Moore says Michigan lost execution battle as Ohio State took over

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The biggest gain for Michigan football against Ohio State came on the very first play of The Game. Seemingly an omen that, yes, the Wolverines were still the bullies on the playground, Jordan Marshall scampered for a 36-yard gain on the first go from scrimmage.

That accounted for more than 30% of Michigan's final rushing yards in The Game.

We're used to seeing the Wolverines run with impunity, the opposing team incapable of stopping it, while the defense squeezed the life out of the opposing offense. PJ Fleck and Joel Klatt called it the 'boa constrictor,' but on Saturday, it was Ohio State squeezing the life out of Michigan -- running the football, taking time off the clock, the defense so stifling, the offense on the other side could do nothing.

After the loss, Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore gave credit to the Buckeyes, noting that they did what was necessary to flip the rivalry back in their favor.

"Yeah, they just played better, they executed better," Moore said. "We didn't play good enough, we didn't execute enough. They did what mattered, and they played a better game."

It was OSU that was leaning on the Wolverines. It went on a drive from near the end of the third quarter well into the fourth, spanning 11:56. Michigan had just four total possessions in the second half and did nothing of merit on any of them.

The maize and blue went run-heavy to begin the game, and quarterback Bryce Underwood got into no sort of rhythm throwing the football. As a result, he finished with just 63 passing yards to go along with the cumulative team rushing total of 100 yards. Hardly a way to beat Ohio State.

Moore says that the team got away from the predetermined game plan, initially because the run was working, but eventually, OSU adjusted, and Michigan could do nothing offensively.

"You always want to be balanced," Moore said. "I think just when it starts working, the first part of the game is, however many it was, and you lean on that a little bit more. So I think that wasn't the plan. We wanted to be balanced in what we did. But when you're successful in the run game like that, that's what you want to do. So, but again, we didn't do a good enough job of doing that in the second half."

Ultimately, the team that runs the football better in The Game wins more often than not. Michigan appeared to have a decided advantage in the first half, but it slipped away quickly in the second. And the Wolverine defense could do nothing but watch OSU counter its way down the field with freshman running back Bo Jackson.

"I thought we would have been better at stopping the run there. And they did late in the game, they did a really good job of leaning on us. We didn't do a good enough job of stopping the run. So credit to them, again, I'm not gonna take anything away from them and how they played. They played well."

Michigan now awaits its destiny in the postseason, likely to be the Citrus Bowl against Texas, Vanderbilt, or Tennessee.

This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Sherrone Moore: Ohio State executed better, Michigan fell short late