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Michigan stuns Ohio State 45-23 behind J.J. McCarthy for 1st Columbus win since 2000

COLUMBUS, Ohio −The 2022 Michigan-Ohio State football game will forever be known as the J.J. McCarthy breakout game.

While the sophomore quarterback's talent was tantalizing all year long, he never put it all together at once. Much less on a stage of this magnitude. But it was as if Michigan knew something everybody else didn't.

McCarthy on Saturday threw for three touchdowns, ran for another and Donovan Edwards struck twice for touchdown runs of 75 and 85 in the fourth quarter as the Wolverines mauled the Buckeyes, 45-23, for their first win in Columbus since 2000. Michigan (12-0, 9-0 Big Ten) advances to the Big Ten championship game next Saturday night in Indianapolis.

The Wolverines trailed at the half, 20-17, then dominated the final two quarters with the power run game to beat the Buckeyes for the second straight season.

The Wolverines never seemed worried about their lack of a passing game this season. Not when McCarthy and company turned in four straight games of less than 170 yards through the air over the past month. Not when they'd only turned in one play of 60 yards or more through the first 11 games of the season.

Entering the Horseshoe with a hobbled Blake Corum − who touched the ball just twice before he was forced to leave for good − the Wolverines said they had confidence in their quarterback to deliver the goods and did he ever.

He threw a 69-yard touchdown pass to tie the game midway through the second quarter; aided by nice catch and run by Cornelius Johnson. On the Wolverines' next offensive snap, he threw a perfect 75-yard touchdown, again to Johnson, on a seam-route to give Michigan its first lead of the game.

On the opening drive of the second half, the sophomore ran for a gain of 19 − the team's longest play on the ground all day − before he threw a perfect pass down the right sideline to Colston Loveland (his first career touchdown) for a 45-yard touchdown to give Michigan the lead in the second half.

And early in the fourth quarter, he capped off Michigan's 15-play, 80-yard drive that took 7:51 off the clock by pounding in a quarterback keeper from three yards out to go up 11.

Big plays keep the Wolverines in it

The Buckeyes were the No. 2 scoring unit in the country behind Heisman contending quarterback CJ Stroud coming into play and opened the game with a haymaker, driving 81 yards on 12 plays, capped by a strike from Stroud to Emeka Egbuka on third-and-goal from the 4.

The two sides traded field goals on the next two possessions to make it 10-3 Ohio State but after consecutive Michigan three-and-outs, McCarthy got cooking.

He started the game 3-of-9 though the air, but on third-and-9 Ohio State sent a double A-gap blitz from a cover 0 formation. He got the ball out to Johnson, who broke a tackle and had nobody between him and the end zone as he galloped for a 69 yard score.

Ohio State went 42 yards on two plays in the ensuring drive, but settled for a 46-yard field goal with 5:36 left in the second quarter.

The Wolverines then had their quickest scoring drive of the season.

Lined up in the slot, Johnson ran a streak, faked an outside move and got the safety to bite. It opened up a seam route over the middle for a 75-yard touchdown in just 12 seconds.

The Buckeyes responded with a four-play, 79 scoring drive of their own when Stroud found Marvin Harrison Jr. on a 42-yard streak to re-take the lead for the final score of the half.

Key second half plays

It started on the opening drive, when McCarthy lofted a ball to Loveland in double coverage for a 45-yard score, putting Michigan ahead 24-20 with 11:56 to play in the third.

Ohio State would move the ball to midfield on the ensuing drive, but a nice tackle by Junior Colson in space forced a punt. While the Wolverines would go three-and-out on their next drive, OSU wouldn’t capitalize after starting with the ball on the UM 49.

A first down play appeared to go for a gain of 20, but the Buckeyes were flagged. On top of a holding call that backed them up 10 yards, they were tagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, which set up first-and-35.

They would gain 28 yards on the next there plays, but facing fourth-and-7 at the Wolverines 43, Ryan Day elected to punt (much to the chagrin of the fans). The Bucks wouldn’t touch the ball again in the quarter. Michigan chewed up 7:51 off the clock on their ensuing 15-play drive, the biggest of the bunch a third-and-1.

Michigan handed the ball off to Kalel Mullings — a converted linebacker who hadn’t run the ball in his career before Saturday — who threw a jump pass to Luke Schoonmaker for a gain of 15.

Six plays later, McCarthy faced third-and-11 and as her rolled right, heaved the ball to the end zone for Ronnie Bell. The pass fell incomplete, but OSU was called for pass interference, setting up first and goal. McCarthy scored three plays later to make it 31-20.

OSU put its first solid drive of the half when Egbuka beat Mike Sainristil on a post pattern for a 41-yard gain, but the senior defensive back would make amends. On third-and-four from the nine, Stroud floated a pass to Stover in the corner of the end zone which Sainristil broke up to force a field goal.

Edwards then scored a 75-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage, putting Michigan up by 15 with just more than seven minutes to play.

After the Bucks drove the length of the field, Stroud flipped a ball to Xavier Johnson, but the ball bounced off his hands and into the arms of Taylor Upshaw who intercepted it at the OSU 8.

Three plays later, Edwards ran in from 85 yards out to cap what turned out to be a career day — 21 rushes, 214 yards and two scores.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football stuns Ohio State for 1st win in Columbus since 2000