They did it. They beat Ohio. After seven years of trying, Michigan found salvation under Jim Harbaugh. And no day in the last 18 years, possibly 24 years, has tasted sweeter for Michigan Football and its fans. The giant has fallen, the Buckeyes are slain.

Let’s Goooooooooooooooo

Remembering what happened in this game is not easy. Euphoria after a win of that nature has a habit of blocking coherent thought. Most of the memories can only be conjured in fleeting glimpses, wrapped in stress and mania. But after a couple hours of sitting down, thinking, and poring over the box score, your author has come up with his best attempt at a recap. Let’s give it a shot:

Ohio State won the opening coin toss and deferred to Michigan. Getting points was crucial, if only to avoid a scenario like what happened to MSU last weekend, falling down multiple touchdowns and having to play an unfamiliar kind of game. The Wolverines got those points on their scripted drive, and what a beautiful script it had. Three times on that drive Michigan encountered 3rd & short situations, and every time, Hassan Haskins picked it up. His third try saw the RB rumble forward for 17 to get Michigan into the Red Zone. The next playcall was a beauty, a statue of liberty end-around to AJ Henning that got Michigan six points. Jake Moody righted Quinn Nordin’s wrong of two years ago by slipping the extra point through, and Michigan led 7-0.

The first Ohio State offensive series was as crucial to the flow of the game as Michigan’s was. Again, the Wolverines got the win and asserted themselves in the contest. A miscue by OSU kick returner Julian Fleming put the football at the four, and a snap error by center Luke Wypler put the Buckeyes in a bind. The Michigan pass rush got home and the mighty offense from Columbus was forced to punt from their own end zone.

AJ Henning returned that punt inside the Buckeye 40, and after Cade McNamara quickly hit a strike to Roman Wilson, it seemed as if Michigan was suddenly on the verge of going up two touchdowns less than seven minutes in. McNamara targeted Wilson again but did not see free safety Bryson Shaw lurking. Shaw jumped the route for a crushing interception that seemed to let a bit of the air out of the hype balloon.

Michigan’s defense came up with a huge answer, though. Ohio State’s vaunted offense marched down the field, mostly on the ground, and got inside the Wolverine ten-yard line. As your author outlined in FFFF, slamming the door in the Red Zone was a key to the game and Michigan found that key in this instance. Stroud’s pass to Chris Olave was dropped by the star receiver, and then after a false start backed OSU up to the 8, Aidan Hutchinson added his first sack of the day by getting inside RT Dawand Jones and bringing down CJ Stroud. A Noah Ruggles FG got the Buckeyes on the board, but Michigan led 7-3 and had dodged a bullet.

CJ Stroud had a solid game for the Buckeyes [Bryan Fuller]

Michigan’s next two offensive possessions were not good enough. Not when you’re up against a team with as explosive of an offense as Ohio State. The defense got another stop on the next drive, but the two offensive series sandwiched between that stop combined for just 33 total yards over 12 plays. Ohio State got the football back, still down only 7-3, and stitched together a lightning quick drive that went 56 yards in just 4 plays. David Ojabo was inexplicably asked to cover slot receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, which went as poorly as it sounds. On the very next play, tempo caught Michigan off guard and Stroud delivered a perfect pass to Garrett Wilson, who made the perfect catch, despite good coverage from Vincent Gray for a TD. OSU led 10-7 with 9:12 to go in the second quarter.

It was at this moment that the game turned. All the momentum was sliding away from Michigan and they trailed for the first time. A poor offensive possession could sink the Wolverines’ fortunes and set them further behind the Buckeyes. It was not incorrect to say that Michigan’s backs were against the wall on that drive, but the resilient offense came up with an answer.

A 13-play, 82-yard drive got Michigan right back in it. Cade McNamara hit Cornelius Johnson on a crossing route to convert a massive 3rd & 3 that gained 11 yards. A few plays later, facing a 4th & 1 at the OSU 43, Haskins was able to surge forward for 2 and move the chains. A different outcome on either of those two plays and it’s very possible that the visiting team walks away with a victory in this one.

Two plays later, McNamara targeted Johnson again, this time on a deep route, and dropped the ball in perfectly over the outstretched body of Ohio State’s Denzel Burke inside the five. Considering the cold and the snowy conditions, in addition to the gargantuan stakes, that was likely McNamara’s best throw of the season. Two Haskins rushes later, and Michigan found the end zone. 14-10.

The Buckeyes were set to get the ball back with under 4 minutes to go in the first half, representing another potential pitfall for Michigan, especially considering that Ohio State was set to receive the second half opening kick. Getting to the locker room with a lead was crucial. Michigan got there. The Buckeyes drove, but again the Wolverines answered in the red zone. Just one play after dropping a potential interception, it was safety RJ Moten who made the play that mattered. On 3rd & 7 from the 17, CJ Stroud hit Jaxon Smith-Njigba on a mesh route, and had just Moten keeping him from the end zone. Moten made the tackle, and Ruggles was sent out to attempt a 30-yarder and the score at halftime stood at 14-13.

It was the first time since 2016 and only the second time in Jim Harbaugh’s tenure that Michigan had a lead at halftime of The Game.

Hutchinson and Ross: the senior leaders who got it done [Bryan Fuller]

Much like the first half, the first two drives of the second half were destined to have an outsized influence on the game’s final outcome. Michigan won those first two drives decisively. Ohio State was forced to punt without gaining a first down after senior LB Josh Ross shot through a gap and pounded TreVeyon Henderson behind the line of scrimmage on 3rd & 2. The Wolverines got the football and fed Blake Corum, who had just returned from injury, two times and netted 68 yards, the latter carry producing 55 of those yards. That rush took Michigan down to the 13. Haskins was inserted, he got blocks in space from Erick All, Luke Schoonmaker, and Trevor Keegan, and the running back trudged into the end zone. Moody made the PAT. 21-13 Michigan.

OSU moved the ball close to midfield, but another false start set them back and on 3rd & 9, a blitz got home. Stroud sidestepped David Ojabo but then rolled right into the meaty arms of Aidan Hutchinson for a drive-ending sack. The Buckeyes were forced to punt yet again, and Michigan got an opportunity to put the game in a vice grip. They did just that.

JJ McCarthy checked into the game at QB and took advantage of OSU selling out to stop the run by feathering a perfect pass to Roman Wilson down the sideline for 31 yards. Cade McNamara came back in and Josh Gattis drew up another genius playcall, a flea flicker that isolated the speedy Mike Sainristil on CB Marcus Williamson, who was late to pick it up. Sainristil was wide open and McNamara dropped it in there. McCarthy came back in and ran behind blocks from Haskins and Ryan Hayes down to the goal line. Haskins punched it in on the next play and suddenly Michigan led 28-13. At that very moment, hope began to turn to belief for most of the Michigan fanbase. The Wolverines led their archrival by 15 points with only 20 minutes and 49 left in the game.

To close the game down, Michigan had to do two things. The first was to continue scoring touchdowns on offense. The second was to hinder Ohio State, either get stops or at the very least, make them work for touchdowns. The Wolverines did both of those things. Ohio State scored touchdowns on their next two drives, but they needed 30 plays and 11:13 of game time- over half that remained- to get those touchdowns.

Those were gutsy, excellent drives by the Buckeyes to keep them in it, but nothing came easy from the Michigan defense. They could not find the explosive plays that were so characteristic of Ohio State the entire rest of the season. Stroud did not have the time to target deep down the field thanks to Michigan’s consistent pass rush, and few of his receivers were screamingly open. OSU converted 5/8 third downs on those two drives and picked up all three fourth downs they faced, often on circus catches by their NFL-bound receivers over stellar coverage from Michigan’s DBs. Henderson scored both TDs for Ohio State, but Michigan’s defense had drained a significant amount of clock.

Hassan Haskins had a day for the ages [Patrick Barron]

It also helped that Michigan just kept scoring, and they were able to chew up time doing it. Their drive after OSU made it 28-20 took nine plays and nearly 5 minutes to score, helped by more Buckeye errors, including an offsides by Steele Chambers on a 3rd & short, and then a pass interference on Burke later in the drive. Hassan Haskins on the ground got the rest of it done behind a mashing OL.

The next TD drive, the one that came after Ohio State had cut it to 35-27, was all Haskins. McNamara did not attempt a pass, and the Buckeyes knew what coming on every play. They just couldn’t stop it. Michigan’s offensive line paved OSU’s defensive tackles all the way back to Toledo, and Haskins hit each hole with the force of a bullet and dragged tacklers with him. After Haskins got free and galloped for 27 yards down inside the five, the Buckeyes recognized they needed to let Michigan score to have any chance to come back. They let Haskins walk in with 2:17 to go, but again faced a 15-point deficit, now 42-27.

Michigan continued to make life tough on the Buckeyes when Ohio State got the ball back. Pressure forced Stroud to routinely check down and tackles to keep receivers in bounds kept the clock rolling. A David Ojabo rush brought Stroud down for a sack, and Ohio State faced 4th & 18 with 61 seconds left. Another Ojabo rush forced Stroud to roll and heave. The Ohio State quarterback connected with a receiver, Chris Olave, but he was five yards short. Turnover on downs, and two Cade McNamara kneel downs later, Michigan had defeated Ohio State. Salvation.

[AFTER THE JUMP: The takes]

Jim Harbaugh changed a lot of narratives today [Fuller]

This is the kind of result that makes everyone pinch themselves to make sure it’s not a dream. This day, this game, this moment is what Jim Harbaugh was hired to do. It took many years of trying and failing, the heartache, the staff turnover, and dozens of different players, but finally this group did it. This group of players, coaches, staff, and everyone in between.

They believed in each other, they believed in the plan, the system, and showed a mental toughness that has eluded Michigan over Harbaugh’s time here. When Jim Harbaugh and Aidan Hutchinson talked about beating Ohio State and winning the Big Ten championship this summer, they were laughed at by most everyone- including many Michigan fans. Now, they are vindicated clairvoyants, through hard work, sacrifice, and belief.

Michigan won this game because they had the superior coaches on the sideline, in particular the matchup of OSU offense against Michigan defense. Mike Macdonald was hired to reconfigure Michigan’s defense in a way that would be optimized to handle the modern NFL passing attack that Ryan Day has installed at Ohio State. Macdonald did just that, with a group of ragtag players starting underclassmen at many positions. This is a group of players that emerged from the smoldering crater of 2020’s disastrous defense and then toppled what was said to be the best offense the Big Ten had ever seen. Macdonald stole Ryan Day’s lunch money today.

But while the scheme and game plan were marvelous, it also required flawless execution from that group of players. The defensive tackles, who had looked good but not fearsome in the preceding several weeks, shut down a vaunted Ohio State rushing attack that was going for over 7 YPC with Henderson in the game. Credit goes to Mazi Smith, Chris Hinton, Donovan Jeter, and many more for that. The linebackers, who had panicked Seth in UFR, had next to no notable coverage busts. The corners were perhaps most shocking, blanketing Ohio State’s star receivers and making every catch a difficult one, especially late. And the safeties, including youngsters RJ Moten and Rod Moore, made huge tackles.

Marvelous, marvelous defense [Barron]

Of course, the day on defense belongs to David Ojabo and Aidan Hutchinson, who both likely sealed first round draft spots in April’s NFL Draft, should they choose to leave Michigan. Those two routinely abused Ohio State’s offensive tackles Dawand Jones and Nicholas Petit-Frere, both of whom have NFL aspirations themselves. We knew that Michigan needed to get pressure on Stroud, and Michigan got it. Hutchinson’s three sacks have made him Michigan’s all-time single-season sacks leader, while Ojabo got the sweetest sack, the one that essentially ended it. Both had so much on the line- Hutchinson coming back to school to win this one game, and Ojabo had his parents from Scotland watching him play for the first time in his NCAA career. Both had stakes higher than most of us can imagine, and both delivered in supreme fashion. Set your goals high, and believe in yourself, kids.

On offense, the heroes were everywhere. It was a very smartly called game by Josh Gattis, who exploited many of the weaknesses of OSU’s defense that I outlined in my column this week, notably testing the Buckeye defense at the boundaries with screens and end-arounds. Cade McNamara played a very solid game, making money throws in several big situations, and shaking off the early interception. JJ McCarthy added a couple positive rushes and then a terrific pass to Roman Wilson. The receivers Sainristil, Wilson, and Johnson had their moments, while Erick All shone as a blocker. Donovan Edwards made a dazzling one-handed catch and Blake Corum had the big run to set up a Michigan TD.

All that said, if we’re giving a Galloping Gobbler out on offense, it goes to Haskins and the offensive line, who broke Ohio State’s defense right down the middle. It was Jim Harbaugh football- power running, big offensive linemen opening holes, and a menacing RB hitting those holes with a vengeance. Haskins’ day will live in Michigan lore, perhaps in the same breath as Tim Biakabutuka’s 1995 performance: the RB carried it 28 times for 169 yards and five touchdowns.

Haskins personifies so much of what this win means and symbolizes for Michigan, a Who Dat 3* recruit from Missouri who, through hard work and perseverance, got to be a lead back at a major program, outplaying seemingly more talented competition to earn it (see: Zach Charbonnet). Today he tore through a defense littered with five stars. Recruiting talent means a lot, but today reminded us that it doesn’t mean everything (the same could be said for the unheralded recruit Ojabo tearing through 5* OT Nicholas Petit-Frere).

This offensive line paved the Buckeyes, and stood up for their teammates [Fuller]

Michigan’s ability to grind the game out on the ground is a prime reason why this year’s edition of The Game ended differently than 2016’s. Michigan could not run the ball consistently on OSU’s defensive front that year, and thus couldn’t milk the clock up two scores in the second half. This year they could, and they didn’t just milk the clock… they kept hanging TDs on the Scarlett and Gray. Credit there goes to Jim Harbaugh, who made a difficult decision to dismiss a longtime friend in Tim Drevno from OL coach duties, then hired Ed Warinner, who recruited most of the maulers that got it done today, and then moved Sherrone Moore to OL coach in the offseason, who worked wonders coaching this unit.

After Cade McNamara’s interception, and perhaps a boneheaded kick-catch interference penalty by German Green, execution was almost 100% for Michigan. Their offense was very good for all the reasons outlined. The defense was as well. Their special teams were great, with great punt returns from AJ Henning, perfect XPs from Jake Moody, and two strong punts from Brad Robbins playing a role. In every phase of the game, Michigan came ready and did nearly everything they could to win, and they won.

The aftereffects of this win will be felt for a while, the narrative around the program, the ability to win marquee recruiting battles, and more will all be impacted by winning this game. Michigan has now won 11 games for the first time in Jim Harbaugh’s tenure. But the story of this season, of this team, and these players is still being written. Michigan will now face Iowa in the Big Ten Championship Game next Saturday night in Indianapolis. A win there would give the Wolverines their first outright B1G title since 2003 and would wrap up a berth in the College Football Playoff for the first time in school history. That game is scheduled for 8:00 PM EST on FOX.