My Thoughts.....MICHIGAN

Somehow, we just figured the Buckeyes would find a way to pull this one out, after trailing 14-0 early in the second quarter.  Indeed, after the horrid first quarter that saw the Ohio State offense limited to a ghastly -6 (yes, MINUS SIX) yards of total offense, they dominated Michigan the rest of the way, despite losing J.T. Barrett to an apparent knee injury in the third quarter.  

                        There are not enough superlatives to describe the performance of QB Dwayne Haskins.  Coming into THE GAME, in Ann Arbor, with the Buckeyes trailing at the time, Haskins added his name to the lore of the rivalry.  Perhaps the play that defined it the best was his third down completion to Austin Mack, when Haskins squeezed the ball into a very tight window and Mack made an unbelievable catch while sandwiched between two Michigan defenders.  That led to a J.K. Dobbins one-yard TD run to put the Buckeyes in front to stay.  On the next OSU drive, facing 3rd-and-4, Haskins found K.J. Hill on a crossing route for a 29-yard gain to the Michigan 28. Three plays later, Sean Nuernberger drilled a 44-yard field goal pushing the Buckeye lead to 24-20.

 Haskins would give Nuernberger a shot at another long field goal on the following possession after converting another 3rd down with a 24-yard hookup with Hill but the kick would miss just left. Finally, though he had nothing to do with the drive itself, Haskins handed off to Mike Weber who sealed the deal with a 25-yard touchdown jaunt making it 31-20 good guys with less than two minutes to play. Overall, Haskins looked fairly poised excepting a few plays on his first drive and while it appeared he made a few incorrect reads in the run game, he didn't turn it over and converted some clutch third downs to extend eventual scoring drives.  The running game eventually delivered and wore down the Wolverine defense a bit as Mike Weber and J.K. Dobbins combined for 20 carries for 122 yards and two scores.

Denzel Ward was all over the field leading the team in total tackles with eight, solo tackles with seven, and pass breakups with two. He also showed off his quickness on special teams, blocking a Michigan extra point after the Wolverines' final touchdown.  After making adjustments to Michigan’s game plan involving the tight end, the defense gradually tightened.  Although, John O’Korn is hardly Baker Mayfield, I couldn’t help but be impressed by the Ohio State defense in limiting the downfield plays.  Michigan’s wide receivers caught only six passes on Saturday, and the Wolverines’ inability to make consistent passing plays ultimately caught up with them, as they went scoreless on their final four drives of the game.  Michigan’s leading wide receiver coming into the game, Grant Perry, caught just one pass for nine yards. Perhaps most importantly, Donovan Peoples-Jones, Michigan’s top big-play threat, finished the game without a single catch, in large part thanks to shutdown coverage by Ohio State cornerback Denzel Ward,  It also helped that Michigan quarterback John O’Korn was erratic at times, since the Buckeyes’ pass defense against the tight end and fullback still left something to be desired.

The fact that Ohio State was turnover-free was significant, considering Haskins, who lost a fumble that was returned for a touchdown one week earlier against Illinois, was a backup quarterback playing with a game on the line for the first time in his career.  But, Haskins took care of the ball with the game on the line here.  Ohio State did get lucky, twice.  Barrett threw a pass straight to Michigan safety Josh Metellus in the second quarter that should have been intercepted, but was dropped. Later in the second quarter, Barrett dropped a hot snap from Ohio State center Billy Price, bobbling it again before ultimately falling on the loose ball deep in the Buckeyes’ own territory. Either one of those plays could have been a game-changer.  The fact that the Wolverines were unable to capitalize on them and get any takeaways, though, left the door open for the Buckeyes to eventually take control of the game in the second half.
Saturday’s win gave Ohio State 504 Big Ten Conference wins all time, passing Michigan for the most in league history---and Michigan has seven more years in the conference than Ohio State.  The 14-point deficit overcome by the Buckeyes was the largest they have ever overcome in the OSU-Michigan series, surpassing the 13-0 deficit overcome in 1987.

Ohio State history against Michigan stacks up well and it is comical to listen and read how Michigan seems to “claim” all of these “national titles” coming back from a time when my grandfather was in diapers and the Wright Brothers were building their flying machines.  Let’s take a look at the history that matters:
In the last 100 years (1918-2017): OSU 50, Michigan 46, 4 ties
In the last 75 years (1943-2017): OSU 39, Michigan 31, 3 ties
In the last 50 years (1968-2017): OSU 27, Michigan 21, 2 ties
In the last 25 years (1993-2017): OSU 17, Michigan 8
In the 21^st Century (2001-2017): OSU 15, Michigan 2

National Championships: 100 years (1918-2017)(wire service, BCS, CFP):
OSU 7, Michigan 5

Up next is a tough test against undefeated Wisconsin in the B1G Championship game in Indianapolis.