3 things we learned from Michigan Football’s heart-wrenching loss to Ohio State

The streak is dead. Ohio State beat the Michigan Wolverines in convincing fashion on Saturday, out-gaining the Wolverines, 419-163, in a 27-9 victory for the Buckeyes. In the Big House, the Wolverines stuck around for most of the first half, but the Buckeyes got into a groove late in the first half and never took their foot off the gas.

With the loss, Michigan fell short of its season goals, was eliminated from the Big Ten Championship and College Football Playoff, and had its winning streak against Ohio State snapped. Here are three things we learned after a devastating loss for Sherrone Moore and this program.

Everything went right for Michigan at the start of this game. The Wolverines drove down the field, were the first to get points on the board, forced an early turnover and kept Ohio State out of the end zone on their first sustained drive.

The Wolverines could have made things really uncomfortable for Ryan Day and the Buckeyes early, just like they did in the 2024 win. Instead, Michigan settled for three field goals and never held more than a six-point lead in the game. The Wolverines were hyper conservative offensively and failed to take advantage of an early opportunity. Blame it on Moore, Chip Lindsey or Bryce Underwood, but this team didn’t execute, and it cost them the game.

A lack of offensive success made it easy for Ohio State to own possession. The Buckeyes had the ball for more than 40 minutes of game clock. Quarterback Julian Sayin settled in after his interception, and he threw nearly a perfect game after. The defense didn’t get pressure on him, which helped not only set up the ground game, but also help Sayin pick apart Wink Martindale’s defense.

Everything that could have gone wrong for the Wolverines schematically did. They were completely and utterly out-coached in all three phases of the game, and we’ve now entered a new era of The Game. The ball is back in Ohio State’s court, and Moore and this program have to relearn how to be successful to beat the Buckeyes.

This isn’t reactionary, nor is it a result of losing to Ohio State. It’s an implication of the season overall. This is now Moore’s roster. There are hardly any players remaining from the Jim Harbaugh era, and a majority will be completely gone this offseason.

Credit to Moore, there is a lot to like about the young talent on the team. They can take the next step and become a College Football Playoff contender in 2026. That’s about what needs to happen, in my opinion, for Moore to keep his job.

Let’s face it, the Wolverines had an easy runway to the playoffs this season. Their Big Ten schedule was laughably weak — no Oregon, no Indiana, no Illinois. The team faced all four of the worst-finishing teams in the conference; all they needed was to beat one team with a pulse to likely have a spot in the CFP.

That didn’t happen, and honestly, it wasn’t particularly close. The Wolverines were completely outclassed in all three games against teams that finished the regular season as Top-25 teams. They were out-gained, 1,316-621, in their losses to Ohio State, Oklahoma and USC, as the defense gave up more than 400 yards in all three of those games. Limit that to the likely CFP teams — Ohio State and Oklahoma — and Michigan’s offense averaged only 152.5 yards per game. None of that is acceptable, and it serves as a glaring concern as we wrap up the second year of the Moore era.

Michigan’s schedule appears to be much more challenging in 2026. Not only do the Wolverines go back to Columbus, but they also go to Oregon, host Oklahoma, and face Indiana and Penn State at home. Even with development from six freshmen offensive starters and a defense that has some exciting young pieces, that will be a significantly more difficult schedule for the Wolverines.

If they repeat as a nine-win team or worse and miss the postseason, I see the Wolverines looking for a new head coach.

The No. 1 indicator of change, and what will keep Moore his job, is the performance from this offense. The Wolverines are paying Underwood a ton of money, and this staff was petrified of making him look bad. He was just 8-of-18 against Ohio State for 62 yards and a interception. Some of that was a true freshman quarterback making mistakes, but other parts were due to an inept game plan.

On the goal line after the Sayin interception, Michigan went with one of my least favorite plays in the sport — a goal line fade. At best, it’s a 50-50 ball. And it was called on third down inside the 10 yard line. That’s just one example of many where this staff did not put Underwood in the best place to succeed.

Part of this loss was the Wolverines being without Justice Haynes and Jordan Marshall. Well, kind of. Out of desperation, Marshall oddly returned in the middle of the third quarter after missing most of the first half. If he wasn’t healthy enough to play earlier, why was he after the Wolverines were down two scores? I digress, because Michigan couldn’t run the ball much anyways.

So my question is, why did they keep trying? At that point, and for a majority of the game, I would have much rather seen Underwood air it out to have an opportunity to pick up some yards and maybe make things interesting. It felt like the Wolverines never had full confidence in him, and in the end, it dealt more damage than it did good.

Underwood looked shaky against Ohio State. There were a few times the right read was open, but he was tucking and running or dumping the ball off instead. We went from a guy who was saying in the preseason there had never been a true freshman quarterback like him ever, to an 18-year-old that was panicking in the biggest moment of the season.

Some of that is on Underwood, but even more, it’s on a coaching staff that planted that lack of confidence in him. There was never a moment in a big game this season that the Wolverines looked like they were willing to let him air it out until it was already too late. The run game is the priority for this offense, and that is Michigan’s brand. But sprinkling in a few easy passes for Underwood at different points of the season could have made a large difference in getting him ready for Ohio State against some of the better competition.

At the end of Year 2 of the Moore era and a full 12 games into Chip Lindsey’s system, I’m not feeling much more confident about the offense than I did a year ago. That’s staggering, and for the second offseason in a row, it’s the No. 1 roadblock for the Wolverines getting to the College Football Playoff.