Three takeaways from Michigan's victory over Ohio State

Michigan fans were starting to get used to it. How many times were they invited to play for all the marbles only to walk away empty-handed? 2006. 2016. 2018. But not today. Today, Michigan walks away with a bag full of marbles, a trip to Indianapolis booked, and a slew of narratives dead. Here are three takeaways from Michigan’s win over Ohio State:

Michigan’s coaching staff called the game of their collective lives

If Michigan was going to win this game its offense had to put together long drives, score, and grind out clock. Check, check, and check. Michigan set the tone from the first drive of the game, taking 4:48 to go 75 yards over 10 plays for a score. The touchdown came on a play in which quarterback Cade McNamara faked a bubble screen throw, then handed the ball off to a reversing AJ Henning, who got the block he needed to get into the end zone. Offensive coordinator Josh Gattis pulled out a play Michigan hadn’t put on film in a critical moment to get them the early lead, and they rolled with the punches from there.

Excluding one- or two-play drives that got Michigan to the half or ran the clock to end the game, Michigan had nine drives. The offense had a 13-play, 82-yard, 5:15-long drive and a nine-play, 66-yard, 4:46-long drive that ended in touchdowns to go along with the lengthy opening drive. They mixed in quicker scores as well, and at one point scored on four consecutive drives in the third and fourth quarters.

On defense, Michigan faced 10 Ohio State drives. They forced four punts, one turnover on downs, and two field goals inside the red zone. Ohio State had two long drives--one in the third quarter and one in the fourth quarter--that ended with touchdowns.

Their offense was always going to get yards and points; Jim Harbaugh said as much after the game. The key for the defense, per Harbaugh, was making OSU doubt what they were seeing. Defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald rotated his personnel often; changed up how many down linemen there were; and had numerous players show blitz and drop into zones, from linebackers to safeties to edge rushers. He succeeded in making Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud doubt what he was seeing just often enough, and the edge rushers helped take care of the rest.

Michigan's offensive line, tight ends, and Hassan Haskins showed they can run on anyone in the nation

As I wrote in this week's Key to the Game, Ohio State's basic run defense statistics were excellent. Entering today they were averaging 3.1 yards per rush allowed on 363 attempts, allowing an average of 102.3 rushing yards per game and had ceded just nine rushing touchdowns this season.

Michigan's rushing statistics today? Forty-one carries, 297 yards, 7.2 yards per rush, six touchdowns. Hassan Haskins had 28 carries for 197 yards (6.0 YPC) and five touchdowns. Pro Football Focus had handed out poor run defense grades to Ohio State's unit the last three weeks, and it looks as though they'll be tagged with another after this game.

Even so, all week coaches talked about how athletic and talented Ohio State's front seven is. They have very good playmakers on the line and solid linebackers, but Michigan tight end Luke Schoonmaker and the offensive line were able to sustain blocks and give wiggle room to Haskins, who used his strength-speed combo to run through the teeth of Ohio State's defense and, for good measure, add one more tally to his "Big Ten defenders hurdled" chart.

As Aidan Hutchinson said after the game, Michigan played “complementary football”

Michigan’s offense took pressure off both side of the ball when they marched down the field and scored on their first drive, and the defense responded on the next drive when they forced Ohio State to go three-and-out from inside their own five-yard line, which set Michigan up with excellent field position.

Then, as has happened in the past, came an opportunity for the wheels to fall off. Just two plays into the next drive Cade McNamara and his receivers found themselves on different pages, and McNamara forced a ball into coverage in the middle of the end zone for an interception.

Ohio State answered with a run-oriented drive, running the ball six consecutive times to Michigan’s five-yard line before an incomplete pass, false start, and Aidan Hutchinson sack forced Ohio State to kick a field goal.

As for the back-and-forth of this game, after Ohio State scored their first touchdown of the game Michigan scored another. Ohio State scored early in the fourth quarter, then Michigan did the same. Ohio State scored in the middle of the fourth quarter, and Michigan’s offense answered with a touchdown of their own once again.

Ohio State had a second-quarter lead and trailed by one at halftime, but matching scores with them and getting two early touchdowns in the third quarter while the defense forced two Ohio State punts decided the game.

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