Ohio State loss shows Michigan has ways to go to get on Buckeyes’ level

Urban Meyer, Ezekiel Elliott and the Ohio State Buckeyes rebounded from their loss to Michigan State to dominate the rival Michigan Wolverines to stay alive for a Big Ten championship.

The talent of the Ohio State Buckeyes was simply too much for the Michigan Wolverines to handle. Tensions were high the entire game, but Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines were not able to force the Buckeyes into making enough mistakes to compensate for the vast talent gap.

It was impressive to see the mental fortitude Ohio State played with, especially since they lost their last game to Michigan State, and they made a statement that they still run this rivalry with their 11th win in the last 12 meetings in this great college football rivalry.

Michigan was able to hang close at halftime, only trailing 14-10, but Elliott, Barrett and the Buckeye defense led by Joey Bosa dominated the second half. Ohio State remained alive for the Big Ten and a playoff berth pending the outcome of the Michigan State – Penn State game.

Players of the Game

Ezekiel Elliott – Ohio State RB 

Elliott was the catalyst for the win and one week after criticizing the coaches, the Heisman candidate ran 30 times for 214 yards and two touchdowns. There were several plays where Michigan appeared to stop him, but then he’d break several tackles and move the pile forward.

J.T. Barrett – Ohio State QB

The quarterback for the Buckeyes was not dazzling through the air, but his balanced attack against Michigan was critical to his team’s victory. He completed nine passes for 113 yards and one touchdown. Additionally, Barrett was electric on the ground, rushing 19 times for 139 yards and three touchdowns.

Fallout

Ohio State rebounded nicely after last weekend’s loss to Michigan State and attacked Michigan’s defense in many ways and had their best offensive performance of the year. They ran for 369 yards and five touchdowns and looked like the team we expected to see all year.

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The Buckeyes need Michigan State to lose to Penn State to get into the Big Ten Championship Game against the Iowa Hawkeyes where a win there could be enough to get them back in the College Football Playoff.

As for Michigan, they’ve come so far in so little time under Harbaugh but today was a harsh reminder of how far they still need to go to compete with the Buckeyes and Spartans for Big Ten titles.