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Ohio State’s 62-39 victory over archrival Michigan on Saturday at Ohio Stadium included outstanding performances from some Buckeyes who are expected to deliver big-time in such a critical game.
Dwayne Haskins set Big Ten records for passing touchdowns and passing yards in a season. The sophomore was spectacular, throwing for 396 yards and six touchdowns. Parris Campbell displayed all of his playmaking ability with six catches for 192 yards and two scores. And Mike Weber had 96 yards rushing plus a score on just 13 carries.
But Ohio State also got star turns from some unexpected places.
These are players who have either not had much of an opportunity or chose the biggest game of the year to coalesce into a winning unit.
Here are the 5 surprising stars from Saturday’s Big Ten East Division-clinching victory:
WR Chris Olave
Young man, welcome to Ohio State-Michigan lore. The true freshman receiver only had five catches on the season entering Saturday’s game. He had two against the Wolverines, but were they ever big. Olave scored touchdowns on both catches, the first two scores in his young career. Those came in the first half. But his biggest play came in the game came in the third quarter when he burst through Michigan’s line to block a punt by Will Hart. OSU scored on the play for a 34-19 lead at a critical part of the game.
LB Pete Werner
The linebacker has quietly gone about his business this season, compiling 53 tackles and tying for the team lead in pass breakups with six. It’s safe to say none of those breakups were as critical as the one he made early against the Wolverines. The linebacker was beaten by Zach Gentry on a pass pattern on third and 6. Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson delivered the ball well, hitting Gentry in the end zone. But Werner knocked the ball from Gentry’s grasp before he could get both feet down, resulting in an incompletion. Michigan had to settle for a field goal and OSU retained a 7-6 lead:
Entire offensive line
The unit has been much maligned throughout the season (including in this space) but the offensive line deserves a ton of credit for its performance against the Wolverines at the Horseshoe. OSU gained 171 yards rushing on 36 carries, a 4.8 average. Not spectacular, but solid enough. Where the line really shined was in pass protection. OSU didn’t allow a single sack on 31 pass attempts against one of the nation’s best front sevens. Michigan had just four tackles for loss and didn’t even register a quarterback hit. And the line, so penalty-prone most of the season, was only whistled twice.
LB Davon Hamilton
The defensive tackle had a season-high four tackles including three assists. But the timing of his tackles mattered more than the volume. Hamilton, a junior, was in on consecutive stops on a Michigan drive in the third quarter, on first and second downs. Patterson’s third-down pass was incomplete. On fourth down Michigan punted, and that was the kick which Olave blocked for a Buckeyes touchdown (more on that play in the next entry).
CB Sevyn Banks
Talk about an unexpected highlight. Banks, a true freshman, didn’t even participate in OSU’s first nine games this season. He got in on special teams against the Wolverines and was in the right place at the right time when Olave blocked a Michigan punt. Banks spotted the ball in the air, plucked it and ran it in easily for a 33-yard touchdown to put the Buckeyes ahead 34-19.
Longtime newspaper veteran Jim Tomlin is a writer and editor for saturdaytradition.com and saturdaydownsouth.com.