‘Shock the world’: Michigan football upsets Ohio State in unbelievable stunner

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Michigan Wolverines, in their last regular-season game as reigning, defending College Football Playoff national champions, extended their winning streak against the No. 2 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes after a stunning 13-10 win in the Horseshoe.

The Game in Columbus on Saturday (Nov. 30) was the 120th meeting all-time between the rivals, where Michigan advanced to 62-52-6 since 1897.

Michigan, who once went on an eight-game losing streak against the Buckeyes, including Saturday, won their last four games.

The team with the most rushing yards has won the last 22 meetings and, on the back of Kalel Mullings outgained the Buckeyes 173 to 77 to win their seventh game of the year.

Mullings toted the rock 32 times for 116 yards and one touchdown.

But the defense held the Buckeyes to 10 points in the victory, denying them a trip to the Big Ten title game.

It was also the leg of Dominic Zvada who put the team on his back in this tumultuous season to spoil the Buckeyes season.

After the game, while celebrating on the 50-yard line, the Buckeyes rushed the Wolverines, and a fight broke out in a sign of poor sportsmanship.

“Guys like Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant, Josiah Stewart and Fredrick Moore, this offensive line, I mean, you talk about a gritty performance between those guys," said head coach Sherrone Moore. “This is why you come to Michigan. With guys like Graham. 3-0, let’s go, baby.”

While in the midst of enjoyment, the Buckeyes knew what was coming next as Michigan was going to run to the 50-yard line and plant their flag.

But, the Buckeyes decided to attack the Wolverines, causing a fight to ensue at the end of the game.

“For such a great game, you hate to see stuff like that after the game,” said Mullings. “It’s bad for the sport. It’s bad for college football, but at the end of the day, they got to learn how to lose. You can’t be fighting and stuff just because you lost a game. All of that fighting, we had 60 minutes. We had four quarters to do all of that fighting, and now they want to talk and fight. That’s wrong. That’s classless in my opinion.”

Mullings, speaking like a champion, went on to describe how his team overcame adversity and upset the Buckeyes as an unranked team for the first time since Nov. 25, 1950, when the Wolverines took down No. 8 Ohio State in Columbus 9-3.

“I’m so proud of all the boys out here. All of the boys at home. The entire program. Through the ups and downs. Fighting all season. We didn’t have the necessary season that we wanted to have. But going through those ups and downs. Some things don’t change. We came out knowing what we had to do. Knowing that it was possible if we played our game, we could come out with a win, and we did just that.”

The Wolverines opened the game with a big-time catch and run by wide receiver Tyler Morris from quarterback Davis Warren for 14 yards.

But after short-yard gains by Mullings, the Wolverines offense, which has been a struggle all season, punted to the Ohio State 31-yard line.

Kansas State transfer quarterback Will Howard got the Buckeyes offense rolling, completing his first two passes for a first down.

He was 4-4 for 38 yards on the first drive, with wide receiver Carnell Tate catching three passes for 30 yards on the first drive.

Howard moved the ball into the Wolverines' red zone on the opening possession but threw his first incompletion after defensive back Makari Paige had a pass breakup on receiver Emeka Egbuka, leading to a field goal to take a 3-0 lead.

The Wolverines' second possession began with a Donovan Edwards run of three yards, followed by a Hogan Hansen reception of nine yards to move the sticks.

Quarterback Alex Orji entered the game for a run of 29 yards on third down and three yards.

After the big gain, Mullings toted the rock into the Buckeyes red zone for an eight-yard gain. He followed that up with a seven-yard gain to the 12-yard line.

On third down and eight, the men in maize hit a seven-yard pass to wide receiver to wide receiver Fredrick Moore to end the quarter.

It was the fewest combined points since 2016 (0-0), but on fourth and one, with the ball on the Buckeyes' three-yard line, Michigan’s offensive line got no push as Mullings got stuffed for a turnover on downs.

With the ball from their own three-yard line, Ohio State ran it twice before Howard threw an interception to cornerback Aamir Hall to reshift the momentum.

Mullings on second down and one, punched it in to take a 7-3 lead thanks to a fullback Max Bredeson block to free up Mullings for his 12th touchdown of the season.

Quinshon Judkins opened the possession for the Buckeyes with a run of 15 yards followed by an 18-yard catch by Emeka Egbuka.

Howard tried to run for a first down on third down and three but was hammered by Page after a two-yard run to bring up fourth down and one.

Judkins gained 10 yards for the fourth down conversion, but Howard, who suffered the big hit, was substituted for by backup quarterback Devin Brown on the play.

Howard returned after missing one play, but the Wolverines' defense forced a field goal attempt, which was wide right after big plays from Stewart.

With the ball at their own 20-yard line, Mullings toted the rock twice for five yards, but Morris dropped a contested pass, leading to a Tmmy Doman 68-yard punt to the Buckeyes seven-yard line.

On third down and eight, the Wolverines defense forced a three-and-out and a brutal punt for 30 yards, placing the ball at the Buckeyes 39-yard line.

After Edwards made three minimal runs, the men in maize brought on Zvada, who kicked a 56-yard field goal to take a 10-3 lead.

With the kick, Zvada went 7-7 from 50 yards or more, setting a Michigan record.

Howard completed an 18-yard pass to Egbuka to move the chains as the clock ticked down before the half.

A Jyaire Hill pass interference call in the endzone set up a touchdown to wide receiver Jeremiah Smith to tie the game at 10-10.

The nine-play drive for 75 yards took up one minute and 45 seconds, which awakened the fridged cold crowd.

The 10-10 tie was the first since 2017 when both teams were tied at 14-14 at halftime.

The team that has won the second half has won the last 13 matchups

Second half

Running back TreVeyon Henderson opened the second half with a six-yard kickoff return, but Howard hit Egbuka to move the sticks.

Tate followed that up with a 13-yard catch for another first down.

But on third down and seven, Henderson, who made the blunder to open the third quarter, took a dump-off for 23 yards to move the ball across the 50-yard line.

With the heat put on him by Grant, the men in maize nearly got an interception but forced a Joe McGuire punt for 36 yards.

Michigan went three and out after Warren missed a wide-open Hogen streaking down the sideline in what would have been a massive gain.

Doman punted the ball for 41 yards, which was fair caught by Caleb Downs at the Wolverines 47-yard-line.

Judkins opened the series with a 17-yard run on his eighth carry.

On third down and five, Egbuka cooked Page to move the sticks to gain the first down.

Howard tried to attack Page again in the red zone but got picked off this time by the senior, who ran to the sideline for his photo opportunity with the Turnover Buffs.

But Warren, who struggled all year, continued to have happy feet and threw an interception to Downs.

Warren was 6-11 for 31 yards and an interception, and the game was in its final moments in the third quarter.

Graham forced another field goal attempt that was wide left, this time for the Buckeyes.

With the ball on yet another third and long, Warren connected with tight end Marlin Klein for their first first down in their last six drives to end the third quarter.

On yet another pivotal third down to start the fourth quarter, Michigan on third and six connected with Klein to move the sticks.

Warren connected with senior receiver Peyton O’Leary for an 18-yard gain.

The walk-on scampered for 11 yards on second and 10. Michigan got tricky with a wide receiver pass from Kendrick Bell to Morris, which drew a pass interference.

With 8:02 to go in the fourth quarter, on the three-yard line throws a goal-line interception to turn the tides once again.

It was Warren’s best pass of the game as he hit defensive end Jack Sawyer in the endzone like he was wearing maize and blue.

Sawyer stopped a 15-play 77-yard drive that had eaten up over nine minutes of game clock.

Michigan’s defense came up with another massive play, forcing a punt on fourth and one with 6:13 to play in the fourth quarter in a 10-10 game.

With the clock ticking, Mullings opened the drive with an eight-yard run.

He followed that up with a four-yard gain as the clock went under the five-minute mark.

Mullings, after losing two yards, picked up six yards before picking up a massive 27-yard run to the Buckeyes 17-yard line.

The Wolverines lead back had 28 carries for 109 yards and one touchdown at the two-minute time-out.

He tacked on another five yards on second down to get the gall to third down.

An illegal penalty got Michigan the first down with one minute and 50 seconds remaining.

On third down and two, with one minute and 46 seconds, the men in maize got stuffed.

Zvada, who was 16-17 in the season, put the icing on the cake with another field goal and took a 13-10 lead from the 21-yard line with 45 seconds left.

The Wolverines hung on to win, improving to 7-5 on the season and snapping the all-time series tie by improving to 29-28-2 in Columbus.

Michigan also holds a 26-24-1 all-time margin in games played at Ohio Stadium.

Michigan, after the season-saving victory, will await their destination for a bowl game, but wherever it is, their 2025 class featuring five-star plus quarterback Bryce Underwood, four-star athlete Elija Dotson, and the many others who could potentially enroll early will get to feel the experience for the first time of their young careers.