Seidel: Michigan on the wrong end of wild finish at Ohio State

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Back and forth it went.

This incredible, fierce, dramatic battle between Michigan and Ohio State – the biggest game of the year in college football, which was chuck full of wild plays and crazy gambles.

Of course, it went to overtime.

And there was Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett sprinting up the middle, right through Michigan’s defense for the touchdown.

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Untouched.

Michigan had a chance to answer in overtime. And on fourth-and-goal from the 5, Wilton Speight hit Amara Darboh in the end zone for the touchdown, keeping the Wolverines alive.

In the second overtime, Michigan kicker Kenny Allen drilled a 37-yard field goal, giving Michigan a 27-24 lead.

Ohio State got the ball back, and on fourth-and-1, Ohio State coach Urban Meyer went for it. Barrett ran the ball and he was tackled. After a review, Ohio State had a first down. On the next play, Curtis Samuel scored on a 15 yard run, giving Ohio State a 30-27 victory.

Touchdown Buckeyes. Game over.

This game started to get crazy in the third quarter.

Up went the papers. Down went the headset.

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh was mad and frustrated.

He chucked his play card and slammed his headset onto the ground. Michigan had a 17-7 lead in Ohio Stadium, but everything was spinning out of control for the Wolverines. There was the dropped pass and the face-mask penalty and the Speight interception, his second of the game, and the defensive offsides penalty.

The Wolverines had lost their momentum, and Harbaugh lost his cool in this epic battle at Ohio Stadium, the biggest game of the year in college football. The official threw the flag, an unsportsmanlike penalty on Harbaugh. Two plays later, Ohio State running back Mike Webber scored on a 1-yard run for the Buckeyes, cutting Michigan’s lead to 17-14 late in the third quarter.

Suddenly, OSU had all of the momentum.

Everything was on the line in this game – the College Football Playoffs, a Big Ten East title, pride, everything. And that’s how these coaches were playing it, especially Meyer, who took crazy chances.

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On a fourth-and-1 from the Michigan 12 in the fourth quarter, the Buckeyes went for it. Instead of going for the field goal and tying the game, the Buckeyes gave the ball to Weber, who burst across the line of scrimmage for the first down. But the U-M defense held and eventually forced the field goal. But Tyler Durbin missed a 21-yard field goal, wide left, his second miss of the day, as U-M held a 17-14 lead.

The Wolverines got the ball back, but couldn’t do anything, as the Buckeyes forced a punt, a 56-yard boot by Kenny Allen, which bounced out of bounds.

Now, the Buckeyes had the ball at their own 18 with 5:36 left.

The Buckeyes started marching. Barrett on the run, Barrett on the pass.

And then with 1 second left in regulation, Durbin kicked a 23-yardrt to tie it up.

Overtime.

A word here about Speight. He started the game at quarterback for Michigan, which was surprising considering he was hurt against Iowa and missed the game against Indiana. He started hot, completing seven of his first nine passes, hitting short passes into small windows.

Then, he made mistake after mistake after mistake.

Turnover. Turnover. Turnover.

Speight had three turnovers that absolutely killed the Wolverines.

He threw a pick-six.

He fumbled a snap at the goal line.

And he threw horrible pass over the middle, which was intercepted and set up a touchdown.

Amazingly, after all of that, Michigan still had a 17-14 lead early in the fourth quarter.

And the credit goes to its defense. Through the first three quarters, U-M totally shut down Samuel, holding him to 26 yards on the ground and just one reception.

The Wolverines were making plays all over the field.

Michigan’s defensive line was daunting, getting pressure on Barrett, collapsing around him, and jumping up and knocking down passes.

Channing Stribbling made a great defensive play, knocking down the ball.

There was Mike McCray, jumping up and swatting down the ball, nearly intercepting it.

Jabrill Peppers wasn’t much of a threat on offense, but he made a ridiculous one-handed interception.

“We’ve been backed up,” Ohio State coach Urban Meyer told ABC at halftime. “We’ve got to get the hell out of there and start playing a little bit. We have to get a little bit of field position”

In the third quarter, Meyer took an incredible risk, attempting a fake punt in a tight, defensive battle.

On a fourth-and-7, punter Cameron Johnston took off, but Jordan Glasgow fought off a block and made a solid tackle, as the rest of the Wolverines swarmed the punter.

It was a crazy call. A pure gift for Michigan.

The Wolverines took over on the Ohio State 22. Five plays later, Speight hit Hill for an 8 yard touchdown, on a fine play.

And it all set up that wild finish.

Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @seideljeff. To read his recent columns, go to freep.com/sports/jeff-seidel.

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