ANN ARBOR, Michigan - Michigan went 11 plays in 84 yards, marching confidently as it had done all day, and scored with 32 seconds left to pull within one of Ohio State, at 42-41.
And Michigan went for two -- and the upset.
The Wolverines came to the line, but before a snap Ohio State coach Urban Meyer called timeout. On the other sideline, Michigan coach Brady Hoke asked his seniors if they wanted to go for two and the win.
"Every one of us said, 'Yes,'" Michigan offensive tackle Taylor Lewan said.
By now you know that Ohio State remains unbeaten, that two-point try picked off by Tyvis Powell and the ensuing onside kick recovered by Bradley Roby. That 42-41 score was the final score.
"We play the game to win," Hoke said of the two-point try. "I thought about it and we did it."
In the other locker room after the game, the feeling was that Michigan had to go for the win there.
"They went for two because they didn't want to go to overtime," Ohio State running back Carlos Hyde said. "They knew what would have happened."
Hyde is saying that more Hyde -- and more Ohio State touchdowns -- would have happened. Hyde ran 27 times for 226 yards in the game. Braxton Miller ran for 153 yards. It was a shootout, and one defensive stop is more than either team got in the rest of the final 18 minutes.
Hoke said the two-point play was a rub route out of a three-receiver stack, and "it got muddled a little." Powell said after the game that Ohio State was ready for that play, that cornerbacks coach Kerry Coombs had told him during the timeout it was coming.
It took Ohio State all day to figure out Gardner, who threw for 451 yards and four touchdowns. Michigan had scoring drives of 99, 84, 83, 78 and 70 yards, but couldn't get the three yards it needed to finish the deal.
"We ran the play we'd practiced," Gardner said. "The guy jumped underneath it and intercepted the ball. We felt like we could win the game right there."
A glum Gardner said after the game that he had no regrets about the two-point try, just the result.
"I threw an interception to lose the game," he said.
