Michigan Football: 3 takeaways from an astonishing win at Ohio State

The Buckeyes struck first on Saturday with a Jayden Fielding field goal from 29. It was the only successful attempt from him on the day and it put Michigan football behind 3-0 after one quarter. On the first play of the second Michigan was stopped on downs at the three-yard line. Three plays later Will Howard gave it right back to the maize and blue with a near pick-six.

Aamir Hall got in front of his receiver to pick it off and run it back to the two-yard line. Kalel Mullings punched it in to go on top moments later. The Buckeyes missed three on the next series and Michigan trusted in Dominic Zvada to nail his seventh 50-plus yard field goal of the year to extend the lead. They left too much time on the clock for the Buckeyes to tie it up at 10 at halftime though. Jeremiah Smith got free by colliding with Zeke Berry and no interference was called.

In the third the scarlet and grey were driving, but Will Howard was picked off again. This time Makari Paige stepped in direction of the ball to take it away for the Wolverines. Just three plays later, Davis Warren gifted Caleb Downs with an interception of his own. The Buckeyes choked the oppurtunity away with another miss from Fielding.

Back and forth they went into the final 15 minutes where Michigan football drove it to the two-yard line. Instead of keeping it on the ground Warren play-action faked it, but Jack Sawyer fell back into coverage to steal the ball away. Wink Martindale's defense forced a three-and-out. Then Mullings broke free on a third down and took it inside the red zone to set up the game-winning field goal by Zvada with 45 seconds left.

Here are three of the takeaways from the improbable victory in Columbus.

1. Michigan's defense was championship caliber

Going into Saturday Ohio State's offense was posting about 40 a game. They were held to a season-low in points and passing yards for Will Howard. His quarterback rating was the lowest it has been all season long as well. Howard and the Buckeyes were shut completely out in the second 30 minutes.

Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson were outrushed by Kalel Mullings single-handedly. Henderson's 21 yards was a new low for him on the season. In total Michigan's defenders never let the Buckeye offense explode for a play over 25 yards.

In the receiving category, Ohio State's embarrassment of riches was anything but deadly. Without Will Johnson, Michigan's pass defense didn't even need their All-American corner to get it done. This performance by the secondary is what kept the Buckeyes out of the Big Ten championship next weekend.

2. Kalel Mullings carried the rushing burden exclusively

There was no Colston Loveland to count on and Donovan Edwards got injured in the process. It left Kalel Mullings to carry the load of the entire offense and that is exactly what he did. 116 yards and Ohio State's defense could not find a way to slow him down. It was the most obvious thing that everyone saw coming and they still couldn't do anything about it.

Davis Warren was even worse then Will Howard. His longest pass of the day looked like an uncatchable one by Peyton O'Leary. Nine completions are the fewest that he has thrown all year long. That has to be a record for the least amount of completions and passing yards in this rivalry's storied history.

For all that Kirk Campbell and Warren have been through this season, it has to be a middle finger to those who doubted them and gave them no chance to win. It wasn't convincing or impressive, but Campbell may have kept his job for 2025, despite the pregame reports that Michigan football would be searching for a new offensive coordinator soon.

3. This is Sherrone Moore's watershed moment as head coach

21-point underdogs and Michigan did the unimaginable. They went into a can't-win situation and pulled off the biggest upset in all of college football for 2024. Ohio State was destined to break the streak and head to Indianapolis, but instead, they'll be on the road for their first playoff game thanks to the maize and blue.

Michigan's last win as an unranked team over Ohio State was 1966. You have to go all the way back to 1950 for an unranked Michigan team to beat a top 10 Ohio State squad in the shoe. This is Michigan's longest winning streak in the series since the late 80s/early 90s. Sherrone Moore was just an infant.

What occurred afterwards was unfortunate, but Ohio State had seen enough. Jack Sawyer ripped the flag out of a Michigan's players hands and an all out brawl ensued. For Sawyer, it was the most uplifting moment of his otherwise shameful and winless career versus Michigan.

My argument would be that if you won the game on your opponent's home field, then you deserve the right to plant the flag whether they like it or not. Over the last four years Michigan football has made a lot of new enemies and they have done it by winning at their expense.