If you want to start a fight in a bar anywhere between Ann Arbor and Columbus, you don't need much. Just whisper three words: "He was short." Honestly, even ten years later, the Michigan vs OSU 2016 game remains the open wound of the Big Ten. It wasn't just a game; it was a four-hour cardiac event that ended with a yellow line and a measurement that still feels like a Rorschach test for college football fans.
The stakes were massive. Number 2 Ohio State. Number 3 Michigan. A trip to the College Football Playoff basically hanging on every single snap. It was the first time in 113 meetings that "The Game" went to overtime. But it’s the way it ended—that brutal, 4th-and-1 in the second overtime—that turned a classic into a conspiracy theory.
The Game That Refused to End
Walking into Ohio Stadium that November day, the atmosphere was heavy. You could feel it. Jim Harbaugh had the Wolverines humming in his second year. Urban Meyer was trying to keep the Buckeyes' dominance alive. For three quarters, Michigan’s defense, led by Don Brown, absolutely suffocated Ohio State. They sacked J.T. Barrett eight times. Eight. The Buckeyes couldn't breathe.
Michigan held a 17-7 lead in the third quarter. It felt like the drought was finally over. But then, the mistakes started piling up. Wilton Speight, playing with a messed-up shoulder, threw a pick-six to Malik Hooker. Then there was a fumble on the goal line. Basically, Michigan kept the door cracked, and Ohio State eventually kicked it down.
Ohio State's kicker, Tyler Durbin, had a nightmare of a game. He missed two short field goals in regulation. One was a 20-yarder that should have been a chip shot. Yet, with one second left on the clock, he somehow found his nerves and nailed a 23-yarder to send it to overtime.
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The Double Overtime Chaos
The first overtime was a flurry. Barrett scored on a 7-yard draw. Michigan answered on a gutsy 4th-and-goal touchdown pass to Amara Darboh. Then came the second overtime. Michigan settled for a field goal to go up 27-24. Ohio State took the ball, knowing a touchdown won it.
They faced a 4th-and-1 at the 16-yard line. Urban Meyer passed on the field goal. He went for it. J.T. Barrett took the snap, ran left, and slammed into the back of his blocker, A.J. Alexander. He was hit by Delano Hill and Chris Wormley. He fell. The ball was spotted. First down.
On the very next play, Curtis Samuel took a sweep 15 yards to the house. Game over. 30-27. Fans flooded the field, a sea of scarlet swallowing the grass while Michigan players stood frozen.
Why the Michigan vs OSU 2016 Officiating Still Stings
Harbaugh didn't hold back. Not even a little. He walked into the post-game press conference and said he was "bitterly disappointed" with the officiating. He was eventually fined $10,000 for it, but the damage was done. It wasn't just "The Spot." It was the accumulation of calls that left Michigan fans screaming at their TVs.
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- The Unsportsmanlike Conduct: Harbaugh threw his headset and some papers after an offside call, earning a 15-yard penalty that helped an OSU scoring drive.
- The Pass Interference (or lack thereof): There was a call against Delano Hill on a ball that looked uncatchable. On the flip side, Michigan felt Grant Perry was hooked on a crucial play with no flag in sight.
- The "Ohio Roots": Rumors flew after the game about the officiating crew's backgrounds. One official had reportedly been previously fired by the Big Ten, and others were from Ohio. In a game of this magnitude, the optics were, well, terrible.
Breaking Down the 4th-and-1
Let's look at that 4th-and-1 again. If you freeze the frame, Barrett’s forward progress is the key. Does the ball cross the 15-yard line before he’s pushed back? Even with high-definition replays, it is a matter of millimeters. There was no "conclusive" evidence to overturn the call on the field. That’s the technicality that saved the Buckeyes. If the ref spots him an inch shorter initially, Michigan wins. Simple as that.
The Aftermath: Playoff Dreams and "The Ten Year War"
The result of the Michigan vs OSU 2016 clash basically rewrote the season's ending. Ohio State moved on to the College Football Playoff, though they probably wish they hadn't after getting blanked 31-0 by Clemson. Michigan was relegated to the Orange Bowl, where they lost a heartbreaker to Florida State.
For the rivalry, this game was gasoline on a fire. It cemented the "Ten Year War" 2.0 between Harbaugh and Meyer. It also created a lasting narrative of "what if" for a Michigan team that many experts believed was actually the better squad that year.
Quick Stats from the Box Score:
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- Total Yards: Michigan 310, Ohio State 330.
- Rushing: Michigan 91 yards (2.1 avg), Ohio State 206 yards (4.1 avg).
- Turnovers: Michigan 3, Ohio State 1.
Those three turnovers? That’s where the game was actually lost. You can blame the refs all day—and plenty of people do—but giving up 14 points off turnovers in a three-point game is a recipe for disaster.
Lessons from 2016 for Today's Fans
If you're still arguing about this game, you're not alone. But there are a few objective takeaways that apply to every big rivalry matchup since then.
- Don't leave it to the refs. If Michigan scores on that goal-line drive instead of fumbling, "The Spot" doesn't matter.
- Home-field advantage is real. The noise in the "Shoe" that day was deafening, and it clearly impacted the rhythm of the game and, perhaps, the psychology of the officiating.
- Forward progress is a judgment call. Unless we put microchips in the footballs (which some have called for since this exact game), these calls will always be human and flawed.
For anyone looking to revisit the tape, focus on the third-down play immediately preceding the spot. Curtis Samuel's ridiculous lateral-movement run to gain eight yards and set up that 4th-and-short was arguably the most athletic play of the decade. Without that, there is no spot, and Michigan walks out of Columbus with a win.
Instead, we’re left with a yellow line and a decade of debate. If you find yourself in a heated discussion about this, just remember: both things can be true. J.T. Barrett could have been short, and Michigan could have also played a cleaner game to avoid the situation entirely.
To dive deeper into how this specific game changed Big Ten officiating protocols, you can look up the conference's subsequent reports on referee selection and the implementation of more robust replay technologies in the years following the 2016 season.