There was time on the clock, but Jaylen Harrell had already taken off his helmet — for better or worse.
“I was really excited — too excited,” the senior edge rusher said. “(I’m) glad because if (senior safety) Rod (Moore) didn’t catch that it would’ve been bad. Thank god he did.”
Pressuring Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord on the final play of the game, Harrell’s hit helped secure the 30-24 victory as it caused McCord to throw an errant pass. As he watched the pass sail into the hands of Moore, in the joy of the moment, Harrell had already ripped his helmet off.
And then the flag flew.
“In the moment it was fine,” Harrell said. “Then I got home (I was) replaying the play and it kind of hit me. Like, if (Rod) didn’t catch that, it’s on (me) to make the play. (Defensive backs coach Steve Clinkscale) brought it up in the meeting — ‘Jay, keep your helmet on.’ ”
In the end, it wouldn’t matter, but as Harrell cheekily pointed out, should Moore have dropped the interception, the aftermath wouldn’t have been so joyful. The anecdote elicited a laughter in the press conference that can only come with his relief of the rivalry win, but it’s not always so simple.
Had Moore dropped the interception, the flag would have turned the Buckeyes’ second-and-10 from the 37 into a first down at the Wolverines’ 22-yard line with just under thirty seconds to go. The difference would have been night and day.
However, the moment speaks to a broader lesson that was reaffirmed in last Saturday’s contest. A lack of penalties, one of the Wolverines’ main sources of pride, must always be emphasized. Against Ohio State, for just the third time all season, Michigan was the more penalized team.
And that disparity could have been even worse.
Deep into the third quarter, the Buckeyes’ offense looked for a spark. Audibling at the line of scrimmage, McCord noticed a mismatch as graduate linebacker Michael Barrett was trapped in an unfavorable matchup against Ohio State receiver Emeka Egbuka. Just as the snap went off, Barrett emphatically motioned for coverage help.
Enter graduate defensive back Quinten Johnson.
As McCord lobbed a pass over Barrett’s head, Johnson daringly took to the sky. Leaping with outstretched arms, he slammed into Egbuka just as the ball touched his gloves — no penalty, just an incomplete pass. The drive ended in a three and out.
“The ability to lay big hits and not get targeted,” defensive coordinator Jesse Minter said. “We had a couple plays in that game that you know an undisciplined player or whatever that doesn’t lead with their hands or lead with their shoulder might be out of the game.”
Unlike Harrell, Johnson’s play was not a penalty. Nevertheless, the potential for it to be one was there. Had Johnson led with his head — an easy maneuver to pull as he raced across over a third of the field — the situation would have been, again, different. Already without sophomore cornerback Will Johnson due to injury, a Quinten Johnson ejection would have both set the Buckeyes up for a renewed offensive drive while simultaneously weakening the Wolverines’ depth.
But with Johnson’s move called as clean, the play reads as an incompletion on the statsheet, rather than something much more grave.
“There was some plays that set up for what they wanted to be targeting,” Minter said. “In (multiple plays graduate defensive back Mike Sainristil) and (Quinten Johnson in) particular but Mike, he’s just such a smart, heady player who studies the game.”
Now, because of proper execution — or Harrell’s newfound appreciation for Moore after his pick — Michigan doesn’t have to feel as much penalty pain. Instead, it gets a positive outlook on what could have been a painful perspective.
Harrell will still keep his helmet on next time though.
