indy bound again

I have watched football for a long time. Not as long as most of the people who will read this because I am 23 years old. But still, plenty long enough to have a massive sample size of football games to draw from. I'm sure there may be a more extreme example somewhere in the reaches of my memory, but as I sit here now in the aftermath of Michigan's decisive 45-23 victory over Ohio State, I am not sure I can recall a game with a more stark difference between the first half and the second half. Ohio State pushed Michigan around in the first half, outgaining the Wolverines by over 100 yards and whipped them routinely on a down-to-down basis. Michigan got to the break only down three thanks to two massive plays through the air, but it felt like Michigan was fortunate not to be down by more.

The second half? Total domination. Michigan outgained OSU by nearly 140 yards and outscored them 28-3, turning a game where it felt like Michigan was hanging in there into one where they ran the Buckeyes off their home field entirely. The big plays just kept coming, more success was found on the ground, Ohio State's offense was kept in the yard, and several key miscues (penalties and questionable punt decisions) by the Buckeyes had the effect of shooting themselves in the foot. The game began slipping, the Scarlet & Gray got even tighter, and turned it over twice late. A game that was tense only a half-hour earlier suddenly was a three score blowout. Remarkable. 

----

[Patrick Barron]

Michigan won the opening toss and deferred to the second half, allowing Ohio State's vaunted offense to take the field. The Buckeyes looked to establish themselves on the ground and got better results than some may have expected. Giving carries to both Miyan Williams and half-LB/half-RB Chip Trayanum, the Buckeyes gained chunk yards through the rushing game by targeting the weakside of Michigan's defense. Toss in a beautiful contested catch by Marvin Harrison Jr. on a 3rd & 1 and the Buckeyes quickly drove into the red zone. After Michigan got stops on the first two plays, Ohio State was faced with 3rd & Goal from the four. Michigan's defensive alignment paid additional attention to Harrison and left Mike Sainristil isolated on Emeka Egbuka. Egbuka had inside leverage against Michigan's slot corner and CJ Stroud delivered an accurate ball for a TD. 7-0 Bucks. 

The first Michigan offensive possession was a big test for Blake Corum's health. His first carry went for four yards. His second one went for just two yards and he appeared to lack explosion and the ability to jumpcut on his bruised left knee. Michigan yanked Corum off the field and that would be the end of his day. The Wolverines would be without their best offensive player the rest of the way. On 3rd & 8 from the Michigan 43, JJ McCarthy faced pressure, rolled to his left, and hurled a ball for an open Ronnie Bell down the sideline and Bell held on. 33 yards and Michigan was moving. Unfortunately, on the very next play a blitz from OSU got home and McCarthy was flagged for intentional grounding and a loss of 10 yards. The Michigan offense had no answer after being backed up and settled for a long Jake Moody field goal attempt. The steady veteran kicker banged it through from 48 yards away and Michigan was on the board. 7-3.

Ohio State got right back in the groove on offense. A 17 yard passing play to Egbuka on first down got it going and a Junior Colson facemask penalty tacked on moved the Buckeyes into Michigan territory right away. Miyan Williams remained effective on the ground, picking up a 3rd & 3 a few plays later, and Ohio State was right inside Michigan's red zone again. Jesse Minter's crew knew they needed to be bend-not-break and this time, they did not break. A first down screen to Xavier Johnson was blown up, a Miyan Williams rush was stuffed and on 3rd & 9, Stroud's pass for Egbuka fell incomplete as the receiver got tangled up. Ohio State settled for a 32 yard Noah Ruggles field goal to make it 10-3. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: The better part of the game]