Ohio State vs Michigan: Score, highlights and recap

The Ohio State Buckeyes and Michigan Wolverines battled until the bitter end in double overtime on Saturday.

With a playoff spot on the line on Saturday, the Ohio State Buckeyes and Michigan Wolverines played a physical game as expected. Their defenses set the tone from the beginning and neither offense could gain an inch on the other.

These two teams would struggle to score at all in the first quarter and the Wolverines would tack on a field goal. The Buckeyes had their chance at a field goal early, but Tyler Durbin missed a field goal. That would turn out to be a problem for him on Saturday.

The Buckeyes would get on the board first on Saturday, when Malik Hooker picked of Wilton Speight and returned it for a touchdown. Speight faced pressure up the middle in his own end zone and the safety was there to make a play.

However, the Wolverines would make a nice drive to end the first half. Khalid Hill would power his way in to give his team the 10-7 lead.

In the second half, the defenses took over again. After a failed Ohio State punt, the Wolverines would score on a touchdown pass from Speight to Hill. Down 10, the Buckeyes needed a spark.

A series of penalties, including Jim Harbaugh losing his cool led to the Buckeyes having great field goal position. A Mike Weber run put the Buckeyes within three. Late in the fourth, the Buckeyes had a chance to tie, but Durbin missed a short field goal. With six seconds remaining, he would get a chance at redemption from 23 yards out and a chance to force overtime.

Durbin would put the field goal through and the Buckeyes would force overtime between the two teams. In the first overtime frame, J.T. Barrett would lead Ohio State with ease into the end zone with a touchdown run of his own. The pressure would be on Speight to tie it up for the Wolverines. They would pick up a first down and would get near the goal line. On fourth down, Speight found Amara Darboh for the touchdown.

The game would then move to double overtime. Michigan would start the second extra frame with the football. Michigan would add a field goal to make it 27-24. The Buckeyes could win the game with a touchdown. On a risky fourth down call, Barrett kept the ball and just barely picked up a first down. Curtis Samuel would then take a handoff and run straight into the end zone for the win and a spot in the playoff.

Three Stars

3. Jabrill Peppers

He had his first career interception against his big rivals. He played great in the secondary all day and helped keep Ohio State off the board for most of the day.

2. Malik Hooker

The Ohio State safety got the Buckeyes on the board early with a pick-six. Without that spark, the Buckeyes don’t win this game.

1. Curtis Samuel

When his team needed him most, Samuel took home the winning touchdown in double overtime. It came after a risky fourth-down call, but the brought home the big win.

Highlights

What’s Next?

Michigan will now likely play in a New Year’s Six bowl. Which bowl remains to be seen for the Wolverines. Ohio State will now await to see if they or Penn State is playing in the Big Ten Championship Game.