Michigan stuns Ohio State, wins fourth straight in The Game

COLUMBUS – The Michigan Wolverines stunned the Ohio State Buckeyes for a fourth year in a row, walking out of Ohio Stadium with a 13-10 victory over the second-ranked team in America.

Kale Mllings was the hero of the game, rushing 32 times for 116 yards and the only Michigan touchdown. Michigan won the rushing battle 172-77.

Here is the blow-by-blow recap from Columbus.

First quarter

Ohio State won the opening coin toss and deferred, putting the Michigan offense on the field first. The opening kick bounced off freshman Jordan Marshall’s shoe, meaning he had to field it and he got the return out to the U-M 11-yard line. U-M converted on a third down for 14 yards from Davis Warren to WR Tyler Morris, but was off the field four plays later, leading to a Tommy Doman punt down to the OSU 31-yard line with 10:33 remaining. On its opening possession, the Buckeyes went 58 yards in 9 plays, but the Michigan defense held in the red zone and forced a 29-yard FG. OSU took an early 3-0 lead with 6:14 left in the quarter.

The Michigan offense went 72 yards in 10 plays on its next drive, before the quarter expired.

Ohio State 3, Michigan 0

Second quarter

Michigan was stonewalled on 4th and 1 from the OSU 3-yard line to turn the ball over on downs. The Buckeyes would take over with 14:44 left in the half. OSU ran the ball twice for for a yard, then QB Will Howard threw an interception to U-M corner Aamir Hall, returned down to the Buckeyes’ 2-yard line. Two plays later, Kalel Mullings punched the ball in, giving the Wolverines a 7-3 lead after the Dominic Zvada extra point.

The Buckeyes responded with a respectable drive that went 55 yards in 10 plays before stalling out, and then missing a 38-yard field goal attempt. Michigan would take over at its 20-yard line with 7:28 left in the half. U-M would go 3-and-out on its next series, punting down to the Ohio State 6-yard line, where the Buckeyes would take over and match with a 3-and-out of their own as the boo birds rained down from the Ohio Stadium crowd. A bad punt would allow Michigan to take over at the Buckeye 39-yard line with 4:17 to go. The offense would not get going, but Zvada would make his 7th field goal from beyond 50 yards this season – this time from 54 yards out – to push the lead to 10-3 with 2:15 to go in the half.

Ohio State’s offense would wake up to close out the half, going 75 yards in 9 plays and getting a Howard touchdown pas to freshman Jeremiah Smith from 10 yards out, tying the game at 10-10 with 30 seconds to go. The Michigan offense would run out the clock and go into the locker room from there.

Michigan 10, Ohio State 10

Third quarter

Ohio State took over at the 6-yard line to start the second half after the kickoff bounced in front of the returner, who had to fall on it. The Buckeyes went 56 yards in 10 plays but stalled at the Michigan 38-yard line before punting the ball down to the U-M 2-yard line. The Wolverines would take over there with 10:08 remaining in the third quarter. Michigan would go 3-and-out, picking up only 4 yards before punting back to the Buckeyes at the U-M 47-yard line with 8:24 to go.

The Buckeyes got down to the Michigan 16-yard line before Howard threw his second interception of the day, this time to safety/nickel Makari Paige. The Wolverine offense would take over on their 9-yard line with 4:51 remaining in the quarter. On third down, Warren would throw an interception at the 16-yard line, giving the ball back to OSU. The Buckeyes would go 3-and-out, and then miss a 34-yard field goal attempt. Michigan took over on their 20-yard line with 1:58 left in the third quarter before the quarter would run out with them driving.

Michigan 10, Ohio State 10

Fourth quarter

After a 15-play drive, Michigan got down to the OSU 3-yard line before Warren threw his second pick of the day on 1st and goal, handing the ball back to the Buckeye offense at the 12-yard line with 7:48 to go. Michigan forced another 3-and-out and the offense took over at the 40-yard line with 6:13 to play. The Wolverines drained a ton of clock and got all the way down to the 3 – due in large part to a 27-yard run on third down from Mullings – and settled for a Zvada field goal with 45 seconds remaining.

The Ohio State offense took over with no timeouts on its 25-yard line to start its final drive. The Wolverines defense held strong yet again, and held on to win The Game for the fourth year in a row.

FINAL: Michigan 13, Ohio State 10

Final Michigan vs. Ohio State box score