Michigan 20
Ohio St. 14

Record before game

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- By any means, a loss by Ohio State to Michigan is tough to swallow.

A loss by self-inflicted means -- like the fourth-ranked Buckeyes' 20-14 fall to top-ranked Michigan here yesterday -- hurts more. Just ask Ohio State quarterback Stanley Jackson.

"I thought we really kind of shot ourselves in the foot a few times, and I probably had the biggest gun out there today, especially those last two drives that I was in," Jackson said after the Buckeyes' third straight loss to Michigan and eighth in the last 10 years. "There's just no excuse for that. So I take full responsibility for this loss."

In a game that otherwise would have gone down in the books as one of the better defensive standoffs in the history of the 94-game rivalry, mistakes swelled the score for both teams.

In front of the largest crowd (106,982) in Big Ten history, it was two interceptions of Jackson passes in the third quarter that made it an uphill battle the Buckeyes (10-2, 6-2) would not win. Not against a Michigan defense led by cornerback Charles Woodson and tackle Glen Steele.

"I thought Stan played a good first quarter, and moved the football, even though we didn't score any points," Ohio State coach John Cooper said. "But you can't make the kind of mistakes we made there in the third quarter and expect to beat a good defensive football team."

Make that an unbeaten, top-ranked, Big Ten champion, Rose Bowl-bound Michigan (11-0, 8-0) that completed its first unbeaten, untied regular season since 1971.

"We have a sign in the defensive team room that says `Offense wins games, defense wins championships,' " third-year Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "It was true today. There were two great defenses out there, and our defense won the game."

The offense played a small role. It scored one touchdown. And the special teams scored another -- Woodson, who caught a pass for 37 yards to set up a TD run by Anthony Thomas, had a 78-yard punt return for a TD. The two TDs came inside a span of three minutes late in the second quarter.

Then it was the Michigan defense's turn, which takes the story back to Jackson. When the second half came around, the coaches removed backup quarterback Joe Germaine, who had struggled, and reinserted Jackson.

It seemed to be the right call. Jackson drove the Buckeyes to the Michigan 7 on the first possession of the half, thanks in large part to a 20-yard run by linebacker Jerry Rudzinski on a fake punt play. But on second down from the 7, Jackson threw a quick slant pass toward Dee Miller in the end zone that was picked off by Woodson.

After OSU held the Wolverines, the Buckeyes got the ball back at their 44. On the next play, Jackson eluded two sack attempts and flipped the ball about 5 yards to Michigan cornerback Andre Weathers.

Weathers raced 43 yards untouched for a touchdown that increased the Michigan lead to 20-0 with 10:29 left in the third quarter.

OSU entered the game planning to pull the upset, grab a second-straight Big Ten co-championship and keep alive its hopes of a second straight trip to the Rose Bowl. It could have happened if it finished in the top two in either of the final regular-season polls. Even down 20-0, "We didn't give up," senior tailback Pepe Pearson said.

With the defense limiting the Wolverines to five first downs in the second half, and only one in the fourth quarter, the OSU offense tried to crack a Michigan defense ranked No. 1 in the country against the score (8.4) and in yards allowed (202.0).

The first break came on a 56-yard touchdown pass from Germaine to David Boston with 4:50 left in the third quarter. Boston backed into the end zone the last 5 yards, taunting a beaten Woodson -- about whom he had spoken disparagingly of leading up to the game -- and drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct call. Kicker Dan Stultz made a 35-yard extra point kick after the penalty was assessed.

The Buckeyes got the ball back moments later when Jimmie Bell and Clinton Wayne caused a fumble by tailback Thomas that was recovered by Rodney Bailey at the 50, but the offense couldn't move.

The Buckeyes punted, Woodson being stopped by Central McClellion and others at the Michigan 10. On third down from the 16, Michigan quarterback Brian Griese was stripped of the ball by safety Gary Berry and Rudzinski returned it to the 1.

On the next play, Pearson went around left end for a TD and suddenly the Buckeyes were very much in the game, trailing 20-14 with 13:08 left.

Re-enter the Michigan defense. Starting at 9:58, Pearson carried six of the first seven plays, moving the ball to the Michigan 40. But he was stuffed for a 5-yard loss on the next play, two passes went incomplete and the Buckeyes punted.

OSU got it back next at its 33 with 4:13 left, but a tackle for loss on Pearson and a sack of Germaine, both by Steele, forced another punt.

The Buckeyes got it back for the last time at their 16 after a punt with 1:35 left. The play before linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer had just missed an interception on a screen pass that he probably would have returned for a TD. It was not to be.

Neither was a last-minute drive reminiscent of the Germaine-engineered drive that beat Arizona State in the Rose Bowl. A 7-yard sack by Steele on first down, and then a pass into heavy coverage on Boston on fourth down from the 16 saw to that.

"Before the game, we watched their Rose Bowl drive against Arizona State," said Michigan safety Marcus Ray, a Columbus native. "We said it was going to come down to that, and that's what we would have to stop if we wanted to be Big Ten champions."

The funny thing was, except for that one drive in the second quarter, the OSU defense did the same thing to the Wolverines. However, there was no satisfaction in that, Katzenmoyer said.

"We lost. It's a simple as that," Katzenmoyer said. "We lost as a team. We win ballgames as a team.

"And, you know, it's a crazy game. (Stuff) happens."