Ohio State’s seniors will leave Columbus without ever winning a pair of Gold Pants.
Despite being heavily favored to beat a Michigan team that was just 6-5 entering the final week of the regular season, Ohio State suffered its fourth straight loss in The Game on Saturday, falling 13-10 to the team from up north.
Ryan Day fell to 1-4 as a head coach against Michigan while suffering his first loss to an unranked opponent. It’s the first time Ohio State has lost four straight games to Michigan since 1988-91.
Ohio State’s offense never found its footing, scoring only one touchdown while leaving the red zone without points three times as Jayden Fielding missed two field goals.
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #2 Ohio State | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| MICHIGAN | 0 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 13 |
| NOV. 30, 2024 • Ohio STADIUM • Columbus, Ohio | |||||
Fielding scored the game’s first three points with a 29-yard field goal on Ohio State’s opening drive after the Buckeye defense forced a punt on the game’s first possession.
Michigan drove to Ohio State’s 3-yard line on its second possession, but the Buckeyes got off the field without allowing any points as they stuffed a 4th-and-1 rush attempt by Michigan to force a turnover on downs.
STOPPED SHORT
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 30, 2024
The @OhioStateFB defense does it again! pic.twitter.com/uzbd3TnOTL
The Wolverines got the ball right back, however, when Aamir Hall picked off Will Howard and returned the ball to the 2-yard line. Kalel Mullings ran the ball into the end zone two plays later to give Michigan a 7-3 lead.
Howard took a big hit from Michigan safety Makari Paige and was briefly knocked out of the game. Devin Brown replaced him for a 4th-and-1 play on which Quinshon Judkins ran for a 10-yard gain, but Howard – who initially had his helmet taken away from him – was able to return to the game after a Michigan timeout. The Buckeyes failed to score on the series, however, as Fielding missed a 38-yard field goal attempt wide right.
The Buckeyes forced a 3-and-out on Michigan’s next possession, but the Wolverines got the ball back at Ohio State’s 39-yard line after the Buckeyes followed a 68-yard punt by Tommy Doman with a 3-and-out and a 31-yard punt by Joe McGuire. Michigan took advantage of the short field with a 54-yard Dominic Zvada field goal to make it a 10-3 game with 2:15 to play before halftime.
Ohio State went up-tempo with its eyes on scoring before the end of the half and finally scored a touchdown as it drove 75 yards in nine plays in just one minute and 45 seconds, capping off the drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Howard to Jeremiah Smith to tie the game.
JEREMIAH. SMITH. @OhioStateFB ties things up in Columbus
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 30, 2024
(brought to you by @ATTBusiness #ATTBusiness #NextLevelNetwork) pic.twitter.com/aetWMUPHKq
After both teams punted on their opening drives of the third quarter, Ohio State had a prime opportunity to take the lead with a drive into the red zone. But the Buckeyes left the red zone without points for a second time when Howard forced a throw into coverage and was picked off by Paige.
The Buckeyes got the ball back where they left it when Caleb Downs intercepted Davis Warren three plays later, but left the field without points again when Fielding missed another field goal wide left from 34 yards out.
Michigan bled more than nine minutes off the clock on its subsequent drive and looked poised to take a fourth-quarter lead. For the second time in the game, Michigan got to the 3-yard line and left the field without points as Warren was picked off by Jack Sawyer at the goal line.
CAPTAIN JACK WITH THE INTERCEPTION
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 30, 2024
UNBELIEVABLE PLAY FOR @OHIOSTATEFB pic.twitter.com/RLD2Qwa3Tc
But Ohio State went 3-and-out on its subsequent possession, giving the ball back to Michigan with the score still tied and only 6:13 to play. The Buckeyes’ defense looked poised to get off the field again when they had Kalel Mullings wrapped up behind the line of scrimmage on a 3rd-and-6 run from the 44-yard line, but Mullings broke free for a 27-yard gain.
With Michigan facing 3rd-and-2 with just 1:55 to play, Ohio State was penalized for having 12 men on defense, giving the Wolverines a first down. That allowed Michigan to run the clock down to 45 seconds before kicking a go-ahead 21-yard Dominic Zvada field goal.
Ohio State was unable to put anything together on its final drive, allowing Michigan to win the game by a three-point margin.
Ohio State falls to 10-2 on the season and will miss the Big Ten Championship Game with Penn State’s win over Maryland to clinch an 11-1 season. The Buckeyes are still in line to make the College Football Playoff, but will now have to anxiously await Selection Sunday to find out their seed and who they’ll be playing in the first round.
Team Stats
| OHIO STATE | MICHIGAN | |
|---|---|---|
| 252 | TOTAL YARDS | 234 |
| 77 | RUSHING YARDS | 172 |
| 26 | RUSHING ATTEMPTS | 42 |
| 3.0 | AVERAGE PER RUSH | 4.1 |
| 0 | RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS | 1 |
| 175 | PASSING YARDS | 62 |
| 19-33 | COMPLETIONS–ATTEMPTS | 9-16 |
| 9.2 | YARDS PER COMPLETION | 6.9 |
| 1 | PASSING TOUCHDOWNS | 1 |
| 16 | 1st DOWNS | 13 |
| 59 | TOTAL PLAYS | 58 |
| 4.3 | YARDS PER PLAY | 4.0 |
| 6-16 | 3RD DOWNS | 7-14 |
| 2-19 | PENALTIES | 4-50 |
| 26:25 | POSSESSION | 33:35 |
| 2 | TURNOVERS | 2 |
Game Notes
- Michigan was without two of its top players, tight end Colston Loveland and cornerback Will Johnson. Ohio State had all of its starters available except for Josh Simmons and Seth McLaughlin, who are both out for the season.
- The kickoff temperature was 27 degrees, making it the fifth-coldest kickoff temperature in the history of The Game.
- Jeremiah Smith’s touchdown catch of the year was his 10th of the year, becoming the 17th Ohio State receiver to reach that milestone in a season.
- Randy Gradishar was honored for his Pro Football Hall of Fame induction during a TV timeout in the second quarter.
- Ohio State’s national championship-winning women’s hockey team was also honored during a TV timeout in the second quarter.
- Ohio State’s national championship-winning men’s tennis doubles team of Robert Cash and JJ Tracy were honored during a third-quarter TV timeout.
- 106,005 people were in attendance for the game.
- Michigan 13, #2 Ohio State 10
- • Buckeyes Lose The Game Again, 13-10
- • Offense Fails to Play to Its Strengths
- • Seniors Go Out Winless Against Wolverines
- • Fight at Midfield
- • Ohio State Postgame • Michigan Postgame • Photos • After Carmen
- • Five Things • Notebook • Social Reax • Three Key Stats
