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Michigan players have fun with J.T. Barrett’s ‘spot’ in Cotton Bowl

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

Michigan just can’t let it go.

We all know what happened in the 2016 regular season finale. The matchup between Michigan and Ohio State came down to overtime with a College Football Playoff berth at stake. And it was in overtime, on a fourth down play, when the J.T. Barrett and the Buckeyes were the beneficiaries of a controversial fourth down spot.

Michigan though Barrett was short of a first down. Ohio State thought he got it. The officials sided with the Buckeyes, who went on to win in thrilling fashion.

Barrett was in a similar situation during the Cotton Bowl on Friday night, though the circumstances were much different. On a 4th-and-short early in the third quarter, Ohio State opted to try and pick up the short yardage against USC. Like in 2016, it came down to the spot. But this time, Barrett didn’t get the benefit of the doubt.

And a few Wolverines had a little fun with the outcome.

Maurice Hurst, Wilton Speight, Khalid Hill and a few others had something to say about the spot in the Cotton Bowl:

https://twitter.com/WiltonSpeight/status/946952552364625920

That call in 2016 is something that several Michigan players have said they’ll never forget. And they sure proved that on Friday night.

Ohio State had a 24-7 lead at the time of the call, so it didn’t have an immediate impact on the game.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB