Ohio State LB Sonny Styles: ‘We whooped (Michigan)’ in the second half

The Michigan Wolverines were outclassed by the Ohio State Buckeyes, 27-9, on Saturday afternoon in the Big House. Michigan’s first loss to Ohio State since 2019 was a pretty lopsided affair, especially in the second half.

Michigan was outscored by Ohio State in the final 30 minutes of the game, 10-0. In the second half, the Buckeyes also had more total yards (198-39), rushing yards (110 to -8), passing yards (88-47) first downs (10-3), third downs (5-of-10 compared to 0-of-4), total plays (40-18) and time of possession (23:40 to 6:20).

Following the game, Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles put things pretty bluntly.

“It feels good,” Styles said of the win. “Before this game, we talked about not caring what happened in the past, saying this team’s different, and going out there to play for the love of your brother, not for the hate of the other team. And I thought we did that today — just a bunch of band of brothers playing for each other. And we talked about it before the game, we got to win in the second half. We had a few games the past few years we lost the second half. So that was a big thing, we came out in the second half and whooped ‘em.”

Styles isn’t lying — it was utter domination for the Buckeyes in that second half. Michigan had no answers offensively and couldn’t get stops defensively. The run game was completely shut down and Wink Martindale’s group gave up a drive that lasted 20 plays and took nearly 12 minutes off the game clock, spanning from the third quarter into the fourth quarter.

As for the Buckeyes’ defense, Styles gave credit to his defensive coordinator, Matt Patricia, for the successes of that side of the ball on Saturday.

“I think a lot has to do with coach Patricia,” he said. “I think he’s a great coach, great teacher. He’s making us a smarter defense. He does a good job teaching fundamentals … he’s done an amazing job.”

Ohio State’s defense was nearly flawless in the second half, giving up -8 rushing yards and only allowing 47 passing yards by Bryce Underwood. The Buckeyes also intercepted Underwood’s final pass of the day to seal the deal.

Ohio State advances to the Big Ten Championship next Saturday while Michigan will await its bowl destination, which will be revealed next Sunday.