Day after Michigan – OSU thoughts: Stars shine, narrative changed, and still short of ‘hanging 100’

Former Michigan safety Marcus Ray told us years ago the U-M – OSU game often came down to one thing — the best players making big plays on the biggest stage. Charles Woodson, Desmond Howard, Tshimanga Biakabutuka, Aidan Hutchinson … the list goes on. 

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That’s why we picked Will Johnson as our “difference maker” in Friday’s chat. And he set the tone with a huge pick, jumping a slant route and setting up the first score (though he should have cut right on the return and scored on his own. Nitpicking, of course). 

Beyond that — honestly, he wasn’t great. He missed a tackle on a short pass that became a key first down, got beat in coverage a few times, albeit by a great receiver. We don’t blame him for his pass interference penalty at the end of the half, but you can’t let a receiver behind you in that position. And you’d better keep him from making the catch if you go that route, even if it is Marvin Harrison Jr. 

The good news — we expect him back next week vs. Iowa. He had a minor calf injury, but he was bouncing all over the field in the postgame. We understand the Hawkeyes aren’t explosive offensively (unless you’re talking about a post-Taco Bell kind of explosive), but you don’t take championship games for granted, even if you’re a 22-point favorite. 

Mike Sainristil, too — he’ll go down as one of the great Michigan leaders of all time, and a difference-maker. You can tell after this game who the more physical team was, and there are tone-setters. Sainristil laid two huge hits, including one on running back TreVeyon Henderson the back won’t forget. Charles Woodson heard his pregame speech, and he was blown away … and he’s hard to impress. If the GOAT approves, you know you’re doing something right.

But you need outliers, too, as former Michigan basketball coach John Beilein used to call them — guys who step up out of nowhere with a big game. Take a bow, James Turner. Three absolutely critical kicks that, had they gone the other way, we’d be talking about a loss or overtime. The 50-yarder on the first drive of the second half was absolutely huge not just for points, but to prevent great field position for the OSU offense. 

Other thoughts: 

• Michigan senior guard Zak Zinter underwent successful surgery on his leg and is expected to make a full recovery. He was a huge part of the win, of course, and you hate to see him go out this way. At the same time, we have no doubt he’ll say coming back for this was one of the best decisions he ever made. Head coach Jim Harbaugh met him and his parents at the hospital. 

Regardless, it’s always “next man up,” and give Trente Jones his credit. When he gets into games, he plays with an edge, and he got his opportunity when Zinter went down. He moved people. Honestly, the Wolverines ran the ball better with Karsen Barnhart and Jones out there together. No, that’s not an indictment on Zinter, of course. He’s elite. But it speaks to the depth, the fact that the guys vowed to play for their injured teammate, and the coaching. The last drive was a thing of beauty, holding the ball for half the quarter before kicking the field goal. And while everyone was lamenting not getting the first down, not being “creative” enough — the Buckeyes were spying J.J. McCarthy on third downs and waiting for the roll out. 

Yeah, we wouldn’t have minded seeing more of McCarthy in the run game — where’s the QB draw, especially against an aggressive defense?— but no complaints about kicking the field goal there (again, clutch) and making Kyle McCord go 75 yards in a minute to win it, because … 

• We also said before the game the quarterback battle would be a difference in this game. McCord’s body language and “at the end of the game, it’s only a football game” talk didn’t exactly exude confidence. McCarthy, meanwhile, had a great week of practice and got healthy. Spotters told us he had his best day of practice Thursday, and it didn’t surprise to see him put up 30 on this outstanding defense, even if there weren’t a lot of explosive plays. He just wins. 

• There were still a few too many times the Michigan defense got caught not ready for tempo. It led to a few key chunks for the Ohio State offense. That’s going to need to change in the playoff. 

Someone asked if the Wolverines would still make the College Football playoff with a loss to the Hawkeyes. Maybe, maybe not. But they’ll approach it like they need to win it to make it, and it will be nice to have head coach Jim Harbaugh back. In addition, you didn’t hear a word about the B.S. “they took our signs” in the postgame, and that narrative should disappear now. If not, then the agenda will never be clearer. Time for Michigan to circle the wagons and say, “you suspended our coach for half the year, and enough is enough.” Take it to court if they need to — they’d have a case based on the NCAA’s bylaws as written, and we think they know it. 

• One penalty for Ohio State all game — one, and it was an illegal formation on a punt — after the Buckeyes had averaged at least 5 a game throughout the year. It looked like they were going to get a key holding call on one of their touchdown drives — instead, they somehow called a defensive holding on sophomore tackle Mason Graham as he was being hauled down.

“It was an up-in-the-air call,” Graham said. “Um … I just think that they wouldn’t call that call, particularly in this game given the stakes on how big the game is, but it happens, stuff like that. 

“We knew they were going to be one of the best offensive lines we faced. They have good tight ends too, and that complements the line really well. So, we knew we had to be on our best game going into every play, executing it the best we can.”

The Buckeyes did a pretty solid job, but Jaylen Harrell helped make the game winner possible with his hit on McCord. Better late than never.

• Finally, kudos to Ohio State coach Ryan Day for inching closer to the 100 he vowed to hang on the Wolverines before the 2020 season. His teams have managed 74 in three games, and if he gets to 26 next year, he’ll have reached the mark. We’d say it’s 50-50 at best at this point. 

Onward. 

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