Michigan, shorthanded with star running back Blake Corum hampered by injury, found some serious explosiveness in the first half vs. Ohio State on Saturday. When it came to the end of the half, however, Jim Harbaugh and his offense got extremely conservative, despite decent field position and some time to try and add points to the board down 20–17.
After CJ Stroud found Marvin Harrison Jr. for a touchdown to put Ohio State up with under four minutes left, the two teams traded three-and-outs, with Michigan getting the ball back at its own 33-yard-line with 1:04 remaining in the half.
Quarterback J.J. McCarthy had already completed touchdown strikes of 69 and 75 yards to Cornelius Johnson, but rather than let him loose, Harbaugh and his staff reined things all the way in.
