Michigan Ohio State 

Michigan Dominates Ohio State, 42-27, Wins East Division

Posted By: DJ Hoyt

Jim Harbaugh’s off-season moves key to a season, and potentially program altering win

Jim Harbaugh is 0 for Ohio State no more.

The Wolverines yesterday exercised a decade worth of frustration as they beat Ohio State, 42-27. The win is Harbaugh’s first against OSU, and improves his record against them to 1-5. More importantly however, the win ensures Michigan will play for the Big Ten Championship and will enter next week in the top four for the CFP.

Last off-season, Harbaugh signed an extension that many in the Wolverine fan base didn’t feel he deserved. Part of that extension though was more money that would be allocated towards bringing in six new assistant coaches, mostly on defense.

Those hires were made to not only assist with recruiting, but to help change the scheme and culture in order to beat Michigan’s rivals. After a 7-0 start, the first test ended unfavorably for the Wolverines when the fell to Michigan State, 37-33. The season however was far from over, with all the team goals Michigan set out with still in front of them. One major one, beat Ohio State.

On Saturday, Ohio State entered the Big House as a seven point favorite, and assumed conference representative in the college football playoff. Talk around the country was that the Ohio State offense would be the only unit capable of stopping the juggernaut that is #1 Georgia.

Well Michigan reminded everyone that this is why we play the games, and that on rivalry weekend, anything can happen.

The Wolverines came out true to who they were, and ran at an OSU defense that had received praise for improving since their week two loss to Oregon. After Michigan gashed the Buckeyes for 297 yards on the ground, those improvements looked to have never happened.

Behind an offensive line that bullied the Buckeyes all day, Michigan running backs had plenty of room and holes to rack up yardage and keep OSU’s offense off the field. Hassan Haskins specifically had a game that will now live in Wolverine lore and be talked about for years to come.

While the offense did it’s part in dominating an over matched Buckeye defense, Michigan would do what few have done all year and shut down an Ohio State offense considered the best in the country.

Talk all week was if you could pressure Stroud, you could disrupt the passing game OSU relied so heavily on. It’s a basic principle in nature, affecting the QB disrupts anyone’s passing game, but you either need the talent to do so or a scheme that can. Michigan appeared to have both.

Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo harassed Stroud for a majority of the day, either pressuring him into quick throws, hitting him after release, or flat out sacking him on drop backs. The pair of rushers for the Wolverines had great success against an offensive line that entered the year hyped as the best in the country, but looked like anything but in Ann Arbor.

It wasn’t just the pass rush though that deserved praise yesterday, as new defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald presented a mix of coverages and looks pre-snap that would rotate right before Stroud received the ball. It’s one reason tempo has been effective against the Wolverines because it’s more complicated to run, but can be extremely effective if used properly.

With Stroud not always sure what he was looking at due to the secondary’s motion, it provided a second or two more for Hutchinson and Ojabo to wreck the game.

It was a complete and dominating win for Michigan who never trailed in this game. The Wolverines were more physical, better prepared, and made the smarter adjustments during the game to pull out the win.

Now we will see if this win can carry the Wolverines to a Big Ten Championship and CFP birth, along with flipping the dynamic in this rivalry back in Michigan’s favor.