Penalties, Execution Issues on Offense Gave Ohio State Little Shot of Keeping Pace with Michigan's Impressive Rushing Attack

Michigan took it to Ohio State for 60 minutes in a 42-27 win this afternoon in Ann Arbor, stopping an eight-game losing streak against the Buckeyes.

Make no mistake, the game was won behind a Wolverines rushing attack that flat out bullied Ohio State's defense to the tune of 297 yards on 7.2 per carry.

The Buckeye defense didn't record a single stop after one early in the second quarter (save for Michigan taking a knee just before the half and again at the end of the game), giving up five straight touchdown drives.

That reality put extreme pressure on Ohio State's high-powered offense to deliver and simply put, it couldn't keep up thanks in large part to mental errors and execution lapses.

Seven of Ohio State's 10 penalties came against the offense. Five of those were false starts with three committed by right tackle Dawand Jones. Another, by Jaxon Smith-Njigba, turned a 3rd-and-goal from the 3-yard line into a 3rd-and-8 on Ohio State's second possession of the game.

The penalty followed a 2nd-and-8 throw from C.J. Stroud to Chris Olave that Olave would tell you he definitely should've snagged for a touchdown even if the throw was a bit behind him. A sack following Smith-Njigba's flag led to a field goal instead of a possible touchdown. The whole possession served as a sign of bad things to come.

In his postgame comments, Stroud suggested some of the false starts could be attributed to his failing voice, a residual of being under the weather. (To be clear, he did not present this news as an excuse.)

C.J. Stroud said he lost his voice earlier this week, which made it harder for him to communicate with his teammates on the field. Ive been sick all week sometimes youve got to play sick.
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) November 27, 2021

I'm guessing the crowd noise was as much of a factor and for Jones, it seemed like he was pretty anxious about his ability to fend off Michigan's pass rush which was also a problem.

Fellow tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere was flagged for two holding penalties. His second wiped out a Stroud touchdown run. To be fair, Ohio State would score a few plays later cutting Michigan's lead to 35-27 with 4:45 left in the game but it was just another sign in a day that wasn't meant to be.

Throw in three penalties from the defense and Ryan Day's team tied a season-high with 10 flags for 66 yards, or two more than its total rushing yards on the afternoon.

Simply executing snaps and handoffs proved problematic as a Luke Wypler shotgun snap caught an unexpecting Stroud in the chest on Ohio State's first possession leading to a punt. Wyper also rolled a snap in Stroud's direction later in the game. Stroud and TreVeyon Henderson even botched a handoff.

Throw that hot mess in a blender, alongside a non-existent run defense, and Michigan had little trouble ending earning its first win against Ohio State since 2011.