No. 8 Ohio State (11-1, 7-1) kept its Big Ten championship and College Football Playoff hopes alive Saturday with a 42-13 rivalry triumph over No. 10 Michigan (9-3, 6-2) at Michigan Stadium.
Ezekiel Elliott, who made pointed comments about the play-calling following last week's loss to Michigan State, helped lead the charge with 214 rushing yards and two touchdowns. J.T. Barrett also shined, with 252 yards of total offense and four scores.
Now the Buckeyes need Penn State to play the role of spoiler against the Spartans to make the conference title game.
Here's a look at the quarter-by-quarter scoring recap from "The Game":
| College Football Week 13: No. 8 Ohio State vs. No. 10 Michigan | |||||
| Buckeyes | 7 | 7 | 14 | 14 | 42 |
| Wolverines | 0 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 13 |
| NCAA.com | |||||
One of the main storylines during the week centered around the first rivalry meeting between Urban Meyer and Jim Harbaugh. Ohio State's head coach was asked whether he was surprised by Michigan's success under Harbaugh and quickly dismissed the notion, per Matthew Florjancic of WKYC.
"I'm not surprised at all," Meyer said. "I think they have excellent players. They are well-coached. I have always checked the recruiting. I remember hearing 'Well, they just don't have the personnel.' I am thinking, 'Wait a minute, they have great personnel. They always have great personnel.'"
If Saturday's clash is any indication, the current era of the rivalry should develop into a memorable one.
The defenses and punters took center stage in the early going until a mistake by Michigan on special teams caused the game to open up.
After forcing a quick three-and-out by the Buckeyes offense, the Wolverines were set up to receive terrific field position. But Tyree Kinnel received a penalty for roughing the punter to give Ohio State new life, and it capitalized.
A 66-yard run by Elliott jump-started a seven-play, 94-yard drive that finished with Barrett steamrolling his way into the end zone.
WCBN Sports discussed the freshman mistake by Kinnel:
WCBN Sports Radio @wcbnsportsNothing wrong with going for the block in that situation, but Kinnel needed to show the awareness that Chesson did in pulling up.
ESPN highlighted the scoring play:
ESPN @espnQB J.T. Barrett kept the ball for himself on this 7-yard TD run to get Ohio State on the board. WATCH:
The Buckeyes' touchdown started a stretch of four straight drives that ended in scores between the two teams combined.
Kenny Allen kicked a field goal to get Michigan on the scoreboard. Then Ohio State started marching down the field, with the dynamic trio of Elliott, Barrett and Braxton Miller making it look easy against the Wolverines' reeling run defense.
Ryan Cooper of the Lantern noted the Buckeyes' efforts to pick up the pace offensively paid dividends en route to the touchdown:
Ryan Cooper @RyanCooperOSUTouchdown, Ezekiel Elliott. Buckeyes played up-tempo and ran all over the Wolverines on that drive. Nuernberger out to make it 14-3.
Michigan responded with a much-needed TD drive of its own before halftime. It nearly matched Ohio State's first score by covering 92 yards in four minutes as quarterback Jake Rudock started to find some holes in the Buckeyes pass defense.
He finished the drive by connecting with Jehu Chesson from five yards out for a score. ESPN Stats & Info spotlighted the senior wideout's major uptick in production as of late:
ESPN Stats & Info @ESPNStatsInfoJehu Chesson (MICH): 8th Rec TD in last 5 games (0 in first 7 games this season) #OSUvsMICH
Whatever Michigan talked about at halftime in terms of trying to slow down the Ohio State rushing attack didn't work. The Buckeyes came out with the same ground-and-pound mentality and continued to find consistent success.
After the running game did most of the heavy lifting, Barrett linked up with Jalin Marshall from 25 yards out for a score. The budding sophomore receiver did an outstanding job of going up to snag the ball between two defenders.
Bleacher Report's Ian Wharton discussed the execution of the touchdown:
Ian Wharton @NFLFilmStudyGreat job by Barrett to allow his man to go get the ball. When you have great athletes like Marshall, you just have to let them get it
ESPN showcased the play:
ESPN @espnThe Buckeyes strike again! J.T. Barrett's touchdown pass to Jalin Marshall makes it 21-10 over Michigan: #OSUvsMICH
The Buckeyes took firm control of the game after their defense stopped Michigan's first drive of the second half. That was followed by a 16-play, 84-yard drive that took more than seven minutes off the clock and put the visitors up by 18.
Barrett scored his second rushing touchdown of the day to cap off the drive. Bob Wojnowski of the Detroit News noted the Michigan defense just couldn't keep up:
Bob Wojnowski @bobwojnowskiMichigan getting outschemed on defense right now, but face it, also out-talented. Elliott is who we thought he was. So is Barrett.
An injury to Rudock on a hard tackle from Joey Bosa made matters worse for the Wolverines as Ohio State pulled away. Todd Jones of the Columbus Dispatch relayed further details:
Todd Jones @Todd_JonesRudock walking off slowly with helmet off. He's holding his arm as if left shoulder is injured. His day might be done for #Michigan
In the end, the game was won up front. The Ohio State offensive line completely dominated the Michigan front seven at the point of attack, wearing them down quickly and opening massive holes for Elliott and Barrett to run through.
The performance led Fox Sports' Colin Cowherd to raise a point that will become even more crucial should the Buckeyes miss the conference title game:
Colin Cowherd @ColinCowherdSEC is weakest in decade yet one loss Bama will get in playoff. Big Ten best it's been in decade & OSU (w better loss) prob won't. 👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻
That's a debate for the future. Ohio State gets a chance to celebrate this win first:
Ohio State Buckeyes @OhioStAthletics#TheGame Goes to OSU! #Buckeyes run past TTUN, recap to come at #GoBucks
All Ohio State can do now is sit back and hope for the best. If Penn State can pull off the upset of Michigan State, the Buckeyes will advance to face Iowa in the Big Ten Championship Game and once again have an opportunity to sneak into the College Football Playoff.
As for the Wolverines, any remaining chance of earning one of those coveted berths in the final four slipped away Saturday. They still put together a strong campaign and should land in a high-profile bowl with a chance to end the season on a positive note despite falling short of the ultimate goal.
For now, the focus shifts to the Spartans against the Nittany Lions.
Postgame Reaction
ESPN passed along remarks from Meyer and Elliott following the victory:
Harbaugh pointed out this game shows just how much work Michigan still needs to get done, per Nick Baumgardner of the MLive Media Group:
Nick Baumgardner @nickbaumgardnerHarbaugh on the season: 'We closed quite a bit of ground. But there's more ground to close.'
Ohio State has now won four straight games over Michigan and 11 of the past 12 meetings. Although Saturday's game ended up a blowout, more competitive days in the rivalry should lie ahead as Harbaugh remolds the Wolverines.
