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Best and worst from U-M's loss to Ohio State

michigan-icon-fullby: The Wolverine Staff11/30/25thewolverineon3

By Clayton Sayfie

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan Wolverines football was destroyed by Ohio State, 27-9, Saturday at The Big House. Here are the best and worst from the game.

Best Ohio State player

Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin is in the Heisman Trophy conversation and performed as such in his team’s win, completing 19 of his 26 passes for 233 yards and 3 touchdowns, recovering nicely from the early interception by junior cornerback Jyaire Hill.

Sayin was especially good on gotta-have-it downs, completing 6 of his 7 third-down passes with 5 conversions. The Buckeyes’ offense was excellent overall, and had a lot of success on early downs, averaging 4.7 yards to go on third.

Best Michigan player

Senior kicker Dominic Zvada has had a shaky season but made all 3 of his field goals — from 45, 25 and 49 yards — so he earns this nod. No other Wolverine except senior linebacker Jimmy Rolder, who finished with a game-high 12 tackles, played a particularly good game.

Best position group

Ohio State’s offensive line was the best position group, making Michigan’s defensive front a weak point. The Wolverines didn’t record a single sack and pressured Sayin on only 2 of his 26 dropbacks. He had all day to throw, with no example being better than his ability to crow hop on the 50-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Carnell Tate.

Michigan was owned up front defensively, with Ohio State adding 4 yards per carry and becoming more effective on the ground as the game went on, with 110 of its 186 rushing yards coming in the second half.

The Buckeyes decimated Michigan with their 20-play, 81-yard drive that went from midway through the third quarter to early in the fourth, and the field goal at the end of it basically put the game away due to Michigan’s offensive deficiencies.

Fastest start

Michigan sophomore running back Jordan Marshall dashed 36 yards over the left side on the first play from scrimmage, and the Wolverines wound up with a field goal. Sayin threw a pick to Hill on the Buckeyes’ first drive, and U-M got up 6-0 after scoring off that.

Knowing just how good Ohio State is, field goals instead of touchdowns wasn’t the formula, with Michigan not maximizing its early opportunities. The Wolverines had field goals on three drives of 30-plus yards on their first four possessions, and then never had a drive more than 29 yards the rest of the way.

Defensively, the Wolverines had a huge goal-line stand to hold Ohio State to a field goal on its second drive, but allowed touchdowns on three of their next four.

Toughest reality

Marshall was banged up in the first quarter, forcing junior Bryson Kuzdzal — a former walk-on — to take over the role as the featured back in the biggest game. He rushed 11 times for 38 yards, and Michigan’s ability to run was taken away as the Buckeyes’ lead grew larger.

Marshall had been the backup as of last month, behind junior Justice Haynes, but Haynes is out hurt. Michigan was also without graduate fullback / tight end Max Bredeson, its best blocker, and saw junior wideout Kendrick Bell notch his first start of the season with classmate Semaj Morgan out of the lineup.

On defense, the Wolverines were without two captains — graduate safety Rod Moore and senior linebacker Ernest Hausmann — and saw sophomore safety Mason Curtis go down in the first half.

Worst call

Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith has 2 career touchdowns in as many games against Michigan, and both are controversial. He clearly committed offensive pass interference in last year’s game, and this time he didn’t have control of the ball as he crossed the goal line and only regained possession once he was out of bounds. It should have been a touchback, but the officials who went to review didn’t have the guts to make the right call because of how unique it was.

Worst stats

Michigan scored on 3 field goals, with no touchdowns for the first time since a 31-0 loss to Notre Dame in 2014.

It’s been even longer since the Wolverines had only 163 total yards in a game — 158 in a loss to Iowa in 2013.

Michigan’s passing stats were embarrassing, too, with only 63 yards — just 1 more than in last season’s 13-10 victory over Ohio State. The Wolverines actually had won 10 straight games with 100 or fewer passing yards, but saw that streak get snapped by the Buckeyes.

There are some on defense, too. Ohio State went 10-of-17 on third down, starting off 10-of-13, and ran 73 total plays with 22 first downs.

Trend continues

The team that won the rushing yard battle won the game between Michigan and Ohio State for the 24th consecutive contest (since 2001). Ohio State ran for 186 yards to Michigan’s season-low 100.

Biggest statement

Ohio State’s 20-play, 81-yard drive that ended in a field goal to go up 27-9 didn’t just chew up 11:56 of game clock, it sent a statement. Ohio State has continually been out-toughed by Michigan over the years, but the Buckeyes had the edge in that department in this one.

We don’t usually read into seemingly bad body language — it’s typically a symptom of a problem, not the cause — but Michigan looked demoralized as that drive continued. Ohio State converted four third downs on the possession, grinding Michigan down. The defense just didn’t have the juice necessary to get the stop, even though there was a stand at the goal line that forced the Buckeyes into a field goal rather than a touchdown earlier in the game.

Streak snapped

Ohio State finally beat Michigan for the first time this decade and in 2,191 days.

The Wolverines won four in a row in the rivalry for the first time since 1988-91 and were looking for five straight for the first time since 1922-27. It wasn’t to be, but Michigan finally made this a competitive series again this decade, beating great Ohio State teams in the process. Now, the goal is to use this as fuel and get revenge next season in Columbus.

Shortest punt

Michigan has been doomed by poor special teams all season, and a mishap by senior Hudson Hollenbeck was one of the daggers in this game. Down eight points, the Wolverines got a stop out of halftime, but didn’t get much going on the ensuing offensive possession. Hollenbeck came out to punt and shanked one that netted only 11 yards, setting Ohio State up on its own 43-yard line. Two plays later, Sayin hit Tate for a 50-yard score, and it was all Buckeyes from there.