Michigan Football: Wolverines Let One Slip Away, 31-20

The Buckeyes won, 31-20, overcoming a 14-0 deficit and the loss of quarterback J.T. Barrett for most of the second half. Michigan endured multiple missed opportunities, including a shot at a game-winning drive with 2:47 remaining while trailing by just four, 24-20.

Instead of marching into Michigan lore, fifth-year senior quarterback John O’Korn misread a coverage, firing up a long pass directly to a lonely OSU safety. The Buckeyes scored the clinching touchdown, leaving O’Korn and the Wolverines agonizing over what might have been.

“It was all on me,” O’Korn said. “It was one of those ones where you see it wrong, and as soon as the ball is in the air, you wish you could have it back. You know what the result is going to be. You can’t change it.”

Nor can Michigan change OSU’s 13 wins in 14 seasons — for now. For the longest time, it appeared they would.

O’Korn went 17-of-32 passing for 195 yards and a touchdown, compared to Barrett’s 3 of 8 for 30 yards and a TD. The OSU quarterback did rush 15 times for 67 yards and a touchdown before his third-quarter leg injury knocked him out and brought on backup Dwayne Haskins.

Instead of taking advantage of the switch, the Wolverines (8-4 overall, 5-4 Big Ten) saw yet another one slip away. O’Korn didn’t see the Buckeyes — who out-gained Michigan, 350-295, and out-rushed the Wolverines, 226-100 — as having earned it.

“That’s obvious,” O’Korn said. “We get up 14-0, we don’t build on that, we let them get back in the game. In the second half, we just give them the game.”

Michigan broke on top midway through the first quarter, driving 77 yards in 13 plays, fifth-year senior fullback Khalid Hill barreling in from two yards out. Sophomore tailback Chris Evans (11 carries, 67 yards) broke off a 24-yard run and made a huge 13-yard pass reception on third-and-11 from the OSU 15, while O’Korn also hit redshirt sophomore tight end Zach Gentry for 27 yards.

The Wolverines loaded up the beef on the scoring play, inserting Hill, freshman fullback Ben Mason and fifth-year senior fullback Henry Poggi in the backfield and pummeling the Buckeyes. At 6:02 of the first, Michigan Stadium exploded with an early lead hopefulness.

Freshman wideout Donovan Peoples-Jones posted an explosive punt return at the end of the quarter. Michigan’s defense — which played all of nine dominant first-quarter snaps without allowing a first down — pinned OSU deep.

Peoples-Jones then broke free, twice spinning out of heavy traffic on the eastern sideline for 42 yards. A holding call on OSU took the Wolverines to the Buckeyes’ 5 to finish the quarter.

“It was a great effort by all on the punt return team, and a heck of a play by Donovan,” Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh said. “He’s been really good, spectacular at times, as a true freshman. It speaks volumes about what kind of a player he is.”

Two plays later, O’Korn faked the run, firing to wide-open sophomore tight end Sean McKeon for a three-yard touchdown. At 14-0, three seconds into the first quarter, two fan bases looked on in slack-jawed disbelief.

The Buckeyes (10-2, 8-1) answered back, capping an 11-play, 75-yard scoring drive with Barrett’s 21-yard TD scamper off the right edge. Two plays earlier, Barrett hit U-M sophomore safety Josh Metellus right on the numbers with an errant pass, but the ball didn’t stick.

“That would have been big,” Harbaugh acknowledged of the dropped interception. “There were some mistakes made. That was one of them.”

Given a second chance, the OSU QB bolted away on third-and-nine, scoring untouched at the 9:50 mark.

The next time Barrett touched the football, it took him just three plays to put in in the end zone. He broke out for 26 yards before finding wide-open tight end Marcus Baugh down the middle for 25 yards and the game-tying touchdown. Three plays and 51 yards cast a hush over the crowd of 112,028.

Suddenly, Michigan couldn’t move the ball and Ohio State looked unstoppable.

“It’s just mistakes on our end,” sophomore defensive end Rashan Gary said. “They didn’t do anything special. We just failed to stop them. We knew what we had been practicing and preparing for all week. They didn’t show anything we didn’t see during practice. It’s just not capitalizing on what we knew, and a breakdown of the play.”

The Wolverines smacked down OSU’s momentum midway through the third quarter. A Gary sack on Barrett backed OSU deep, and Michigan took over on its own 49.

O’Korn flipped a pass to sophomore wideout Kekoa Crawford on the eastern sideline. He sprinted away 43 yards to the OSU 8. A defensive holding call in the end zone set the Wolverines up at the Ohio State 3, and two plays later, sophomore tailback Karan Higdon (11 carries, 55 yards) bowled over a Buckeye at the goal line to make it 20-14 at the 7:07 mark.

Ohio State’s Chris Worley — who’d been called on the hold — blocked the extra point attempt.

That proved big moments later when the Buckeyes drove 78 yards in 11 plays to grab their first lead at 21-20, with 1:34 remaining in the third. The drive appeared stopped more than once, only to apply anguish again and again.

With Barrett sidelined by a leg injury early in the march, Haskins took over. He fired a third-down pass well over the head on his intended receiver, but a hold on redshirt junior cornerback Brandon Watson kept the drive alive.

Following two false start penalties, Haskins faced third-and-13 near midfield, but unleashed a 27-yard bomb to wideout Austin Mack inches past Watson’s outstretched arm. Haskins’ 20-yard scramble then set up running back J.K. Dobbins’ (15 carries, 101 yards) one-yard scoring plunge.

OSU’s Sean Nuernberger drilled a 44-yard field goal at the 10:21 mark of the fourth, making it 24-20. He then missed one from 43, giving Michigan a last chance with 2:47 remaining.

The Wolverines, who’d managed just one short-field score in the second half, desperately needed to get moving.

One play later, the Buckeyes had the ball back.

O’Korn heaved a ball downfield, with no winged helmet anywhere near it. Ohio State’s Damon Arnette fielded it like a punt.

Three plays later, OSU running back Mike Weber bolted 25 yards for the insult-to-injury TD with 1:44 left.

Another year, another huge opportunity missed. Many gave the Wolverines little chance in this one, given an injury-forced quarterback shuffle and OSU’s better season overall.

Michigan created a chance. But the demon persists.

Five Top Players Of The Game

1. Sophomore defensive end Rashan Gary: Gary proved a force, making two sacks and three tackles for loss among his 10 stops overall, which tied for the team lead. He applied the heat all day long in a defensive effort that kept Michigan in the game until late.

2. OSU running back J.K. Dobbins: Dobbins took advantage of Michigan’s tiring defense late. He rushed for 101 yards and the go-ahead touchdown late in the third quarter.

3. Sophomore running back Chris Evans: Evans proved a stalwart for the Wolverines, piling up 101 total yards. He rushed for 67 on 11 tries and caught five passes for 34. He’d have enjoyed bigger totals if he hadn’t been missed on a key pass late.

4. Ohio State cornerback Denzel Ward: Ward led OSU’s defensive effort with eight tackles, breaking up a pair of passes. On a day when Michigan’s offense moved the ball, the Buckeyes did just enough, and Ward had a big hand in it.

5. Ohio State defensive end Sam Hubbard: Hubbard proved another OSU defensive difference maker. He had 2.5 sacks among his five stops while forcing a fumble.

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