The Ohio State vs. Michigan live blog: Buckeyes make it 6 in a row as Dwayne Haskins takes over for JT Barrett

Ohio State 31, Michigan 20, final. With longtime starting QB J.T. Barrett out due to a right knee injury, redshirt freshman Dwayne Haskins oversaw three Ohio State scoring drives as the Buckeyes beat the Wolverines for the sixth year in a row. QB depth is the story; Michigan was on overwhelmed third-stringer John O’Korn for the entire day.

Ohio State has Wisconsin for the Big Ten Championship next week, and with a win there, would sit and wait to see whether it can become the first-ever two-loss team to make the Playoff (oh, like Ohio State hasn’t ever roared back to make the Playoff despite losing a QB against Michigan?). And thus continues a 365-day hollering fest about how overrated Jim Harbaugh is ... despite basically hitting season expectations amid QB injuries.

The box score was close across the board. Ohio State ran the ball a little better, once you take out sacks, and was a bit more efficient through the air. Michigan had one turnover, and Ohio State had none.

Ohio State 31, Michigan 20, 1:44. Mike Weber bounces it outside and takes it 25 yards for what’s almost certainly the door-slammer.

Ohio State 24, Michigan 20, 2:36. WELP. John O’Korn’s latest overthrow turned into a fair catchable INT. On the next snap, J.K. Dobbins took the ball 36 yards inside Michigan territory.

Ohio State 24, Michigan 20, 2:47. And here’s Michigan’s chance. A stop of Mike Weber on third-and-1 set up a Buckeye field goal, which sailed wide.

Ohio State 24, Michigan 20, 6:45. A threatening Michigan drive ends with yet another John O’Korn overthrow, this time on fourth down. The highlight of the drive was a 24-yard heave to Eddie McDoom. Wolverines might only get one more chance here.

Ohio State 24, Michigan 20, 10:15. A drive composed mostly of six Mike Weber runs and a 29-yard Dwayne Haskins completion to K.J. Hill ends with the day’s first field goal ... which was an issue for OSU in this game last year. Here was J.T. Barrett passing the torch to Haskins, at least for now:

Ohio State 21, Michigan 20, end. A big sack by Sam Hubbard killed Michigan’s response drive. To the fourth for it all.

Ohio State 21, Michigan 20, 1:34. Redshirt freshman Dwayne Haskins, replacing an injured J.T. Barrett, completed two passes and ran for a 22-yarder before J.K. Dobbins punched in the go-ahead.

Michigan 20, Ohio State 14, 5:53. The biggest news from this drive: OSU QB J.T. Barrett suffered some sort of knee injury while running. He was able to walk off under his own power, gingerly, but has currently been replaced by redshirt freshman Dwayne Haskins.

Michigan 20, Ohio State 14, 7:07. A John O'Korn screen to Kekoa Crawford put Michigan in business, and Karan Higdon bowled over a linebacker to finish it off. O’Korn up to 106 yards passing to J.T. Barrett’s 30, thanks to some YAC. The XP was blocked. Keep that part in mind!

Ohio State 14, Michigan 14, 9:50. Amid LOTS of complaints about the officiating by Michigan fans (it hasn’t been the greatest), Rashan Gary sacks J.T. Barrett and forces OSU punt No. 6.

Ohio State 14, Michigan 14, 11:02. The all-defense portion of THE GAME has resumed. Michigan’s first snap in both halves: a fullback dive from a three-back formation. Monumentally B1G.

Ohio State 14, Michigan 14, 13:29. Ohio State gets ball first, punts right away, and tacks on an interference flag on the return. Two slow starts for OSU today.

Ohio State 14, Michigan 14, halftime. You’re not gonna believe this, but MICHIGAN CAME UP SHORT ON A REVIEWED FIRST DOWN CALL AGAINST OHIO STATE ... again. Punt.

Ohio State 14, Michigan 14, :55. Michigan stops the bleeding, thanks to a blooper snap that J.T. Barrett somehow tracked down. Ohio State punt.

Ohio State 14, Michigan 14, 4:30. These teams traded uniforms at the quarter. Let’s see if anyone notices. Three-and-out by Michigan.

Ohio State 14, Michigan 14, 5:54. Ah, good, Ohio State is here. J.T. Barrett ran for 26 and tossed to Marcus Baugh for another 25, and we’re all knotted up. Also, will we get some history today? We’ll see:

Michigan leads Ohio State 14-0 in the second quarter.
Ohio State has NEVER overcome a deficit of 14+ points to beat Michigan.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) November 25, 2017

Michigan 14, Ohio State 7, 9:50. A dropped Michigan INT could be costly, as J.T. Barrett bounced right back with a run up the right sideline to complete an 11-play drive.

Gary missed tackle on Barrett on 3rd & 4. Metellus dropped INT. Lose contain on 3rd & 9 for a 21-yard TD scramble. Michigan will really want to have that drive back.
— Drew Hallett (@DrewCHallett) November 25, 2017

Michigan 14, Ohio State 0, 14:57. With that sweet field position, Michigan needed just two plays to get into the end zone again. Watch this play action fake to Khalid Hill, who scored the first TD, and toss to a wide-open Sean McKeon.

Michigan 7, Ohio State 0, end. The Wolverines start a new drive in the red zone after a 42-yard Donovan Peoples-Jones return plus a flag on Ohio State. Lot of #narratives in some trouble early today.

Michigan 7, Ohio State 0, 1:15. Not much more than a couple Chris Evans runs on that Michigan drive, but the Wolverines are still having a far easier time moving the ball and pin the Buckeyes deep with the punt.

Michigan 7, Ohio State 0, 4:30. The Buckeyes have done basically nothing on offense. Minus-1 total yards, and another punt.

Michigan 7, Ohio State 0, 6:02. John O’Korn’s sailing passes, but luckily, Zach Gentry is tall! A 27-yard gain there to enter the red zone. A few plays later, the 13-play drive concluded with a Khalid Hill TD.

0-0, 12:20. Nine total yards through one drive by each team. We’re in extremely THE GAME mode early on.

0-0, 13:35. Third-string (at this point) QB John O’Korn gets the start for Michigan due to an injured Brandon Peters. Three-and-out for the Wolverines.

One of college football’s most storied and bitter rivals will face off in the final game of the 2017 regular season, when the No. 9 Ohio State Buckeyes travel to Ann Arbor to take on the Michigan Wolverines, on Saturday at noon ET on FOX (live stream).

Both head coaches, Urban Meyer and Jim Harbaugh, have made this rivalry game a priority. Unfortunately for Michigan, the results since the turn of the century have been pretty one-sided, with the Buckeyes walking away with a pair of fancy gold pants in 14 of the last 16 meetings.

Time: Noon ET
Location: Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Mich.
TV: FOX
Streaming: FoxSportsGo, FuboTV
Odds: The Buckeyes opened as 13-point favorites.

The Ohio State-Michigan rivalry goes far beyond just this week, and Urban Meyer spoke about it at his weekly press conference.

That's what Meyer stressed to the media: This isn't a one week kind of deal. Throughout time, the current Buckeye head coach has learned from some of the other great OSU coaches on how important this game is.

John O’Korn is the man who will likely start on Saturday, unless Peters is able to return to practice soon. Wilton Speight could also conceivably be in the mix, but the latest reports still have him as a non-contact participant in practice.

The Buckeyes will face one of the best defenses in the FBS but should still be able to make a few explosive plays on the ground.

One of the only places Michigan shows any weakness at all on defense is their tendency to give up explosive plays. The Wolverines, despite their otherwise-suffocating defensive presence, are just 116th in rushing defense IsoPPP and 93rd in passing defense IsoPPP (Football Outsiders' explosive plays metric). In other words, they're basically systematic drive-proof, but if you can find a seam, there's a good chance you might take the ball in for six.

The roster was loaded with youth when this season began, but at this point it’s getting difficult to continue calling them inexperienced. Virtually an entire season is now under their belts and they’ve certainly shown that they are developing.
The off-season will go a long way toward prepping this team for a solid 2018 campaign, but right now I’m worried about the game that lies ahead against Ohio State.

The Buckeyes are still eyeing the College Football Playoff.

After the still-surprising loss to Iowa just a few weeks ago, Ohio State seemed all but out of the discussion for a spot in the College Football Playoff. Recent wild weeks throughout the college football landscape has kept the Buckeyes’ hopes alive with losses by a handful of top 10 ranked teams.

With just one game left to play in the regular season, Ohio State has already booked its trip to the Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis on Dec. 2. The Buckeyes will play outright winner of the Big Ten West division, and still undefeated, Wisconsin for the title. Sitting at No. 5 in the latest CFP rankings, a win over the Badgers could be enough for the Buckeyes to get a playoff berth.

Without a win this week and next, Ohio State will likely be suiting up for a New Years bowl game instead.

As chippy as this annual rivalry game tends to get, the Buckeyes have a more well-rounded team which should give the Wolverines fits. Despite Michigan boasting one of the top defenses in the country, Ohio State should still figure out a way to get points on the board, with its own defense doing enough to keep the Wolverines from getting more than a couple scores.

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