Michigan St. keeps undefeated record

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Vydalia Weatherly, Staff writer

Thousands tuned in Saturday, Nov. 27 to watch No. 2 Ohio State play against their rival No. 3 Michigan State. Both teams were undefeated at the beginning of the game.

After a long game, the Michigan Wolverines defeated the Ohio Buckeyes 45 to 23. This is the second year in a row Michigan has won against Ohio. Michigan beat Ohio 42-27 last year after an eight-year losing streak. This is the first time in twenty-two years that Michigan has won consecutive games against Ohio. This is also the first time Ohio lost to Michigan on their home field since 2000.

Michigan won the coin toss but decided to defer to the second half, resulting in Ohio starting with the ball. Ohio State’s offense got the best of Michigan State at the beginning of the game. During the Buckeyes second drive, the Wolverine’s defense came through with a stop, attaining the upper hand for the rest of the game.

Ohio State had a narrow lead entering the half 20-17. Michigan scored 14 points in the second quarter alone. That lead did not last long. Despite being led by star quarterback C.J. Stroud, Ohio State’s offense was unable to hold back against Michigan’s defense in the second half. Michigan scored seven points in the third quarter, while Ohio did not score at all.

In the last quarter, Michigan managed to attain 21 points, while Ohio only got three. Leading up to the game, many speculated that Michigan would not be able to defeat Ohio without their star running back Blake Corum who had to sit the game out due to a knee injury he attained during a failed rushing attempt while playing against Illinois State the previous week.

Entering the game wearing a knee brace, Corum only rushed twice during the first three passes before sitting out the rest of the game. Despite their star running back stuck on the sidelines, second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy shined during the game throwing three touchdown passes of at least 45 yards. This is the most scoring passes of 45 or more in the 105-year history.

Prior to the Ohio State game, McCarthy’s longest pass completion was only 42 yards.

“He was just on fire in every way – throwing the ball, running the ball,” said Coach Jim Harbaugh.

Michigan won the Big Ten East and claimed a spot in next weekend’s Big Ten Championship Game against Purdue University. When asked about the historic win, Wolverine’s Harbaugh said he “could not be more proud,” and he “knew the team was focused and determined as they have been all season. This is a locker room of heroes.”

“This is not the outcome we all envisioned,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said after the game.

“I thought we had good preparation. I thought we were building toward playing well,” Day said.

The Buckeyes will now have to wait to see how Texas Christian University, University of Southern California and Louisiana State play next weekend in hopes they can sneak into the championship. The fate of the Buckeyes now rests in the hands of the College Football Playoff Selection Com-mittee to see if they will send Ohio to the Championship this year or to the Rose Bowl for the second year in a row.