There is 7:15 left to play in the third quarter of The Game.  Ohio State has the ball down four, facing third and nineteen.  All-Everything QB CJ Stroud fakes to Trayanum before eventually checking down to him, which Trayanum turns into 13.  Converted wide receiver/football assassin Mike Sainristil tackles the former Sun Devil and #4 recruit in Ohio, bleeding a few yards.  Somehow Trayanum is the one who comes up limping from the tackle, despite Agent Zero giving up nearly 50 pounds to a running back coming downhill with 10 yards of momentum. 

Ryan Day has a future top draft pick at QB, the best WR in the country on the outside, and a top 5 pass protecting unit against a defense with almost no organic pass rush.  Michigan, despite Ohio State’s best efforts to impersonate Illinois’s defense, has repeatedly exploited OSU’s overly aggressive defensive coordinator downfield in a way that is bittersweetly reminiscent of the second half performances of Don Brown in this series.  Ohio State is at Michigan’s 43 with 6 and a half minutes to go in the third.  Ryan Day punts.  After a procedure penalty, the punt rolls into the end zone, netting OSU 23 yards.  Michigan will not give the ball back until into the fourth quarter.  

On the ensuing drive, JJ McCarthy faces pressure as Karsen Barnhart gets beat to the inside, forcing him to roll out.  He hits an easy throw to Edwrads for 7 yards.  The true sophomore and first year starter then runs a called keep read outside to pick up the first down.  He is pushed down and out of bounds, his momentum carrying him 6 feet into the OSU bench.  Two Michigan team members arrive: the ball boy stationed on the opponent sideline hustles his ass off to pick up #9, narrowly beating LG Trevor Keegan to the spot.  McCarthy returns to the field smiling, his lineman guiding him by the back of the neck like a brother.  McCarthy takes the next snap, drops back to pass before quickly tucking to run and pick up nine.  Edwards then goes off left guard for 12 yards benefiting from the defensive end chasing JJ to no end.  When FOX cuts to the umpire’s hat cam, Ryan Hayes and “Tight End” Trente Jones are standing square to the line of scrimmage with no one in red in front of them.  The only Buckeye defender visible in the frame is some poor defensive tackle getting washed down by Trevor Keegan, with the OL’s hips at 45 degrees, walling off and allowing the design of the defense to cave in the middle of the OSU front as they recklessly impersonated Manny Diaz’s Nittany Lions.  Edwards breaks off another chunk. Nine yards.  The fourth run in a row.

After a failed shot to Andrel Anthony, Michigan is facing third and at the OSU 38.  Kalel Mullings enters the game for his second snap, a bright orange flashing bulb for the OSU coaching staff.  The running back/linebacker/running back, previously stuffed on the same down and distance in the game, is set deep in the I formation.  Matt Weiss/Sherron Moore and company have a gaggle of inline tight ends in the game.  Schoonmaker is set up as a wing off Honigford, but with his hand on the ground.  Jim Knowles has every defender in the box, and zero depth to the defense.  Michigan has spent 11 months and 11 games devoting itself to running the ball, especially in the low red zone.  The known universe is preparing for a downhill run between the guards.  I do not need to tell you what happens next.  After the play, Mullings looks blankly downfield as if he just went grocery shopping, later confessing he did not even see his tight end before throwing the ball.

As Donovan Edwards comes downhill the next snap, Ronnie Hickman catches him, becoming the nail rather than the hammer in a mundane play that gains 6.  Edwards then picks up the first down on the ground and there are 23 seconds left in the third quarter.  The officials confuse the chains, then confuse the play clock, and somehow force Michigan to call a timeout to avoid a delay of game penalty despite, you know, math.  Jim Harbaugh, forcefully but respectfully, advocates his case.  Some amateur lip reading reveals something like “There is no way I am getting charged a timeout here, the quarter should be over right now.  There were under 25 seconds left in the quarter before the play.”  After huddling and assumedly a brief booth review, Harbaugh is vindicated and his timeout returned.

A few plays later, JJ McCarthy, a childhood OSU fan whom Ryan Day famously slow-played in favor of Kyle McCord, has 3rd and goal from the OSU three yard line.  With the play clock winding under ten seconds, McCarthy hurriedly smacks his OL on the hip to get set.  He takes the snap left and initially looks to follow his pulling guard smoothly into the end zone.  Instead, he races forward in front of his blocker, lowering his shoulder and seeking contact with Ronnie Hickman.  Hickman is standing in a posture that looks all too familiar from last year’s edition of this rivalry: flat on his feet on the goal line waiting to be bowled over by a Michigan ball carrier.  Hickman does little to stop the former hockey player’s momentum as he dives in for the touchdown.  There are 13 minutes and ten seconds left in The Game.  

Jim Harbaugh started the second half by going for a fourth down at his own 35 yard line.  Ryan Day punted from Michigan’s territory and then punted again on 4th and 3 down 11 in the 4th.  Day coached cocky, tight, conservative, and then scared. Harbaugh’s fun-loving, tight-knit team of rolling violence put the pedal to the floor and took full advantage.

I don't need to tell you this, but: Ohio State would go on to put up only 3 points in the second half, with Michigan adding two Manny Diaz specials in the 4th to win by 22 points in Columbus.

You were expecting something different?