OVERPOWERED
Haskins scores 5 TDS as UM ends skid vs. OSU
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — As the jubilant Wolverines celebrated in a sea of maize and blue on the Michigan Stadium field, Ohio State trudged off.
A decade of Buckeye dominance over Michigan ended in a 42-27 loss in front of 111,156 at Michigan Stadium on Saturday.
The Wolverines advance to the Big Ten championship game next week. A victory there would no doubt put Michigan in the College Football Playoff. Michigan has never been to either.
Ohio State’s streak of Big Ten championships will end at four, and its CFP hopes are virtually dead.
“It hurts,” said Ohio State coach Ryan Day. “When you live this year round, it really hurts, and there was so much riding on it. It’s going to leave a mark for a while.”
Michigan’s win was no fluke.
The No. 5 Wolverines bullied No. 2 Ohio State on both sides of the ball. The Buckeyes couldn’t stop Michigan’s run game. Hassan Haskins ran for five touchdowns and 169 yards in 28 carries. The Wolverines ran for 297 yards.
“We straight overpowered Ohio state’s D line,” said Michigan quarterback Cade Mcnamara.
“We have to learn from this,” said Ohio State safety Bryson Shaw. “... We have to stop the run, especially on the road in the Big Ten. For them to run the ball on us like that, it’s embarrassing.
Ohio State ran for only 64 yards. Michigan’s pass rush, led by star defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, slowed the Buckeyes’ vaunted passing game, though C.J. Stroud threw for 394 yards and two touchdowns on 34-of-49 passing.
“When you feel they’re controlling the ball on the other side of the ball, it gets frustrating,” Day said.
It was the first victory over Ohio State for Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, who had lost five straight to the Buckeyes, and by far the biggest of his tenure. It was the first loss for Ohio State coach Ryan Day against Big Ten competition after 23 straight wins.
A touchdown underdog, Michigan (11-1, 8-1 Big Ten) had not beaten Ohio State (10-2, 8-1) since 2011. Ohio State had not lost to the Wolverines as the favorite since 2000.
But for all of Ohio State’s domination this century, most of the Buckeyes’ players had not played in The Game. Last year’s was canceled because of a COVID-19 outbreak among the Wolverines.
Michigan led 14-13 at halftime and extended its lead quickly by forcing a three-and-out on Ohio State’s first possession of the third quarter and then going 80 yards in only three plays for one touchdown and 78 yards for another to make it 28-13.
Ohio State and Michigan then traded touchdowns. The Buckeyes closed to within 35-27 with 4:45 left on a 10-yard touchdown pass from C.J. Stroud to Treveyon Henderson on fourth-and-5.
But Michigan then did what it did all game, shredding Ohio State on the ground for the clinching touchdown with 2:17 left.
The first half went mostly according to Michigan’s script and ended with the Wolverines ahead 14-13.
Ohio State looked out of sync for much of the half. Pressure from Michigan’s pass rush often forced C.J. Stroud to throw earlier than he wanted.
Michigan drove 75 yards in 10 plays to open the game, with A.J. Henning scoring on a 14-yard run to cap the drive.
The Buckeyes botched the ensuing kickoff when Julian Fleming intended to signal for a fair catch but the ball bounced in front of him and OSU had to start at its own 4-yard line. On the next play, center Luke Wypler snapped before Stroud was ready. The quarterback recovered it, but Michigan forced a three-and-out.
The Wolverines had a chance to take a two-touchdown lead after it took over at the OSU 39 and Mcnamara threw a 24-yard completion. But on the next play, Shaw stepped in front of a pass intended for Roman Wilson for an interception.
Ohio State drove to the Michigan 3, but a false start penalty on right tackle Dawand Jones, an incompletion to Chris Olave and the first of three sacks by Aidan Hutchinson forced the Buckeyes to settle for a field goal.
Ohio State took its only lead of the half in the second quarter on a 25-yard touchdown catch by Garrett Wilson, who made a circus catch despite blanket coverage by Vincent Gray.
But Michigan regained the lead 14-10 on an 82-yard drive highlighted by a 37yard catch by Cornelius Johnson to the
OSU 2.
Ohio State had a chance to take the halftime lead when it drove inside the Michigan 20. But Day elected to kick a field goal on fourth-and-3 from the 13.
Bill Rabinowitz covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Contact him at brabinowitz@dispatch.com or on Twitter @brdispatch.
MICHIGAN 42, OHIO STATE 27
12 3 4
OSU - 3 10 0 14 - 27
UM - 7 7 14 14 - 42
FIRST QUARTER - UM, Henning 14 rush (Moody kick), 10:12. OSU, Ruggles FG 31, 3:36.
SECOND QUARTER - OSU, Wilson 25 pass from Stroud (Ruggle kick), 9:12. UM, Haskins 1 run (Moody kick), 3:51. OSU, Ruggles FG 30, :09.
THIRD QUARTER - UM, Haskins 13 run (Moody kick), 11:50. UM, Haskins 1 run (Moody kick), 5:49
FOURTH QUARTER - OSU, Henderson 1 run (Ruggles kick), 14:05. UM, Haskins 2 run (Moody kick), 9:14. OSU, Henderson 10 pass from Stroud (Ruggles kick), 4:45. UM, Haskins 4 run (Moody kick), 2:17.
OSU UM
First downs: 23 24
Total Net Yds: 458 489
Rushes-yds: 30-64 39-299
Passing yds: 394 190
Punt Returns: 1-5 2-17
Kickoff Ret.s: 2-11 4-67
Int. Return yds: 1-20 0-0 Comp-att-int:16-38-0 14-20-1
Sacked-yds: 4-27 0-0
Punts-avg: 4-44.8 2-45
Fumbles-lost: 2-0 1-0
Penalties-yds: 10-66 2-20
Time of Pos.: 31:48 28:12
RUSHING: Ohio State - Henderson 17-74, Williams 7-20, Stroud 6-(-30). Michigan - Haskins 28-169, Corum 6-87, Henning 1-14, Mccarthy 2-12, Mcnamara 1-9, Edwards 1-8.
PASSING: Ohio State - Stroud 34-49-394-0. Michigan - Mcnamara 13-19-159-1; Mccarthy 1-1-0-31
RECEIVING: Ohio State - Smith-njigba 11-127, Wilson 10-119, Olave 7-88, Henderson 5-54, Williams 1-6. Michigan - Wilson 2-55, Johnson 2-48, Schoonmaker 2-15, Edwards 2-12, Haskins 2-5, Sainristil 1-34, Henning 1-9, All 1-7, Anthony 1-5.