It's Monday morning and we are two days removed from Michigan football doing the unthinkable, upsetting the previously second-ranked Buckeyes 13-10.
Yes, the 2024 had been disappointing going into "The Game." Michigan football didn't meet expectations and the transition to Sherrone Moore from Jim Harbaugh proved more difficult than expected.
It didn't help that the Wolverines were hindered at quarterback. In hindsight, Moore and his staff made the right call in Davis Warren. And Warren should probably have remained the starter, even after his interception problem.
But no matter. In the most important game of the year, Michigan football delivered a win that Wolverine fans will never forget.
How were they able to do it? Of course, most are pointing the finger at Ryan Day, which is fair. Yet, the Wolverines deserve credit to and not just the players but Sherrone Moore, Wink Martindale, Lamar Morgan, and truly the entire staff.
The players delivered in part because all they know is beating Ohio State. They knew it was going to happen as surely as Day and the Buckeyes knew they were going to lose.
That's what happened in the fourth quarter. Michigan rose to the occasion. Ohio State melted down.
Here are five reasons why it happened.
Kalel Mullings
Michigan would not have won this game without the effort of Kalel Mullings. Ohio State fans can say the Wolverines cheated, and I'm sure they'll find a way to say it again about this game -- some have, seriously -- but the truth is Ohio State has allowed a Michigan running back to go over 116 yards in three of the last four years. Blake Corum led with 88 and two touchdowns in 2023.
How many times do you think you will win allowing a 100-yard rusher? Against anyone? Let alone Michigan? Mullings carried the ball 32 times and found his way into the end zone.
Also, his 27-yard run to get Michigan into field goal range in the fourth quarter will live on forever.
The offensive line
Michigan fans want to talk about the quarterback position being a struggle this season but that was always going to be the case after losing J.J. McCarthy.
What we didn't expect was for the offensive line to struggle. Forget about who was under center, if the offensive line played as well during the last two games against Illinois, Washington, and Indiana, the Wolverines might still be in playoff contention.
Texas and Oregon were too good. But even those games would have been competitive if Michigan could have run the ball. Michigan's identity has been "smash" and getting subpar play from the O-line was the biggest problem for this offense.
The offensive line responded against Ohio State though. Michigan ran for 172 yards. On the final drive, the Wolverines drove 57 yards to the Buckeye three on 10 consecutive runs.
If that's "smash", I don't know what is.
It's the kind of football Ryan Day wanted to play on Saturday. But the Buckeyes' offensive and defensive lines wilted. Ohio State fans talked up their defensive line all year but when it mattered, when the game was on the line, Michigan pushed them around.
Ryan Day trying to prove he's tough
Buckeye fans have rightly pointed out that Ryan Day tried to run the football instead of spreading it out.
However, there were some reasons for that. For starters, Michigan football played a light box. Yet, even with just 5-6 guys in the box, they were able to stop the run because of the effectiveness of Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant.
Graham had five solo tackles. On the other side, Ohio State, couldn't stop the run even though it knew Michigan couldn't pass and knew what was coming.
Michigan had to guard against explosive plays and still held OSU to just 77 rushing yards. The former three-star linebacker recruit, Mullings, gained more yards than Ohio State's tandem of five-star running backs combined.
In terms of the pass defense, Wink Martindale called a masterpiece. He confused Will Howard, which is what you need to do.
After all, the Buckeyes came out passing on the final drive and got one yard on four attempts. More pass attempts don't guarantee success. Howard threw two picks. Jeremiah Smith didn't catch a single pass longer than 10 yards.
Not a single Ohio State receiver had a reception longer than 18 yards. That's baffling. But when your pass rush is lethal and you can stop the run, while playing coverage, a team like Ohio State is going to struggle.
Ryan Day should get blamed because he should have gone up-tempo, thrown the ball, and tried to wear Michigan out that way. But you still have to protect and I don't think he trusted his offensive line.
Yet, he absolutely was out to prove he had a "tough team" and cared more about his own ego than putting his players in the best position to win the game.
The kicking game
Saturday wasn't the first time an Ohio State kicker has missed an important field goal. Jayden Fielding missed two field goals (big shock). He missed one last year too.
Ohio State passed up a 55-yard field goal attempt on the first drive of the third quarter, with the wind. Late in the second quarter, Dominic Zvada hit a field goal from nearly the same spot (54 yards).
Michigan didn't hesitate. It would have probably kicked a 60-yarder. Zvada was also added via the transfer portal in the offseason. Ohio State could have addressed a position that has doomed them in three straight years (2022 Georgia field goal miss) and didn't.
It cost them.
A legendary defensive performance
The Michigan football defense has been great in the past three wins over Ohio State, but they took it to another level this time.
Ohio State scored at least 20 points in each of their last three losses. On Saturday, they were held to 10. The offensive did a great job of being complementary. They milked the clock and ran the ball effectively.
Special teams helped too with some nice punts from Tommy Doman. Both takeaways were massive. But don't forget how Makari Paige broke up a third-down pass or how Zeke Berry also deflected what could have been a long completion down the sideline.
They also responded incredibly well to adversity. Coaches talked about it all the time, but Michigan executed it perfectly.
After Davis Warren threw his first interception, giving Ohio State the ball in the red zone, the Buckeyes didn't gain a first down before missing a field goal.
Then, after the second Warren interception in the end zone, when most Michigan football fans might have lost hope, the defense quickly forced a three-and-out, putting the offense in position to win the game.
That time, with a 10-play, 57-yard drive that resulted in a field goal with 45 seconds on the clock, the offense came through. Then OSU only got a yard before turning it over on downs to end the game.
It was a defensive performance for the ages. I've called it the greatest defensive performance ever in "The Game" and that as much as anything is why Michigan football has won four straight.