Grind away. Protect the ball. Turn every adversity into a rallying cry.

Michigan has perfected a formula over the past 3 seasons, turning itself into the bully of the Big Ten, the nation’s defense-first, bully ball conference.

In a battle of 11-0, top 3 teams, the Wolverines made visiting Ohio State blink first in Saturday’s 30-24 victory over the Buckeyes.

Michigan will go for a 3rd straight B1G title against West champ Iowa next Saturday in Indianapolis. Win that game over the No. 17 Hawkeyes (10-2), and it’s on to a 3rd straight College Football Playoff.

Michigan has been in survival mode the past 3 games, beating Penn State by 9, Maryland by 7 and Ohio State by 6. But the Wolverines found a way, winning the turnover battle each time to reach +14 on the season.

Against the Buckeyes, an early interception led to the game’s first points and a late one sealed the victory. Michigan also won the rushing yardage battle and time of possession.

Michigan won for the 6th time this season without head coach Jim Harbaugh on the sideline. It persevered through in-game injuries to OL Zak Zinter and DB Will Johnson.

Week after week, the Wolverines keep finding a way.

Here’s a breakdown of how they’ve gotten this far, and what lies ahead:

Season’s biggest surprise: Suspensions

The university put head coach Jim Harbaugh on ice for the first 3 games of the season, trying to appease the NCAA over alleged recruiting and coaching violations by staff members in 2020. Then the Connor Stalions sign-stealing story broke. After professing indignation and threatening to leave the Big Ten, the school instead accepted a 3-game ban of Harbaugh imposed by the conference.

So the program’s 9th-year leader missed 6 of 12 regular-season games, with his 2nd stint in the penalty box ending with the final whistle of Saturday’s 30-24 victory over Ohio State.

The saga isn’t over. The NCAA is still investigating. Harbaugh and Michigan might not get off with time served. It leaves the future in flux for all involved — players, assistants and the 59-year-old Harbaugh himself.

Season’s biggest concern: Drop off in run game

Blake Corum has been healthy all year, yet still hasn’t topped 1,000 rushing yards. He’s at 976 after gaining 88 yards on 22 carries in Saturday’s slobber-knocker against the Buckeyes. His per carry average is down from 5.9 to 4.8.

Overall, Michigan is producing 169.8 rushing yards per game, down from a B1G-best 238.9 last year.

Developing trend: Kicking OSU/Big Ten butt

The Wolverines have won 25 straight games against Big Ten opponents since gagging away a 30-14 second-half lead against Michigan State in 2021. Without that choke job, the Wolverines would be looking for 30 straight B1G wins next weekend in the B1G title game against Iowa.

More importantly for Wolverines fans who suffered through 15 losses to Ohio State over 16 years through 2019, Michigan has knocked off Ohio State 3 straight times.

Key stat: 10.25 points allowed per game

Michigan still leads the nation in scoring defense, even after giving up 24 points to Maryland and Ohio State the past 2 Saturdays.

Best win: Beating the Buckeyes again

It doesn’t get much better than prevailing over the No. 2 team in the country in a battle of 11-0 teams. Michigan did it by winning the turnover battle (0-2) and outrushing the Buckeyes (156-107). Doing it at home in front of 110,000+ put some icing on the cake.

Worst loss: A bit of respect

You won’t sell this inside the locker room or to diehard fans, but acquiescing to 6 games worth of suspensions of Jim Harbaugh is not a good look. Michigan has always carried itself as a clean, class program. Regardless of who knew what when, everyone associated with the program is a bit tainted now.

While I don’t think any alleged NCAA violations affected this year’s outcomes, they certainly may explain some results the previous 2 seasons. In parting ways with Connor Stalions and LBs coach Chris Partridge, and accepting the suspensions, the university has conceded to some wrongdoing. Some reputational repair seems in order — after this national title run concludes, of course.

Play of the Year: Will Johnson’s INT vs. OSU

Johnson set up Saturday’s first score by stepping in front of Marvin Harrison Jr. and picking off Kyle McCord. He returned the interception 18 yards to the OSU 7-yard line. The big play came after the teams exchanged punts twice. Blake Corum eventually scored from inside the 1 on fourth down. As it turned out, that play was the difference in the game.

Player of the Year: Blake Corum, RB

Though his per-game and per-carry rushing totals are down, Corum leads the nation in touchdowns with 22, all of them on the ground. The 5-8, 213-pound team captain is powering through opposing defenses and the outside noise in the stretch run of his college career.

Offensive MVP: JJ McCarthy, QB

Though his performance dropped off without Harbaugh on the sideline, McCarthy’s full body or work shouldn’t be dismissed. Through the end of October, he was a top 5 Heisman candidate, and for good reason.

Though he didn’t post monster counting stats thanks to many fourth quarters spent watching from the side, the 2021 5-star recruit flashed an efficient dual-threat game to the extent it was needed.

Even after a somewhat rough November, the 6-3, 202-pound junior still ranks 3rd in the country in completion rate (74.3%) and 5th in QB rating. And bottom line, he’s 24-1 since replacing Cade McNamara as Michigan’s starter.

Defensive MVP: Mike Sainristil, DB

In his 5th season, the 5-10, 182-pound grad student shares the B1G lead with 5 interceptions, which he returned for 151 yards and 2 TDs. Those totals all rank in the top 3 in the country.

His 2 picks in Week 12 at Maryland allowed the Wolverines to hold off the rallying Terps 31-24.

Sainristil, who played mostly at wide receiver prior to last year, has played in 59 games with 32 starts (23 on defense) for the Wolverines. That’s some serious veteran leadership.

On top of the picks, he’s contributed 28 tackles, a sack, 2 QB hurries and 5 pass breakups to a defense that ranks in the top 5 in the country in total, passing and scoring defense.

That’s leadership and production that will be hard to replace.

Freshman of the Year: Semaj Morgan, WR

The slender (5-10, 176) but wiry strong true freshman played in every game, providing a spark with his elite speed. He caught  17 passes for 183 yards and 2 scores. He added 66 yards on 3 carries, including scoring runs of 44 and 13 yards.

Bowl outlook

With a win over Iowa in the B1G championship game, Michigan will advance to the Playoff for the 3rd straight season. In that scenario, the Wolverines should be no worse than the No. 2 seed, and No. 1 if Georgia loses to Alabama in the SEC title game.

Way too early 2024 outlook

Michigan will lose a lot of players to the NFL. Corum has already said he’s leaving. Maybe McCarthy returns for his senior season, given this year’s loaded NFL Draft quarterback class.

The biggest questionable return, of course, is Harbaugh, who could opt for the NFL himself.

Harbaugh’s program has been perpetuating itself these past couple years. But exactly how much turnover it could handle without a drop off remains an open question.

Michigan’s best chance for a while to end its national title drought is almost certainly right now.