Ohio State football falls to Michigan for the fourth straight year

It happened again.

It really did.

Ohio State lost its fourth straight game to Michigan, and this 13-10 loss undoubtedly hurts more than the last three.

This wasn’t an elite Wolverines team limping along with a 6-5 record. The second-place Buckeyes were the favorites by 19½ points. Many of the Ohio State University seniors who delayed going to the NFL to beat their archrival one last time will end their careers without beating Michigan.

Michigan’s Dominic Zvada kicked a 21-yard field goal with 45 seconds left to secure the decisive points after Michigan had shot from 40 yards in the final six minutes of the game.

Ohio State quarterback Will Howard threw two crucial interceptions and the OSU running game faltered throughout the game. The Buckeyes ran for just 77 yards on 26 carries. Ohio State remained scoreless in the second half.

Jayden Fielding missed field goals of 38 and 34 yards. Zvada also scored a 54-yard field goal.

“We struggled to run the ball,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. “We’ve talked a lot about the need to run the ball, especially in this game. It was a little windy and to win the game you have to be able to make it run. We didn’t manage to do that.

“We tried a few different schemes but couldn’t find a rhythm. That, along with the turnovers and missed field goals, was ultimately the difference in the game.”

All is not lost for the Buckeyes (10-2, 7-2). They are all but assured of making the 12-team College Football Playoff. The Buckeyes will likely wait and see who they will play in the CFP, almost certainly at Ohio Stadium.

But the pain of this will last for a long time.

“We have a locker room full of people who are just devastated,” Day said. “I thought they played with emotion. I thought the defense played everything they could. I thought everyone played hard. It’s just that the performance overall wasn’t good enough, especially on offense.”

After the game, Michigan raised its flag on the O block. Seeing this, the Ohio State players had gathered to sing “Carmen Ohio” and ran to midfield to face the Wolverines. OSU defender Jack Sawyer ripped the Michigan flag from the pole before tensions calmed.

Ohio State’s defense falters at the end

Michigan’s offense, particularly its passing game, has struggled all year. Without injured star tight end Colston Loveland, Ohio State assumed it could control Michigan’s offense.

That was true – until it wasn’t true anymore. Michigan gained 25 yards on its first possession and 72 yards on its next, ending with a fourth-down fumble at the OSU 2.

After that, Michigan’s offense did almost nothing. Caleb Downs intercepted a pass at the UM 16 in the third quarter. Sawyer, a Pickerington native, then made the play of his career when he reached high to intercept an underthrow pass from Davis Warren, who had a receiver open in the end zone midway through the fourth quarter.

But Michigan ultimately benefited when it mattered most. The Wolverines took control on their own with 6:13 minutes left. It moved to the OSU 44 when facing 3rd-and-7. The defense appeared to have stopped Kalel Mullings, but he let OSU’s tacklers slip for a 27-yard gain. On Matchday 3 and 3 of Matchday 10, OSU was penalized for illegal substitution as 12 players were on the field.

Michigan then bled until Zvada’s kick.

The offense in the US state of Ohio is low

Quarterback Will Howard said during the week that although he wasn’t there in the previous three losses, he was determined to win it for his teammates.

He couldn’t deliver.

Howard threw two interceptions that proved costly. The first result was a 3-0 OSU lead. Howard threw a sideline pass that Aamir Hall intercepted and returned to the Buckeyes’ 2. Mullings scored two plays later to give the Wolverines the lead.

Howard’s second interception came late in the third quarter with the ball at the Michigan 14. He attempted to throw to Emeka Egbuka, but Michigan’s Makari Paige read the play and intercepted it.

Howard finished 19 of 33 for just 175 yards.

The Buckeyes’ final attempt was emblematic of their struggles throughout the game. Howard completed a 1-yard pass to TreVeyon Henderson, but threw incompletions on the other three plays.

It wasn’t just Howard. The Buckeyes’ inability to run the ball proved fatal. Quinshon Judkins gained 46 yards on 12 carries, but Henderson never found room to run. He gained just 21 yards on 10 carries behind OSU’s makeshift offensive line, which couldn’t open holes.

The first half was a sign of things to come

Ohio State took a 3-0 lead with a 29-yard field goal on its first drive, but much of the rest of the first half bordered on disaster for the Buckeyes.

The Wolverines drove 73 yards to the OSU 2 before safety downs and defensive tackle Tyleik Williams stuffed Mullings on fourth-and-1.

But this rise was short-lived. Three plays later, Howard delivered his interception to Hall to set up Michigan’s only touchdown.

On Ohio State’s ensuing drive, Howard was coached on a running play and missed one play, a fourth-down conversion by running back Judkins. But the drive stalled and Fielding missed a 38-yard field goal.

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Ohio State football falls to Michigan for the fourth straight year

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