Michigan Holds Ohio State to Worst Rushing Performance in Ten Years

It's a bit uncomfortable breaking down the Ohio State offense in their loss to Michigan this afternoon. The reality is, Ohio State's offense isn't the reason it fell short of a ninth consecutive win over the Wolverines. But they certainly didn't play anywhere near their potential.

Heisman candidate C.J. Stroud played his heart out and considering he wasn't feeling well all week and clearly had no voice postgame, it's hard to lay any of this at his feet. He threw for 394 yards and two scores, didn't turn the ball over and had a brilliant scrambling touchdown that was negated by penalty. Unless Stroud jumped to the other side of the ball and started tackling Hassan Haskins, I'm not sure what else he could've been asked to do.

TreVeyon Henderson probably won't remember this game fondly because of the loss, but he did score twice and broke Maurice Clarett's freshman touchdown record in the process. It's hard to feel too good about that in light of a brutal loss, but that's something to be really proud of and his future remains extremely bright.

The biggest issue today was on the offensive line. They were substandard at best. Yes, the offense racked up 458 yards of offense, but this was probably that unit's worst game of the season. They allowed eight tackles for loss, four sacks and an awful rushing performance. Not to mention, the line collectively committed five false starts and two holding penalties. It was a pretty tough day.

Ohio State finished the game with 64 rushing yards. That's their worst rushing performance as a team since they had just 35 rushing yards against Michigan State in 2011. In my opinion, that lack of production is far more an indictment of the offensive line than it is of TreVeyon Henderson or Miyan Williams.

Garrett Wilson and Jaxon Smith-Njigba were unstoppable. Even in remarkably tight coverage, they found ways to keep drives alive. This picture tells quite a story.

Though it means nothing it’s pretty amazing to me that Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught this pass. pic.twitter.com/1OUVwCdqbj
— Jeremy Birmingham (@Birm) November 27, 2021

I still can't wrap my head around this touchdown catch from Wilson.

GARRETT WILSON IS INSANE 😱#CFB

pic.twitter.com/ENwo4tEAG5
— PFF College (@PFF_College) November 27, 2021

I was a bit disappointed in Jeremy Ruckert's performance today. I thought he was going to play a big role in protecting Stroud and springing Henderson to a big day, but he didn't play nearly up to his potential.

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