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The Michigan Wolverines snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Ohio State Buckeyes Saturday, winning “The Game” 42-27.The victory was Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh’s first win over Ohio State in 6 meetings. The Wolverines clinched the Big Ten East and will play in the conference title game next week with the win.
The Wolverines came into the game wanting to play physically against the Buckeyes, and they accomplished just that. Michigan rushed for 297 yards on 41 touches and six touchdowns. Running back, Hassan Haskins carried the ball 28 times for 169 yards and five touchdowns.
Seemingly every time Ohio State got within one score, the Wolverines ground game ate up time on the clock and allowed Michigan to extend the lead. Blake Corum rushed for 87 yards on six carries after a two-game absence. The gaudy rushing numbers were facilitated by the Wolverines’ offensive line’s consistent push up front against the Buckeyes. “It was dominant,” Harbaugh acknowledged. “There was continual movement upfront by the guys.”
With Michigan dominating the game by running the ball, quarterback Cade McNamara only had to throw the ball 19 times, completing 13 of those passes for 159 yards and an interception.
Buckeyes QB CJ Stroud started slow but came on late in the game. Stroud threw for 394 yards on 34 for 49 passing with two touchdown passes in the game. Stroud was forced to throw the ball a lot because Ohio State was playing from behind most of the game.
Stroud targeted Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Garrett Wilson a ton on Saturday. Smith-Njiba caught 11 passes for 127 yards, and Wilson hauled in 10 catches for 119 yards and a touchdown. Chris Olave added seven catches for 88 yards.
Aidan Hutchinson entered the game with six sacks on the season. One of the reasons he gave for coming back to school was to have a final shot at beating Ohio State. On Saturday, Hutchinson recorded seven tackles and three sacks in an impressive all round performance. When you play against a quarterback like Stroud, you need to pressure him, and Hutchinson did that consistently.
Later that afternoon, Minnesota beat Wisconsin 23-13 to send Iowa to the Big 10 championship game. The Wolverines will meet the Hawkeyes at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis next weekend.
-LaMarr Fields
Twitter: @raiderway83