Ohio State senior defensive tackle Tywone Malone Jr. (95) comforts senior defensive end JT Tuimoloau (44) after the game against Michigan Saturday. The No. 2 Buckeyes fell to the Wolverines 13-10. Credit: Sandra Fu | Photo Editor
Humiliating.
That’s the only way to describe Ohio State’s fourth straight loss to its rival Michigan Wolverines.
Play after play, chance after chance, the Buckeyes failed to capitalize on potential game-altering opportunities, and an Ohio State team that seemed to dominate almost every Wolverines position on paper was outcoached, outplayed and eventually collapsed when it mattered most.
The No. 9 scoring offense in the country and the No. 2 overall Buckeyes failed to score a point in the second half as they fell to Michigan 13-10, marking head coach Ryan Day’s fourth consecutive loss in the program’s biggest game.
Sidebar: Loss ends in melee and pepper spray on the field
“Never thought this would happen right here,” Day said. “We were expected to win this game and then go play in the Big Ten Championship game, and neither of those things happened.”
In a game that Ohio State was expected to dominate, the Buckeyes instead were outplayed for nearly the entire first half.
After a Wolverines punt, Ohio State got inside Michigan’s red zone but faltered, before Jayden Fielding kicked a 29-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead.
It looked like Ohio State would take over the game when its defense stuffed a fourth-down Wolverines run inside the Buckeyes’ 5-yard line, but quarterback Will Howard was intercepted on a forced pass toward the Ohio State sideline that was returned to the 2-yard line. Wolverines running back Kalel Mullings capitalized and punched in a touchdown to give them a 7-3 lead.
This sequence proved prophetic, as every time the Buckeyes were desperate for momentum, they faltered.
Howard led the offense down the field and approached the red zone yet again, but took a hard hit to the head from Michigan defensive back Makari Paige’s shoulder during a third-down scramble, which left him motionless on the turf for over a minute.
Backup quarterback Devin Brown handed the ball off on fourth down to move the chains, while Howard left the medical tent and began sprinting on Ohio State’s sideline, drawing a roar from the 106,005 fans in attendance.
“I just go based off what our doctors say,” Day said. “Came out for a second, and they said he was available and he was OK to go back into the game. I checked with him, and he said he was in good shape. I didn’t recognize anything in terms of the interaction that led to anything other than for him to go play.”
This excitement, however, was short-lived. Mere moments later, Fielding sent a 38-yard field goal attempt wide right.
Just when the home fans thought it couldn’t get any worse, Buckeye Joe McGuire punted only 31 yards, allowing the Wolverines to take possession at Ohio State’s 40-yard line and setting kicker Dominic Zvada up for a 54-yard field goal to secure Michigan’s 10-3 lead.
The Buckeyes pulled even in the half’s final two minutes after Howard completed passes to four different receivers and ultimately capped a 75-yard touchdown drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jeremiah Smith.
But momentum was limited.
The offense failed to capitalize on the Buckeyes’ first possession out of the break. The defense continued to keep Ohio State in the game, forcing another 3-and-out and putting the offense back on the field, but Howard’s drive inside Michigan’s 20-yard line resulted in his second interception of the afternoon.
Midway through the third quarter, the Buckeyes were still looking for a game-changing play. Safety Caleb Downs seemed to deliver, intercepting Michigan quarterback Davis Warren’s pass at the Wolverines’ 12-yard line.
The lead appeared to be the Buckeyes’ for the taking, but three plays featuring two rushes for zero yards and an incompletion forced Fielding to line up for a 34-yard field goal attempt — which he again sent wide, earning boos from the home crowd.
Opportunity knocked on the next drive when Ohio State defensive end Jack Sawyer dropped into coverage and intercepted Warren near the goal line, but the Buckeye offense again sputtered and went 3-and-out, giving Michigan — what seemed like — its hundredth chance to take the lead.
And the Wolverines finally did, driving 11 plays and 57 yards to kick a chip-shot, go-ahead field goal with only 45 seconds remaining.
The Ohio State offense had one, final chance to flip the script. But it couldn’t get the job done, ending its last drive with 1 yard gained and three incompletions.
The game’s most explosive moment came long past the final whistle, when the Wolverines sought to plant a flag at midfield and Buckeye emotions overflowed, resulting in a melee that led to police intervention and pepper spray being deployed.
As of now, Ohio State’s future remains unclear. The 12-team playoff means the season is not over for the 10-2 Buckeyes, but it is shrouded in uncertainty based on a hapless performance in a must-win game against their biggest rival.
With what many fans and analysts believed to be one of the best teams in college football, Day could not accomplish a goal he had all but guaranteed. How they will recover from that disappointment is anyone’s guess.
“I felt like I let you guys down, let all of Buckeye Nation down,” linebacker Cody Simon said, tears trickling down his face. “There’s more work to get done. We just could’ve done more.”
