On Saturday afternoon, Michigan defeated Ohio State in a thrilling 30-24 contest. Blake Corum scored twice, and the defense showed up when it mattered most.
Here are three takeaways from the season-defining win.
Zak Zinter's injury provides a much-needed spark
Just one play after Colston Loveland exited the game with an injury, Michigan starting right guard Zak Zinter went down with an even more severe injury. Zinter spent many minutes on the ground before he was carted off the field and into the locker room.
Zinter exited the field to "let's go, Zak" chants, as the fans cheered on the Michigan captain.
The injury is obviously costly to Michigan's offensive line and will certainly hinder the group going forward, but on Saturday, the moment served as a rallying cry for the Michigan faithful in attendance.
After Zinter left the field, there was hardly enough time to notice that Karsen Barnhart moved to guard and Trente Jones entered the game at right tackle before Blake Corum scored a 22-yard touchdown.
The score gave Michigan a 24-17 lead, which the Wolverines then extended to 27-17 a few minutes later.
Zinter's injury, oddly enough, proved to not only be the turning point of the game, but could have won the Wolverines the game. The Michigan defense had just been gashed as it gave up run play after run play, and the offense had its struggles as well.
It will be interesting to see what the injury means for Michigan going forward, but it turned out to be an odd momentum shifter on Saturday.
J.J. McCarthy is still good, and Michigan will go as far as he takes it
Entering Saturday's contest, there were questions and concerns arising surrounding the recent play of Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy. The junior hadn't thrown a touchdown pass in three games, and he was coming off arguably his worst game of the season against Maryland.
McCarthy was able to block out all the noise, though, and he led the Wolverines to a third-straight victory over Ohio State.
His touchdown pass to Roman Wilson in the second quarter was an NFL-level throw that he perfectly threaded right between two Ohio State defenders.
Wilson carried the ball into the end zone, but then was stripped by Ohio State's Denzel Burke. However, after review, the play stood as called, and Michigan was awarded the touchdown.
The touchdown pass to Wilson was McCarthy's lone score of the day, but he made a few key plays with his legs throughout the day to keep the Buckeye defense honest.
Michigan is now off to the Big Ten title game and likely the College Football Playoff, and the team will go as far as McCarthy takes it.
Onto... Iowa?
The season has seemingly progressively gotten harder, but Michigan's next game will be against the Big Ten West champion Iowa Hawkeyes. Iowa is known for having a tremendous defense, but a lackluster offense.
Recent games against Penn State, Maryland and Ohio State have proven the toughness of a Jim Harbaugh-less Michigan team, but next weekend's contest against Iowa shouldn't be anything to fret over for the Wolverines, which will welcome Harbaugh back to the sidelines next Saturday.
The drop-off in talent level from this week to next week will be extremely noticeable, and Michigan should have no problems taking care of an inferior Hawkeye team.
Now at 12-0, Michigan will likely earn an invitation to the College Football Playoff regardless of next weekend's result.
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