Ohio State's worst nightmare returned again on Saturday, ruining the Buckeyes' bid for a national championship and a Rose Bowl berth.
Tshimanga Biakabutuka rushed for a career-high 313 yards, including a 2-yard touchdown dive, and No. 18 Michigan defeated the second-ranked Buckeyes 31-23 on Saturday.It was the most yards ever gained against Ohio State in 106 years of football.
"Obviously, I'm incredibly disappointed," Ohio State coach John Cooper said. "I don't know if I've ever been so disappointed in my life."
The upset gave No. 4 Northwestern the Big Ten championship and sends the Wildcats to the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day.
It was the second straight time Ohio State (11-1, 7-1 Big Ten) had come into Michigan Stadium undefeated and needing a victory for a Rose Bowl berth. In 1993, the Buckeyes were ranked fifth and were 9-0-1 but the Wolverines upset them 28-0, sending Wisconsin to the Rose Bowl.
"They beat us up front mercilessly," Cooper said. "They played an outstanding game. They knocked us out of the Rose Bowl."
Michigan (9-3, 5-3) took a 7-3 lead on a 4-yard touchdown pass from Brian Griese to Clarence Williams with 9:26 gone in the first quarter and led the surprised Buckeyes the rest of the way.
Griese, who gave Michigan a 17-9 lead with a 2-yard run early in the third quarter, completed 9-of-18 passes for 103 yards with three interceptions.
Bobby Hoying completed 22-of-45 passes for 286 yards with two costly interceptions, both by freshman Charles Woodson.
In the last minute, Hoying drove the desperate Buckeyes to the Michigan 34 but his fourth-down pass for Terry Glenn was picked off by Woodson with 48 seconds remaining.
"I'll have to live with this the rest of my life," Hoying said. "It's a terrible feeling. Our offense should have gotten the job done, and that's why I feel so bad right now."
The Buckeyes churned out 392 yards, but only 106 of that came on the ground. Michigan, meanwhile, was able to grind out 381 of its 484 yards on the ground. As a result, Michigan controlled the clock 32 minutes, 33 seconds.
The pregame focus had been on Ohio State running back Eddie George and his bid for the Heisman Trophy. But he was overshadowed by Biakabutuka, who became only the second player in Michigan history to rush for over 300 yards in a game. Ron Johnson set the school record with 347 yards against Wisconsin in 1968.
"Biakabutuka is a great back, as good as we've faced," Cooper said. "Biakabutuka broke tackle after tackle after tackle. You can't simulate that kind of speed in practice."
Biakabutuka, playing with an elastic sleeve over his injured right calf, finished with 1,724 yards, breaking Jamie Morris' school record of 1,703 yards in 1987.
"I thought the Notre Dame win, two years ago, was the greatest win I've ever been associated with," Biakabutuka said. "But this is the best, ever. Ohio State was No. 2 in the nation, and people thought Michigan wasn't Michigan anymore."
A victory would have made this the first Ohio State team to go 12-0.