One doesn’t have to look very far to understand why Michigan has struggled against Ohio State and other big teams.
The Wolverines committed one of the dumbest penalties imaginable during their rivalry game against Ohio State on Saturday. Down 21-13 in the second quarter, Michigan’s defense stopped Ohio State on a 3rd-and-10 for a gain of six. Ohio State then sent out its punt team, but Michigan screwed that up.
Not one, but two players — Khaleke Hudson and Jordan Glasgow — both jumped the snap on fourth down and were offside. That gave Ohio State a first down. On the next play, Justin Fields completed a 47-yard pass down to the Michigan five. Then the play after that, they scored to make it 28-13.
That was the first time the game had gone from a one-score to a two-score margin, and it was all due to Michigan’s dumb penalty.
As if that weren’t enough, the offside penalty came on the possession after Shea Patterson lost a fumble in the red zone.
Rather than going to make it a one-point game, Michigan ended up down 15. You may be able to get away with those mistakes against Indiana or Rutgers, but those are killer errors against Ohio State, and truly inexplicable.
