The Michigan Wolverines' football team put on an incredibly poor defensive effort during Saturday's loss to Ohio State, yielding 56 points and 577 yards of offense.
The dismal results came one year after U-M allowed OSU to score 62 points and register 567 yards during a 62-39 loss in Columbus.
RELATED: Notes, Quotes and Observations
RELATED: Ryan Day Wins First Game as Head Coach Against Michigan
The Buckeyes had no problem moving the ball through the air and on the ground on Saturday, tallying 313 yards of the former and 264 of the latter.
Sophomore quarterback Justin Fields and junior running back J.K. Dobbins each had huge afternoons, with the signal-caller throwing for 302 yards and four touchdowns with no picks, while the rusher accumulated 211 yards on the ground and found the end zone four times.
"He's a really good back," head coach Jim Harbaugh noted. "He’s got tremendous ability and is very fast. We made some mistakes in the defense.
"On [a 41-yard touchdown run], we didn’t have an edge and got sucked down inside, and he just ran around us."
The Buckeyes scored 14 points in all four quarters and were only forced to punt on four of their 15 possessions.
U-M had only allowed one opponent to eclipse 321 yards of offense all year (Wisconsin's 487 on Sept. 21), with OSU setting new season-worsts for the Wolverine defense in yards (577), points (56) and passing yards (313).
The Maize and Blue's front seven was especially ineffective, tallying just one sack and five tackles for loss and allowing Ohio State to average 5.3 yards per carry.
"It’s hard to look at," sophomore defensive end Aidan Hutchinson said afterward, referring to the stat sheet. "We’re just a better defense than this and a better team than this.
"We’re a lot better than the numbers on the sheet."
Ohio State's Special Teams Gaffe One Of Its Few Miscues
Ohio State's lone turnover of the day occurred when freshman wideout Garrett Wilson muffed a punt at 3:30 of the third quarter, allowing U-M redshirt sophomore receiver Jake McCurry to recover at the OSU 26-yard line.
McCurry originally ran the fumble all the way back for a touchdown, but rules don't allow muffed punts to be advanced.
Redshirt junior kicker Quinn Nordin, meanwhile, continued to serve as the Wolverines' primary kicker, handling both of the club's field goals and all three of its extra points. He converted kicks from 23 and 45 yards out, but missed the extra point following Michigan's touchdown on its opening series of the game.
Head coach Jim Harbaugh chose to employ two different punters on Saturday, with redshirt junior Will Hart only handling one attempt and redshirt sophomore Brad Robbins attempting four.
Hart's lone try went for 58 yards, while Robbins averaged 42.8 yards on his four tries, including a long of 48.
Miscellaneous Michigan Football Defense/Special Teams Notes
• Fifth-year senior linebacker Jordan Glasgow and redshirt junior defensive tackle Michael Dwumfour combined for a four-yard sack in the first quarter, it was Dwumfour's first QB takedown of the year and Glasgow's fifth.
• U-M's 577 yards allowed were the most it had given up in a game since 2007, when Oregon posted 624 in a 39-7 Ducks win at The Big House.
• Michigan fell to 58-52-6 in the all-time series with OSU, with the Buckeyes having won eight in a row for the first time in the rivalry's history.
• Robbins' four punts were his first four since the Jan. 1, 2018 Outback Bowl loss to South Carolina. He missed all of last season with an injury.
• Redshirt freshman linebacker Cam McGrone and junior defensive end Kwity Paye each posted 1.5 tackles for loss to tie for the team lead.
• The most points any opponent had scored on Michigan in 2019 prior to Saturday was 35 by Wisconsin on Sept. 21.
• Saturday's announced attendance of 112,701 marked the 293rd consecutive game at Michigan Stadium with at least 100,000 fans in attendance.
• The 56 points Michigan allowed were the most it had yielded in a home game since the 67-65 triple-overtime victory over Illinois in 2010.
• Nordin's missed extra point was the fifth of his career.
• The loss snapped U-M's 13-game home winning streak, which dated back to the 2017 loss to Ohio State on Nov. 25. Harbaugh's record in Ann Arbor now sits at 30-5.
• Junior safety Brad Hawkins missed his second straight contest with injury, with freshman Daxton Hill once again starting his place. Hill tallied three tackles.
---
• Talk about this article inside The Fort
• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel
• Listen and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolverine
• Sign up for our newsletter, The Wolverine Now
• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolverineMag, @Balas_Wolverine, @EJHolland_TW, @AustinFox42, @JB_ Wolverine, Clayton Sayfie and @DrewCHallett
• Like us on Facebook
