PUSKAS: Buckeyes’ dominance over Wolverines continues

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Ed Puskas

Death, taxes and Ohio State beating Michigan.

Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes will take “Things You Can Pretty Much Count On” for 62 and the win — another Ohio State win over its archrival.

Forget “Hang On Sloopy” — the Buckeyes’ theme song for this annual game in late November should be “It’s Not Unusual.”

But Ohio State’s 62-39 rout — its latest win in a series that has mostly gone the Buckeyes’ way since 2001 — wasn’t supposed to happen.

Consider what we knew going into this game:

There was the Buckeyes’ porous defense, which has been prone to giving up chunk plays and points in bunches.

The Wolverines came in ranked No. 1 nationally in total defense and No. 4 in scoring defense.

Ohio State (11-1) looked awful in a road loss to Purdue a month ago and should have absorbed another defeat a week ago at Maryland, before fortune smiled on the Buckeyes in overtime in a 52-51 victory.

The oddmakers noticed. Michigan, all but assured of a spot in the College Football Playoff with a win Saturday at Ohio Stadium and another against Northwestern next weekend in Indianapolis, was installed as a 41⁄2-point favorite.

Ohio State, after all, had been exposed as a team that had yet to live up to its considerable potential.

The Buckeyes picked a fine time to finally do so. Their dominating victory on a gray, rainy Saturday might not be enough to get them into the College Football Playoff without some help, but it ruined the Wolverines’ season in stunning fashion.

Given all that Meyer and Ohio State have gone through this season, dating to the summer and the Zach Smith domestic violence allegations and the resulting suspensions of Meyer and athletic director Gene Smith, the loss to Purdue and other lackuster defensive performances, this was as satisfying an afternoon of football as the Buckeyes have had in a long time.

Even if Meyer doesn’t like to differentiate between victories.

“A win is frustrating for you or someone else,” Meyer said in response to a question about the Buckeyes’ penchant for winning ugly, as they did against Maryland.

“A win is not frustrating for us. ... It’s really hard to win a college football game. So, with all due respect, there’s never a bad win. Someone might say: Why didn’t you run it or throw more; you missed a tackle? That’s okay, you win that game. And our guys, obviously, showed up and played great today.”

Even Jim Harbaugh had to admit as much.

“They played great — their third quarter especially,” said Harbaugh, now 0-4 against the Buckeyes.

“They ran a lot of speed plays that got out on the perimeter and got loose. We also set them up in good field position with a couple turnovers, and of course the blocked punt.”

Quarterback Dwayne Haskins Jr. was the offensive key, as usual. He passed for 318 yards and five touchdowns, including twin 24-yard scoring throws to Chris Olave.

Hawkins’ breakout game came a year ago in Ann Arbor, when he came in and helped the Buckeyes beat the Wolverines. It was Olave’s turn this time, with the two TD catches and the third-quarter blocked punt that teammate Sevyn Banks returned for a score.

How unlikely was Olave to be one of the Buckeyes’ heroes Saturday? He had just five catches in Ohio State’s first 11 games.

“Chris came in as a freshman, you can see all the talent, all the skill in the world,” Haskins said. “Didn’t have opportunity to play much this year. So when he got in there he made it matter. And he was really smooth, silky receiver, makes a lot of plays, plays fast.

“Johnnie [Dixon] got hurt a little bit, so he came in there and made some big plays as a true freshman. So I’m proud of the way he played.”

Write Vindicator Sports Editor Ed Puskas at epuskas@vindy.com and follow him on Twitter, @EdPuskas_Vindy.