Michigan Football: 5 key plays that led to victory vs Ohio State

The Michigan football team finally took down the Ohio State Buckeyes in convincing fashion Saturday in Ann Arbor. 

Yesterday’s win was so big in many facets of recruiting, playoff implications, and so on. Leading up to and after the game, the Wolverines received multiple Crystal Ball predictions for four-star recruits, and I guarantee there will be more to come after the spectacle that was Ann Arbor Saturday.

There were many critical plays that took a factor in Michigan winning. An honorable mention was the defense. The defense making Ohio State play 3rd and long was so crucial because it made the Buckeyes one-dimensional. While that one dimension was their strong suit, C.J. Stroud made mistakes under pressure and forced the ball.

Let’s break down the five most important plays that led to one of the greatest wins that we’ve ever seen in Ann Arbor. These are in no particular order.

1. AJ Henning right hook to the Buckeyes chin (10:19 1Q)

Words cannot describe how important it was for the Wolverines to march down the field on that first drive. A common phrase, “85 Yards Through The Heart of The South” which Buckeye fans coined after Ezekiel Elliot’s dagger in the 2014 Playoff game against Alabama should be altered to 169 yards through the heart of Ohio because that was the greatest single-game rushing performance from Hassan Haskins against the Buckeyes in my opinion, but I digress.

It was a fantastic play-call by Josh Gattis and company to fake the reverse sweep and let AJ Henning in space. That play was the exact definition of “Speed in Space” which Josh Gattis commonly referred to when getting the OC job at Michigan football.

This set the tone, the big house erupted, you could feel it in the air this game was different and they were not going to back down from the death star of the Big Ten.