In a game that had a somewhat winner-take-all (OK,, not all, but a lot) feel about it, Ohio State defeated Michigan 69-21 Friday night in Columbus, Ohio.
The victory ensured for the Buckeyes a place in the Big 10 semifinals, while Michigan will now be playing in the 5th-place semis.
Coming into the game Ohio State was somewhat stung by a 40-39 loss to Notre Dame, a game in which they had the lead and the ball with time almost up but failed to close it out. It was what captain Jack Dulik called "a self-inflicted loss. I think we beat ourselves, especially toward the end of the game I don't think we dug deep enough."
Determined not to put themselves in that position again, the Buckeyes said they wanted to start strong, and, for the most part, they did. With Ohio State's kicking game gaining more ground than Michigan's, and the Wolverines having some difficulty winning lineouts early, OSU was able to create scoring opportunities out of turnovers. An effort wide was put into touch, but when Ohio State stole the ensuing lineout they were able to drive the forwards to the line, wherethey got a penalty, and off a planned tap move hooker Max Clark powered over. Another stolen possession set up freshman flanker Sam Lacher to burst through and score under the posts. Moments later flyhalf Aiden Pickston lofted a wide kick-pass for freshman wing Tommy Kilbane, in his first start, and he took the ball and was just prevented from scoring by an ankle-tap. He was able to offload, however, and the support was there to score—lock and vice captain Ian Fairfield doing the honors.
Pickston converted to make it 19-0.
Ohio State started five freshmen in this game and while overall they performed well, little mistakes of impatience opened the door for Michigan. Fullback Ty West was very elusive when give some space, and he cut through a scattered Ohio State line to set up a try for the Wolverines. But a feature of the night's game was that every time Ohio State gave up a try, they were able to march right down to respond with a try of their own.
Michigan knocked on the restart and Ohio State ran a set move off the scrum that put center Chris Mason free on the left wing to race in. Pickston converted from the sideline and it was 26-7.
Michigan's backline once again game OSU trouble in open field, and with scrumhalf Otto Janke moving the ball quickly and flyhalf Shea Loughnane setting his teammates up, they were able to put wing Sam Glusker through. Now it was 26-14 and at this point Ohio State could have been forgiven for being frustrated. But instead they responded with a try.
Pickston spun a pass to Kilbane who unleashed a nifty chip and regather, and then offloaded to Mason for his third. It was a nie piece of skill and with the kick made it 33-14 at halftime.
