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Michigan EDGE Derrick Moore on Ohio State's pregame intimidation tactics: 'We're not scared of y'all'

clayton-sayfieby:Clayton Sayfie•about 11 hours•

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Derrick Moore
(Photo by Clayton Sayfie / TheWolverine.com)

Michigan Wolverines football had completed warmups before taking on Ohio State Nov. 30, 2024, and trotted back to the tunnel for their final meetup in the locker room.

They were met with some resistance, though, with Ohio State players — led by defensive end Jack Sawyer, who cried postgame as Wolverines celebrated at midfield — crowding the sideline and talking trash as they went by.

The Buckeyes’ antics — rich for a group of players that was overconfident despite having no wins against Michigan — only added fuel to the fire. The Wolverines were more than two-touchdown underdogs but pulled off the 13-10 upset.

“I would say everything started with us going back into the tunnel, where they kinda just lined up on their side of the sideline as we were walking back into the tunnel,” Michigan senior EDGE Derrick Moore said on the ‘Blue By Ninety’ podcast. “They just kinda sat right there, staring at us, talking trash. And it was just like, ‘Who do y’all think y’all are? We’re not scared of y’all, anything like that.’ When we got back into the locker room, you could just feel the energy.”

Michigan was revved up and ready to go.

“Everyone was in there turnt — everybody, all the way to the coaches,” Moore continued. “You would’ve thought the game was already at halftime, but it was pregame. When we came out through the tunnel, it was no turning back from there. You could hear the music blasting, and you look around and it’s all of your brothers. We’re walking into enemy territory, and it’s just like, ‘Oh, yeah, this is a good feeling.’ 

“One thing about playing in that stadium, it just feels different. Going out, it felt like a great moment. It felt so great. From the snap of the ball, we just knew we had ‘em.”

Michigan has now won two-straight games over Ohio State in Columbus and four in a row overall. During the 45-23 win at Ohio Stadium in 2022, then-defensive back Mike Sainristil gave a legendary speech at the start of the fourth quarter. Moore was asked if there was a similar moment in the 2024 game, and he pointed to some words from linebacker Ernest Hausmann.

“It was the same moment,” Moore said. “I remember Ernest Hausmann gathered us all up — I think this is after the offense threw the pick on the goal line. He gathered the whole defense up, and he was like, ‘This is our moment right here. We don’t care about anything. We’re not gonna put this on the offense. We don’t care that there was just an interception. We’re gonna go out here, we’re gonna get the ball back for the offense.’

“Right then and there, I feel like at that moment I looked into everybody’s eyes, and nobody was worried, nobody was pointing fingers, nobody was like, ‘Ah, man.’ We were really locked in together, and staying committed to going back out there and getting the ball back for our offense. That’s exactly what we did.”

Michigan’s defense made stop after stop, holding Ohio State to 10 total points, the Buckeyes’ fewest in a regular-season game since 2011.

The Wolverines’ offense did just enough, breaking a 10-10 tie with a chip-shot field goal by junior Dominic Zvada. The defense just had to get off the field one more time, and came up huge in forcing a four-and-out turnover on downs.

“I remember when I got back to the sideline, I think it was [running back] Kalel [Mullings]. He was like, ‘We got y’all, man. We’re gonna make sure we get this in the end zone.’ They didn’t get it in the end zone or anything like that, but one thing about Zvada is he’s gonna get it.

“And then we went back out there again on that last final down. Before Ohio State came out, we all huddled up and we just said, ‘Man, this is our last one, man. We’re gonna make it special. Don’t let them get anything.’”

Before Michigan’s fourth-down stop, defensive coordinator Wink Martindale gave the group one final regular-season message.

“That’s exactly what we did,” Moore continued. “The play before the last final play, Coach Wink called a timeout. And he was like … he had been telling us all season, we’re built for this moment. This year’s gonna be different, a lot of things. He just said, ‘Y’all are prepared for this moment, y’all are ready for this moment. Now go out there and make a stop and let us get out of this trash stadium.’ And after that, had fun in the middle of the stadium.

Fun: That’s exactly what that day was for Michigan, thanks in part to Ohio State’s antics.

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