President and Ohio native Ian Etheart coming off after a satisfying 78 minutes
This past Saturday, the Ohio State Buckeyes traveled to Ann Arbor to continue a long standing rivalry that is present in every contest between the two schools. In the end, the Wolverines came out on top of a hard fought muddy game as the victors with a score of 34-13. Full match replay can be found here.
The game started with Ohio State pressuring the Michigan defense with some breakaways and a few minutes of play in the Michigan half. However the Wolverines defense would bend but not break and the Buckeyes eventually lost possession of the ball after several phases. Once Michigan got the ball, they drove right back down the field and began threatening the Buckeyes’ defense in retaliation. The first score of the game would come in the 13th minute as the Maize and Blue took first blood. Drew Vecchio picked up the ball out of a ruck at the 4 meter line and pounded his way into the try zone, breaking through the Ohio State defense. Joel Conzelmann could not convert the try.
The Buckeyes weren’t without a reaction of their own however and in the 16th minute they were awarded a penalty near center field from 20 meters out. OSU fullback Taylor Hurff successfully converted the penalty to put Ohio State on the board. Michigan would counter. In the 19th minute Stuart Starkweather scored from 5 meters out through another pick out of a ruck. Five minutes later, a U of M line-out from 20 meters out saw the ball move from Conzelmann to Christian Mentzer to Sequoyah Burke-Combs cutting straight through the OSU defense for the touchdown. Conzelmann converted the second of the two tries to make it a 17-3 game in favor of Michigan. In the 31st minute Ohio State was awarded another penalty around the 15 meter mark and Hurff converted it, making it an eleven point game. The Wolverines started to take control of the game though. Sustained pressure in the Ohio State half saw CJ Stock sprint into the corner of the try zone from 15 out. Conzelmann could not convert making the score at the end of the half 22-6.
Fall colors and Michigan wheeling an OSU scrum. Beautiful.
The second half would see slightly less scoring but still plenty of hard-nosed rugby in the mud and rain. The next score came in the 48th minute; Conzelmann received the ball at the 10 meter line and dummied a pass down the line. The Ohio State defenders bit on the fake and Conzelmann had a clear path into the try zone for the score. He converted his own try, giving the Wolverines a 29-6 lead. 20 minutes of scrums and rucks followed this score as the conditions began to take a toll on the game and players began to make mistakes and slip in the conditions. The Buckeyes scored their first try of the game in the 68th minute from 8 meters out after a string of penalties on Michigan allowed Ohio State to drive down the field. David Stauder touched down with Hurff converting. Any hopes of a comeback were shuttered soon after. Zack Burns, in for Jared Bosma at outside center, broke through the Buckeye backline and bobbled a pass to Matt Kasten. Kasten did manage to get his grasp on the ball and finished off the 60 meter movement. Conzelmann did not convert, making the score 34-13. A bit more of back and forth occurred in the last 10 minutes but nothing of particular note as Michigan closed out their 4th Big Ten win of the season.
1. Nick Fehrman (Shapiro 79’)
2. Evan Rourke (Wagner 79’)
3. Jordan Ulmer (Arnett 55’)
4. Drew Vecchio
5. Stuart Starkweather (Davidson 60’)
6. Sequoyah Burke-Combs
7. Kenny Andutan
8. Cole Van Harn (Fenno 79’)
9. Ian Etheart (Palladino 78’)
10. Joel Conzelmann
11. Matt Kasten
12. Christian Mentzer
13. Jared Bosma (Burns 64’)
14. Chris Padmos
15. CJ Stock (Smart 40’)
16. Brennen Arnett
17. Ben Shaprio
18. Jackson Wagner
19. Alex Davidson
20. Jesse Fenno
21. John Palladino
22. Zack Burns
23. Cooper Smart
Tries: Vecchio 13′, Starkweather 19′, Burke-Combs 24′, Stock 40′, Conzelmann 47′, Kasten 69′
Cons: Conzelmann 25′, 47′
The B game offered U of M another opportunity to attack the Buckeyes. The Wolverines did, running 31 players out on the field as no C game was on offer. The Men in Blue fought well but ultimately lost a time match, 13-20.
The game started with some difficult defending by U of M. Stuck against their try line and giving away penalties, a weaker team would have let in points. But the Maize and Blue held together and eventually won a penalty themselves to push OSU back down field. Some good attacking play forced the Buckeyes into a 5 meter scrum. Pressure at the back of the scrum by Max Arevuo allowed him to pounce on a loose ball in the try zone for the game’s first 5 points. Evan Noon was wide on the conversion.
OSU kept at it though, muscling their way back into the Michigan half with powerful forward runs. Michigan continued to give away penalties, putting themselves against their try line again. Eventually the penalties added up and referee Tom Foley issued Chening Duker a yellow card. Shortly after, OSU was over the line with a converted try.
Michigan’s discipline improved and as such, Ohio State wasn’t able to camp on Michigan’s doorstep. Duker’s return further improved the troops and the Maize and Blue found themselves with a kickable penalty. Evan Noon knocked it over to put Michigan back in the lead, 8-7. Michigan continued to pressure and shortly before halftime, the Wolverines broke out for the try of the day. Great back line handling saw the ball move from Riley Hanson to Drew Offerdahl to Mark Borowski and finally to Tohy Rakotovololona who’s speed finished the movement. Without the conversion, U of M took a 13-7 halftime lead.
Rolling in the subs as mentioned above, Michigan was set on conquering the Buckeyes. But the larger OSU players caused problems for the Wolverines. A combination of poor attack through both running and kicking kept Ohio State in the Michigan end and available to score. The Buckeyes pushed one over near the sideline but without the conversion, Michigan held a slim lead 13-12. Continued pressure saw OSU awared a penalty from less than 20 out. They took the three and the lead, 15-13.
Michigan continued to fight and made a few ventures into the OSU half. But critical errors such as not getting penalty kicks to touch allowed OSU off the hook. They were able to push over a forward try and extend their lead to 20-13. U of M was in range of tying the game but had few opportunities near the Ohio State try line. Looking for a big break and not finding it, Michigan fell to the Buckeyes 20-13.
1. Darsh Khosla
2. Travis Sawyer
3. Nick Azzopardi
4. Jason Anthony
5. Zack Burns
6. Nolan Webb
7. Cam Watson
8. Chening Duker
9. Max Arevuo
10. Evan Noon
11. Tohy Rakotovololona
12. Riley Hanson
13. Drew Offerdahl
14. Mark Borowski
15. Cody Brown
16. Brennen Arnett
17. Jackson Wagner
18. Chris Byer
19. John Palladino
20. Ben Shapiro
21. Jesse Fenno
22. Albert Foo
23. Colin Ward
24. Cody Griffin
25. Kevin Cheng
26. Drew Calcaterra
27. Matt Ko
28. Ryan McDonough
29. Vino Ravichandran
30. Charlemagne McHaffie
31. Kevin Linder
Tries: Arevuo 13′, Rakotovololona 40′
Pens: Evan Noon 36′
Yellow: Chening Duker 18′
