Michigan vs. Ohio State final score and highlights: OSU wins biggest game of 2016 in 2OT
Arguably the country’s greatest rivalry happened to be a Playoff elimination game. Big-play videos and notes below, with a rolling Twitter list of constant updates below that.
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- Ohio State 30, Michigan 27. Curtis Samuel ran in a 15-yarder for the win after a suspect first down call on a fourth-down try. It appeared J.T. Barrett was stopped in mid-air, but the first-down call stood upon review. The No. 2, 11-1 Buckeyes now need Penn State to lose to Michigan State today in order to reach the Big Ten Championship.
The game-winner:
- Michigan 27, Ohio State 24. The Buckeyes can win with a TD.
- DOUBLE OVERTIME. Michigan responded with a five-yard touchdown pass from Wilton Speight to Amara Darboh on fourth down, then thought about going for two and the win, but booted the PAT.
- Ohio State 24, Michigan 17 in the first OT. Curtis Samuel and J.T. Barrett hit two easy gains, and the QB scooted in for OSU’s first lead of the day.
- End of regulation: 17-17. Ohio State finally hit a field goal. First OT in rivalry history. Holy smokes.
- Michigan 17, Ohio State 14 (7:31, 4Q). The Buckeyes missed their second short field goal of the year, this time wide left. At least the Buckeyes finally got some offense going? Their biggest play of the day by far:
- Michigan 17, Ohio State 14 (12:03, 4Q). Michigan’s ninth third-down stop in 11 tries forced a punt and ensured the Buckeyes won’t come storming back all at once. The defensive line is still in J.T. Barrett’s face on every snap.
- Michigan 17, Ohio State 14 (1:06, 3Q). OSU’s third takeaway: LB Jerome Baker INT. That was Michigan QB Wilton Speight’s third turnover and second pick of the day. That was followed by an unsportsmanlike penalty on a mid-tantrum Jim Harbaugh, which set up a one-yard Mike Weber TD.
- Stadium attendance record:
- Michigan 17, Ohio State 7 (6:37, 3Q). Ohio State’s great day of punter performances ends with a failed fake. It set up UM with a drive starting in the red zone, with touchdown vulture Khalid Hill running in his second score of the day, an eight-yard reception.
- Ohio State lucked out on the goal line after an interception by Jabrill Peppers. A TD by Michigan would’ve put the Buckeyes in a 17-7 hole.
- Michigan star Jabrill Peppers just landed his first career interception. Yep, he’s a defender who’s in the Heisman-finalist race despite that.
- Michigan 10, Ohio State 7 at the half. OSU’s only score: a pick six. Otherwise, UM largely dominated. The yardage battle: UM 172, OSU 81. The Wolverines’ defensive front has been impenetrable, and UM QB Wilton Speight has thrown for 141 yards on 20 attempts, along with the pick. Special teams, too:
- Michigan 10, Ohio State 7 (:06, 2Q) after a one-yard touchdown run by fullback Khalid Hill, “The Hammering Panda” and the country’s greatest touchdown vulture. He now has 11 TDs this year.
- Ohio State 7, Michigan 3 (4:03, 2Q) after the Buckeyes finally got some offense ... from their defense. Malik Hooker picked off Wilton Speight and ran it in for a 16-yard score, set up by a masterful Cameron Johnston punt and a strong pass rush.
LeBron James and the Cavs are celebrating that OSU pick six.
- The defining stat so far. The Buckeyes later got this drive extended when Michigan ran into the punter, and then had to punt again anyway.
- The Wolverines tried their “train” formation. It didn’t work.
- Here’s literal armchair QB Cardale Jones, unhappy with OSU’s offense not firing deep:
- Michigan’s special teams are winning so far (11:01, 2Q), with Kenny Allen landing three punts inside Ohio State’s 20, in addition to the Wolverines being the team that landed its field goal try. UM’s defense is taking advantage, forcing two straight three-and-outs.
- Michigan 3, Ohio State 0 (13:31, 2Q). The Wolverines assembled a 12-play, 53 yard drive for the day’s first score.
- 0-0 at the end of the first, but UM’s at the goal line. The yardage battle so far: 120-62, Wolverines, led by QB Wilton Speight’s 85 yards on nine throws.
- A promising Michigan drive in the middle of the first quarter was ended by a flagrant act of pass interference, which went unflagged.
- Still 0-0 (8:11, 1Q) after a short Michigan drive and a nine-play, 72-yard Ohio State drive produced a wide-right field goal. OSU moved the ball well in a few different ways, teasing a bit more offensive creativity than in recent weeks.
- Injured QB Wilton Speight indeed got the start for Michigan. Potential game-changer.
- The Buckeyes revealed they’re wearing alternate unis and matte black helmets (including LeBron James cleats, contrasting Michigan’s Jordan Brand gear).
- Big thing in pregame: injured Michigan starting QB Wilton Speight warmed up with the first-team offense. He was reportedly out for this game, though Jim Harbaugh never commented. Speight’s warmup dropped the pregame Vegas line from about 6.5 to about 4.
Constant updates
This Twitter list will have tons of photos, notes, and more from the scene during and after the game.
No. 3 Michigan and No. 2 Ohio State, both 10-1 overall and 7-1 in the Big Ten, are squaring off in Columbus on Saturday afternoon in what’ll go down as the biggest game of 2016’s regular season.
Ohio State entered as about a 4-point favorite, per Vegas, with a scoring total over/under around 46. That’d mean Vegas expected something like a 25-21 Buckeye win.
The winner takes all-important bragging rights in one of the sport’s most legendary rivalries but also adds another piece to a College Football Playoff case. UM can clinch the Big Ten East outright and move within 60 minutes of its first-ever Playoff bid in Jim Harbaugh’s second year, or Urban Meyer’s team can reach 11-1 and then wait to see if it’ll reach the Big Ten Championship.
With a win, Michigan would clinch the Big Ten East. An Ohio State win would mean either OSU or Penn State in the Big Ten Championship. The Buckeyes would need the Nittany Lions to lose to Michigan State later Saturday. The East champ will play Wisconsin next week in Indianapolis with a Playoff bid on the line.
Is this the country’s greatest rivalry?
It has one easy case to make ...
ESPN
Nothing has matched the Ten Year War between Bo Schembechler and Ohio State head coach Woody Hayes. But on Saturday at noon ET, the No. 2 Buckeyes and No. 3 Wolverines will kick off in what is a College Football Playoff elimination match. Sure, you could craft a complicated scenario in which the loser still squeezes into the top four. But it would be awfully tricky.
For the first time in 10 years, a top-five team is guaranteed to lose this game.
And for many within these programs, staying alive in the national title race is only equally important to making the other’s hopes die.
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