ANN ARBOR — Michigan scored on six of their final seven possessions and the defense came up with two critical turnovers as the third-ranked Wolverines defeated the No.2 Ohio State Buckeyes 30-24 on Saturday afternoon.
The Wolverines won their third-straight against the Buckeyes without their head coach Jim Harbaugh, who served the final game of this three-game suspension. Harbaugh's punishment came as a result from the signal stealing investigation by the Big Ten Conference.
Harbaugh will make his return to the sidelines to lead Michigan in the Big Ten Championship game against the No.17 Iowa Hawkeyes in Indianapolis on Saturday Dec. 2.
The Michigan defense came up with the game's first big play, as Will Johnson picked off Kyle McCord deep in Ohio State territory. The turnover set up a fourth-and-inches touchdown dive by Blake Corum. Michigan pushed their lead out to 14-3 on a touchdown drive that ended with J.J. McCarthy threading a needle to Roman Wilson for a 22-yard score.
But the Buckeyes would get a much needed score, driving 73 yards to close the gap right before halftime. McCord hit Emeka Egbuka on a crossing route for a 3-yard score to make it 14-10.
McCord went 18 for 30 for 271 yards.
Ohio State (11-1, 7-1 Big 10) had one last chance to close the gap even further with a 52-yard field goal on fourth-and-2 from the Michigan 34. However, the kick sailed wide left as time expired.
After holding Michigan to a John Turner field goal to begin the second half, Ohio State would tie the game up a physical 75-yard drive where the Buckeyes ran the ball on the final 8 plays. TreVeyon Henderson capped off the drive bruising his way into the end zone with a three-yard run.
Then Michigan took its turn putting together a long drive that Corum finished off with a 22-yard touchdown to earn his school-record 22nd of the season.
On Michigan's next drive, interm head coach Sherrone Moore would dip into his bag of tricks and call on Donvan Edwards to take a pitch from his own 46 and throw a halfback pass to tight end Colston Loveland for a 33-yard gain. The big play helped set up a 38-yard field goal to give Michigan a 27-17 lead.
McCord would lead the Buckeyes back down the field with an answering score, hitting a crossing Marvin Harrison Jr., who streaked his way in for a 14-yard score to cut the deficit to 27-24 with 8:05 left in the game.
But the Wolverines (12-0, 8-0) offense chewed up nearly seven minutes off the clock, using a mix of three straight pass completions from McCarthy and 36 yards on the ground from Corum to enable Turner to tack on a 37-yard field goal with 1:06 to make it 30-24.
With no timeouts remaining, McCord would hit Harrison Jr. for 22 yards and Fleming for 20 to get the Buckeyes to the Michigan 39. Fleming fumbled the ball on the play, but Ohio State managed to recover it.
But then McCord would be hit as he was throwing and Rod Moore would make a diving interception to seal the win for the Wolverines.
Ohio State is still in the playoff hunt despite the loss, but will need a lot of help with other key teams losing next weekend to climb back into the playoff picture.
Ohio State 3 7 7 7 — 24
Michigan 7 7 10 3 — 30
First Quarter
MICH—B. Corum 1 run (J. Turner kick), 5:40.
OSU—J. Fielding 43 field goal, 2:17.
Second Quarter
MICH—R. Wilson 22 pass from J. McCarthy (J. Turner kick), 10:22.
OSU—E. Egbuka 3 pass from K. McCord (J. Fielding kick), 2:17.
Third Quarter
MICH—J.Turner 50 field goal, 11:48.
OSU—T. Henderson 3 run (J. Fielding kick), 5:41.
MICH—B. Corum 22 run run (J. Turner kick), 2:05.
Fourth Quarter
MICH—J. Turner 38 field goal, 12:03.
OSU—M. Harrison Jr. 14 pass from K. McCord (J. Fielding kick), 8:05.
MICH—J. Turner 37 field goal, 1:06.
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OSU MICH
First downs 20 17
Total Net Yards 291 262
Rushes-yards 45-150 33-15
Passing 141 247
Punt Returns 1-18 1-10
Kickoff Returns 3-13 2-35
Interceptions Ret. 0-0 1-21
Comp-Att-Int 12-23-1 21-31-2
Sacked-Yards Lost 1-7 7-53
Punts 5-47.2 2-16
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-1
Penalties-Yards 2-25 5-35
Time of Possession 30:56 29:04
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING–Michigan: B. Corum 28-94, D. Edwards 11-39, S. Morgan 1-13, K. Mullings 2-13, J. McCarthy 2-minus 7, Team 1-minus 2; Maryland: R. Hemby 11-35, C. McDonald 5-12, A. Littleton II 4-9, B. Edwards Jr. 4-3, T. Tagovailoa 8-minus 43, Team 1-minus 1.
PASSING–Michigan: J. McCarthy 12-23-1-141; Maryland: T. Tagovailoa 21-31-2-247.
RECEIVING–Michigan: C. Loveland 3-36, T. Morris 1-26, C. Johnson 3-24, R. Wilson 1-23, S. Morgan 2-16, B. Corum 1-9, A. Barner 1-7; Maryland: K. Prather 3-81, J. Jones 4-70, T. Felton 5-41, R. Hemby 3-28, C. Dyches 5-26, C. McDonald 1-1.
MISSED FIELD GOALS–None.
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