Michigan and Ohio State’s game of the year went to overtime on Saturday, turning out to be even better than we thought. Ohio State won, 30-27, and here’s the decisive play:
Ohio State got a questionable first down before game-winning play against Michigan
The game of the year lived up to the billing, and it ended with a twist.
That’s Curtis Samuel running in for a winner.
It came one play after Buckeyes quarterback J.T. Barrett picked up a first down on a whisker-close fourth-down conversion try. Barrett’s conversion was upheld after review, but it’s hard to be sure if he got to the marker.
It happened on the second possession of the second overtime period, after Michigan’s Kenny Allen put the Wolverines ahead with a 37-yard field goal on the first.
This was a remarkable game. It almost ended sooner.
Ohio State scored a touchdown on the opening possession of the first, before Michigan kept the game alive on a dramatic, fourth-down touchdown pass from Wilton Speight to Amara Darboh. That gave the Wolverines another breath.
This year’s version of The Game seemed like the game of the year before it happened. It lived all the way up to that label, and then some.
Both teams had really good chances to avoid an overtime altogether, but they each made mistakes deep in the other’s (and their own) territory. Michigan fumbled away a likely touchdown drive inside Ohio State’s 5-yard line, and Ohio State kicker Tyler Durbin missed what could’ve been two season-altering field goals.
But the result was an OT thriller, so most of America will forgive it. Given the implications the game had in the Big Ten East standings and the College Football Playoff race, we just watched one of the best games of this era — and one of the most consequential, too. It wasn’t a bad way to spend the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
See More:
