6 — Thursday, November 17, 2022

As former Michigan defensive coordinator 

Don Brown once said: There are some football 

games, and then there are some football f***ing 

games.

The 2016 Michigan-Ohio State game was cer-

tainly the latter.

“That was one of the coolest environments I 

ever played in, one of the best games I ever played 

in,” former Michigan defensive end Chris Worm-

ley told The Daily. “... It just had all the makings 

of why you go to Michigan, why you go to Ohio 

State.” 

The Game in 2016 really did have everything. 

The Buckeyes were ranked second in the country, 

and the Wolverines were ranked one spot behind 

them. It was the first time The Game went to 

overtime, and — of course — it ended on a contro-

versial call that’s still debated to this day.

Whatever it is, you name it and the 2016 ren-

dition of The Game probably had it. And beyond 

the physical game that was played on the field that 

late November afternoon, the result had long-last-

ing effects on the rivalry that can be felt to this day.

“You lose that game and it costs you a (College 

Football Playoff) appearance and that narrative 

about (Michigan coach) Jim Harbaugh spirals for 

years,” Max Bultman, who covered the 2016 game 

for The Daily, said. “They were good enough to get 

there, but they did not get there.”

Ultimately for Michigan, simply being good 

enough on paper to get into the playoff in 2016 was 

not sufficient. After the dramatic loss, the Wol-

verines’ season fell flat. A month later, they lost 

to Florida State in the Orange Bowl, and the sea-

son that could’ve been Harbaugh’s breakthrough 

came to an unceremonious 10-3 end after a 9-0 

beginning.

“It killed us,” former Michigan offensive line-

man Erik Magnuson told The Daily. “We went 

from potentially playing in the Playoffs, win-

ning the Big Ten championship to playing in the 

Orange Bowl. … It just killed everything.”

There is no telling how much from the last 

five years came as an aftershock from the 2016 

game. Had Michigan not come up an inch short, 

Harbaugh could’ve gotten a win against Urban 

Meyer — something he never captured — and he 

wouldn’t have started 0-5 against the Buckeyes.

The Wolverines’ 2016 loss in Columbus sent 

them down a path of mediocrity for five years, cast 

in Ohio State’s shadow. And that all came down to 

one controversial inch — former Ohio State quar-

terback J.T. Barrett’s one-yard rush on 4th and 1 

at the Michigan 16-yard line in double overtime.

“Ultimately, the narrative around the program 

would’ve been so different if they get the benefit of 

the doubt on that call or they close it out sooner,” 

Bultman said.

At this point, the spot has been harped on, ana-

lyzed and dissected so many times it’s now more 

of rivalry lore than anything else. Six years later, 

the debate has never ceased about whether or not 

Barrett was short on that fabled play.

Wormley had a view of the play that altered the 

course of Michigan’s program for years to come 

that was a bit better than most — he was right at 

the first down marker, making the tackle.

“When we tackled (Barrett), we thought the 

game was over, we thought he was short,” Worm-

ley said. “Everyone on the Michigan side thought 

he was short and everyone on the other side 

thought (Ohio State) got the first down. … There 

was just so much riding on that one play, and we 

came up short in the ref’s eyes.”

SPENCER RAINES

Daily Sports Editor

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Revisiting 
Revisiting 
the 2016 
the 2016 
Michigan 
Michigan - 
- 

Ohio State 
Ohio State 
game
game

READ MORE AT MICHIGANDAIL
Y.COM

FILE PHOTO/Daily

