Michigan football shocks Ohio State, 13-10, then brawl breaks out

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Even most Michigan football fans didn’t seem to believe it could happen, based on the several hundred corn specks and blue dots that made the trip south, mixed in a sea of 106 005 jerseys mostly red.

Fortunately for Ann Arbor fans, those who call Schembecher Hall home believed.

The Wolverines, much maligned for a lackluster offense all season, did enough when it mattered most. Michigan won the ground battle (like every winner in this rivalry since 2001), made two game-changing plays on special teams, and languished on defense all game against a top-10 offense for create a surprise against number 2 Ohio. State, 13-10.

“When we got together in the fourth quarter, I told everyone to listen, listen to the sounds, there was nothing,” head coach Sherrone Moore said after the game. “We knew at 10-10 we had them. That was the goal. We wanted to keep them on the ropes, keep them fighting and our guys did that.

“But it wasn’t really about what other people thought. We didn’t talk about belief, we talked about trust: trusting each other, trusting yourself, and trusting what you what we can do to win the match.”

UM was a 19½-point underdog on BetMGM, pulling off the biggest upset of “The Game” since 1969, when it was a 17-point underdog but won, 24-12, against No. 1 OSU in Michigan Stadium.

UM knew it would have to get just enough out of its offense. That appeared to happen in the fourth quarter, when quarterback Davis Warren converted three third-down passes on a single drive — the first two to Marlin Klein right at the marker, the last to Peyton O’Leary on a diving pass. for a gain of 18. – to enter OSU territory.

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He then asked an 11-yard keeper to move the sticks a fourth time, before a pass from Kendrick Bell to Tyler Morris resulted in pass interference near the end zone. Three Kalel Mullings runs later, UM had a first-and-goal on the doorstep, but on the 17th play of the drive, Warren was intercepted by Jack Sawyer on a hidden pass.

Michigan had covered 77 yards and eaten up 9:10 on the clock, but without any points. Moore’s response: A hug for Warren and a message after the game, when Warren apologized again for the turnover.

“I told him not to do it anymore, not to talk about it anymore,” Moore said. “He played so well. Talk about how much he took our team down the field on third down, he was elite.

“Probably no one gave him a chance. Nobody gave him a chance in life and where he is today is success in itself.”

Instead of a spelling disaster, for the fourth time in as many possessions, the defense stood tall and forced a punt. UM got the ball back with 6:13 left, and facing third-and-6, Mullings broke a pair of tackles before spinning around the right side of the line and running 27 yards, putting UM in UM territory. OSU.

It was the key play to set up Dominic Zvada’s 21-yard field goal with 45 seconds left, as Mullings finished with a career-high 32 carries for 118 yards and a score.

“I was dreaming about this exact moment, these exact things that were happening all week,” Mullings said. “It’s amazing.”

The OSU offense got the ball back, but on fourth-and-9, Will Howard’s final pass attempt fell incomplete.

The Wolverines were without two projected first-round selections in the 2025 NFL Draft, tight end Colston Loveland and cornerback Will Johnson, but gave the Buckeyes No. 2 all they could handle.

Without Loveland, the passing attack was limited, but still did enough as Warren completed nine of 16 passes for 62 yards and overcame two costly turnovers. Even without Johnson, UM’s running and passing secondary combined to make life miserable for an elite OSU offense, holding Howard to 19-of-33 passing for 175 yards, with one score and two picks .

The Wolverines (7-5, 5-4 Big Ten) avoid finishing the regular season at .500 or lower for the first time since a 5-7 campaign in 2014 (the last of Brady Hoke’s tenure), and now await their bowling match. destination one week from Sunday.

OSU (10-2, 7-2) missed a chance to secure a spot against Oregon in next Saturday’s Big Ten championship game.

The two teams got into a major brawl near midfield after the game, after UM players planted a large flag with an M block in the middle of the field and OSU players made exception. The fight lasted several minutes.

(You can watch the video at the top of this page.)

“For such a good game, you hate to see things like that after the game,” Mullings said after the game. “It’s bad for the sport, bad for college football. But at the end of the day, some people have to learn to lose, man. You can’t fight and stuff just because you lost the game. We We had 60. minutes, we had four quarters to do all this fighting and now people want to talk and fight.

“It’s wrong, it’s just bad for the game, classless in my opinion. People need to be better.”

Michigan’s defense holds strong

Michigan was only able to win the game because the defense made stop after stop.

Three times, OSU entered UM territory in the third quarter and each time came away empty. First, OSU had to punt from the 37 after Howard’s pass went behind Emeka Egbuka. Then, Makari Paige picked off Howard in the red zone. Finally, a missed 35-yard field goal (OSU’s second of the game) after a Caleb Downs interception put the Buckeyes inside the UM 20 to start the series.

All those stops gave Michigan enough life to stay and make the decisive plays in the fourth quarter as it held OSU to a season-low 10 points and just 252 yards of offense.

“This whole group won us this football game, without a doubt,” Warren said of the defense. “The way they played against that offense, did an unbelievable job, all credit to them and Coach Wink. … They did so much to win this football game for us.”

A rushed battle tells the story

The winner of the ground battle had won every game in this rivalry since Drew Henson led UM to a victory in Columbus in 2000, and that streak continued Saturday with a UM win behind a lead 172-77 on the floor.

Michigan ran 18 times for 82 yards in the first half, including a key 29-yard run by Alex Orji on third-and-3 on a long UM drive. The Wolverines were put on fourth-and-1 from the Buckeyes 3 later on that drive, but the defense got the ball back three plays later when Aamir Hall intercepted Howard’s pass at the 13 and returned it to OSU 2.

“Just another example of the defense supporting us,” Mullings said. “Time and time again, these guys on defense make plays and give us opportunities. … Put the ball on the 3-yard line, I can’t ask for anything better.”

Mullings scored a touchdown to give UM a 7-3 lead. Donovan Edwards, who had a historic game two years ago in Columbus, ran four times for 11 yards but left the game with an injury when he was tackled on third-and-7 late in the first half. -time.

Although Michigan was bottled up in the third quarter, rushing five times for 13 yards, the ground game broke loose in the final quarter with 19 carries for 77 yards.

“I felt like personally, right off the bat, they couldn’t stay with us (on both sides),” Josaiah Stewart said. “We feel like we have an advantage every game up front. … We’re like a boa constrictor. They’re starting to lose lives and get physical and get punched in the mouth.”

Special teams give Michigan a chance

One of the main reasons UM was able to win was due to special teams. The wind was shifting Saturday and the direction made a big difference — the wind was behind the kickers facing north — when Fielding missed a 37-yard kick in the second quarter.

Although UM made it three points afterward, punter Tommy Doman had the wind at his back and kicked a season-ending 68-yard punt that pinned OSU at its own 7. Buckeyes were forced to punt into the wind, gaining only 31 yards. .

That set up a short field for UM, before kicker Dominic Zvada hit a 54-yard kick with the bursts in the back to improve to 7 of 7 from 50 yards on the season.

In the third quarter, after the OSU offense began to drive toward the UM 16, OSU missed another short kick to keep the game tied and Zvada scored the winner.

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Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on @RealTonyGarcia.

(This story has been updated to add video.)