Tied up at 14 apiece on the road in the Big House, Ohio State's defense wasn't all that impressive as it allowed Michigan to march 51 yards on just four plays for a go-ahead touchdown midway through the third quarter.
The big play was a 43-yard catch and run from an erratic John O'Korn to Kekoa Crawford putting Michigan in business at the OSU 8-yard line. Two plays later, a hold on Chris Worley negated a sack giving the Wolverines 1st-and-Goal at the 3 and Karan Higdon would punch it in two plays later putting Michigan in front 20-14.
The tide began turning from there as Denzel Ward railed around the edge of Michigan's line to block the extra point try keeping Michigan from taking a seven-point lead.
J.T. Barrett went down on the ensuing Buckeye possession but Dwayne Haskins and company still marched 78 yards in 11 plays capped by a 1-yard J.K. Dobbins plunge and thanks to Ward's handiwork (sorry), Ohio State possessed the lead at 21-20.
Enter Ohio State's defense.
After another kickoff out of bounds, defensive end Sam Hubbard got loose for a sack/fumble of O'Korn for a 16-yard loss forcing a 3rd-and-26, and one play later, a punt.
After a 44-yard field goal from Sean Nuernberger edged Ohio State in front 24-20, the defense went back to work.
Senior Michael Hill – yes the same Michael Hill who spent much of the year in Urban Meyer's doghouse – shot through for a 6-yard sack on first down.
An Eddie McDoom reception for 24 yards gave Michigan some hope but on 3rd-and-4, Jerome Baker tipped an O'Korn pass incomplete setting up a 4th-and-4 but pressure up front led to another incompletion and a huge turnover on downs keeping the score at 24-20.
Nuernberger would miss a 43-yard field goal try on the ensuing possession but Jordan Fuller came up big immediately thereafter intercepting O'Korn at midfield with 2:30 left in regulation.
| PLAYER | TKLS | SACKS | TFL |
|---|---|---|---|
| HUBBARD | 5 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| BOSA | 5 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| JONES | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| HOLMES | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| LEWIS | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 |
| HILL | 1 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| SPRINKLE | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Fuller's pick essentially ensured victory but the offense decided to put one more nail in the coffin as Dobbins peeled off a 35-yard run setting up a 25-yard touchdown jaunt from Mike Weber giving Ohio State a 31-20 edge with 1:44 left.
It was semantics from there and while the second half rushing performance from the Dobbins/Weber combo along with Dwayne Haskins' heroics in relief of Barrett will garner most of the headlines, the effort from Ohio State's defense down the stretch should not be overlooked.
During the critical 22 minute stretch, the Buckeye defense held Michigan to 44 yards on 15 plays – 24 of which came on one burst – with one interception as Ohio State closed the game on a 17-0 run.
The bulk of the credit goes to the defensive line as they helped the Buckeyes surrender just 17 rushing yards in the second half – on 1.0 yards per carry – after giving up 83 rushing yards on 4.4 per carry in the opening half.
The front four also tallied five sacks led by Hubbard's 2.5 with Hill, Nick Bosa (1.0) and Tyquan Lewis (.5) getting into the act.
Regardless of Ohio State's quarterback situation, which will be the focal point this week, the Buckeyes aren't winning the B1G championship without another defensive effort like we saw in the second half in Ann Arbor.
