel down and the Wolverines had won their third straight in The Game.

A game of infinite narratives ended with a different narrative for both teams. For Michigan, it was a triumph of toughness and resilience in the face of so many challenges. For Ohio State, it was a story of turnovers and high leverage mistakes leading to a most painful demise. Neither are completely incorrect, but neither can disagree that the only team who can find any joy tonight are the Wolverines. 

 

[Bryan Fuller]

On Michigan's side of things, they overcame the suspension of head coach Jim Harbaugh and injuries to their #1 corner and best offensive lineman during the course of the game, while no equivalent challenges or injuries beset their opposition. They won because their offense stacked their good plays on top of each other and maximized their yardage. They won because their offensive line and running game delivered in the second half to bleed the clock. They won because JJ McCarthy was extremely sharp and limited the mistakes. They won because the defense made two game-changing plays to open the scoring and shut it down. And they won because their kicker outplayed the opposition's kicker, nailing three high-leverage kicks without error.  

On Ohio State's side, they lost because of those crucial mistakes, not unlike Michigan back in 2016 in the Shoe. An interception that gave Michigan possession inside the Buckeye 10 and then the final interception were most notable, but even small things like Egbuka's drop on the first series and Fielding's missed long FG before halftime mattered. OSU outgained Michigan in total yardage and on a per-play basis, but came up empty on the scoreboard. Their defense was great for a stretch of this game, but allowed Michigan to score on all four second half possessions and five of their final six. Holding the Wolverines to field goals was good, but it ultimately was not enough. 

Michigan has now beaten Ohio State for the third straight season for the first time since 1995-1997 and JJ McCarthy is the first Michigan QB to lead the Wolverines to consecutive wins over Ohio State since Elvis Grbac in the early 90s. The victory secures a third straight B1G East title for the Michigan Wolverines, who will face the 10-2 Iowa Hawkeyes in the B1G Championship Game in Indianapolis next Saturday, in search of their third straight B1G title. Most importantly, Jim Harbaugh will make his triumphant return to the sideline for that one. A win in that game will punch Michigan's ticket for the College Football Playoff, while Ohio State will now be in search of a path to back-in to the CFP again, which likely requires a high degree of good fortune (longer odds than a year ago). 

[Click the JUMP for the box score]