Did Ohio State Plan To Run Fake Punt Against Michigan?

The Buckeyes appeared to have a miscommunication on what could have been a game-changing play against the Wolverines.

With Ohio State trailing 24-20 midway through the third quarter and facing a 4th-and-10 from the Michigan 48-yard line, the Buckeyes chose to punt the ball away rather than go for it. Or did they?

Watching the play live, it appeared punter Jesse Mirco misread the snap and had to lunge left to catch the ball before kicking it just outside the reach of three Michigan rushers. The ball rolled into the end zone for a touchback and the Wolverines then went on an 80-yard scoring drive that put them ahead by 11.

However, further review shows that the ball was supposed to be snapped to fullback/tight end Mitch Rossi, who would have followed linebacker Tommy Eichenberg along the left side for what likely would have been a long gain – if not a touchdown, assuming he was able to beat returner A.J. Henning one-on-one in the open field. 

Here is endzone view. pic.twitter.com/s7CgbUhJMp

— Ross Fulton (@RossRFulton) November 28, 2022

It's clear that Rossi was expecting the ball to be snapped to him as he watched it sail back to Mirco and was visibly confused after it was kicked, throwing his hands in the air.

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day was asked after the game about the decision punt rather than go for it, especially after quarterback C.J. Stroud was pleading with the coaching staff to keep the offense on the field after the third-down play. He kept his answer short, though.

“We’re always going to be aggressive, but at those times, I felt like it was the right thing to do to punt,” Day said.

It was just the latest in a series full of strange plays for the Buckeyes, who actually started the drive at the Michigan 48-yard line. They had a 23-yard reception by running back Chip Trayanum nullified by a holding penalty, then an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on tight end Gee Scott that put them at their own 27-yard line.

Ohio State ran the ball for three yards on 1st-and-35, completed a 13-yard pass to wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. and a 14-yard pass to Trayanum to set up and 4th-and-5. Long snapper Mason Arnold was then called for an illegal snap, which likely brought some miscommunication about what the Buckeyes were supposed do to do on the next play.

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“We got so lucky,” Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh said during the Big Ten Championship Game coaches webinar on Sunday. “One of the fourth downs, they had a fake on and they had us. I mean, they had us cold. 

“I think their snapper snapped to the wrong guy, snapped it to the punter instead of the faker, but it would have been a huge gain. We got extremely lucky. They actually were going for it and would have pulled off a big fourth-down conversion.”

Had Ohio State scored a touchdown on a fake punt – or even got the ball into the red zone – there’s no doubt the momentum would have shifted in their favor. Instead, the Buckeyes scored just three second-half points on their way to their first loss to the Wolverines at home in 22 years.

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