Michigan had the pieces in place. The offensive gameplan produced passing yardage in chunks, led by a healthy senior quarterback throwing the ball as well as he had all season. They scored on the first drive. When Ohio State hit the defense with consecutive scores, the offense hit back. The deep corps of receivers were up to the task of beating a Buckeye secondary missing their slot cornerback.

But the Wolverines could not overcome their mistakes, and there were many. Quinn Nordin missed the initial extra point because the team's swinging gate frippery caused them to get set late in the play clock. Carlo Kemp and Aiden Hutchinson meticulously untied and removed OSU running back J.K. Dobbins's shoe in full view of an official who had no choice but to call a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct. A crossing route from Justin Fields to Garrett Wilson went for 41 yards because senior Khaleke Hudson got picked in man coverage. Three plays later, Dobbins juked inside Hudson for a six-yard touchdown and 21-13 lead.

the beginning of the end [Patrick Barron]

Shea Patterson led the offense back down the field, only to drop a good snap, and OSU's Robert Landers dove on the ball to kill a precious scoring opportunity. When it appeared Michigan had stopped the following Buckeye drive to stay within a possession, Hudson jumped offsides on a fourth-and-four punt. Wilson beat Vincent Gray on the very next play for a 47-yard gain and Dobbins ran in his third touchdown of the half from five yards out.

Again, the Wolverines shot themselves in the foot. Patterson quickly got the offense into a goal-to-go situation and appeared to have his second touchdown pass to Donovan Peoples-Jones, but an official correctly ruled the ball came loose as Peoples-Jones went to the ground. Down 15 points, Jim Harbaugh decided to send out Quinn Nordin for a 23-yard field goal. Ohio State would get the ball back to start the second half with a 28-16 lead.

Yet again, mental errors doomed the underdogs. Hudson lost contain on a 41-yard Dobbins run, then Cam McGrone hit Fields late out of bounds, which combined with a Lavert Hill holding call to give OSU a first-and-goal. On third down, Fields hit KJ Hill on a quick hook, and the decision to kick the field goal before the half became, fairly or unfairly, more difficult to defend.

The next few drives functionally ended the game. Ronnie Bell dropped a Patterson dart between two defenders on third-and-16 near midfield, giving Harbaugh little choice but to give it up, and Will Hart's punt barely made it into the end zone. After a serious knee injury scare, Fields reentered the following series with a knee brace and found Wilson alone in the back of the end zone; for the second time, senior safety Josh Metellus had let a receiver behind his zone for a touchdown.

suboptimal [Fuller]

Michigan got a little life when Wilson muffed a punt after a three-and-out, only for the offense to go three-and-out again, then see Harbaugh choose a 45-yard Nordin field goal to cut the OSU lead to 23 points. I began writing this post shortly thereafter.

The fourth quarter was academic. The Wolverines managed to get within 15 on a short Hassan Haskins touchdown run, but after the defense gave them a potentially critical stop, the offense fell short when Haskins was stuffed on a fourth-and-one wildcat keeper—on which he missed a huge hole. Four plays later, Fields connected with Austin Mack for a 15-yard touchdown. Dobbins added a fourth touchdown on a 33-yard stroll to break the 200-yard barrier. You probably stopped watching well before this.

The only drama left was whether the Buckeyes would exceed last year's 62-39 beatdown. By margin, they accomplished that. A great Ohio State team left little room for error. Michigan made many errors. The Buckeye win streak is at an OSU-record eight games, passing the seven-game run from 2004-2010. Now it's time for a familiar, exhausting song and dance.

[Hit THE JUMP for the box score.]