COLUMBUS — It was Terrelle Pryor’s high school teammate, also a former Michigan recruit, who changed the course of The Game in the second quarter — not Pryor.

The Wolverines had just run down No. 8 Ohio State's throat on an 11-play, 80 yard touchdown drive. Michigan was within an arm’s reach, 10-7.

So Ohio State coach Jim Tressel went into the huddle with his kickoff return unit and told his kick returner, Jordan Hall, he needed to take this kickoff back for a touchdown.

And as if it was all according to plan, Hall received the kickoff at the 15-yard line and sprinted to the left through a neat and tidy hole with every Michigan player accounted for. Then he darted past the sidelines and back over the middle of the field and sprinted to the endzone.

Just like that it was a 10-point game again. Whatever momentum Michigan had before was gone. Ohio State scored 20 unanswered points to end the game.

“That was a critical point,” Tressel said. “Our guys could tell by the kicker’s approach where he was going with the ball. And our front line people did a wonderful job of adjusting.”

Ohio State benefited from the absence of Michigan freshman punter and kickoff specialist Will Hagerup, who did not make the trip to Columbus because he violated team rules. After the game, Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez declined to elaborate on the suspension.

Redshirt freshman kicker Seth Broekhuizen handled the punting and kickoff duties in place of Hagerup, who averages 44 yards per punt. And it wasn’t just the kickoff returned for a touchdown that haunted Broekhuizen.

His punt during the second quarter from Michigan’s own 17-yard line traveled just 18 yards and gave Ohio State great field position. The Buckeyes held a 3-0 lead at the time and scored their first touchdown five plays later.

BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE: Ohio State running back Dan “Boom” Herron didn’t make much noise during the first half for the Buckeyes, but exploded in the second to ice the game. Ohio State’s leading rusher was held to -1 yards on five carries at the break.

Michigan’s defense stacked the box to start the game and swarmed to the football — repeatedly hitting the ballcarrier before he broke through the line of scrimmage. So the Buckeyes let it fly, backed up on their own 13-yard line — Pryor split Michigan’s secondary for a 39-yard strike to wide receiver Dane Sanzenbacher.

Pryor passed for nearly 200 yards and picked apart Michigan’s defense as the Buckeyes built a 24-7 halftime lead.

“We led with the pass in the first half and all of a sudden we got a couple of turnovers and we’re looking more leading with the run in the second half,” Tressel said. “I don’t even know if we threw the ball in the second half. It wasn’t like all of a sudden a snow storm came in or something. It’s (just) not what we needed to do.”

Two of Boom Herron’s runs moved Michigan’s comeback chances from "highly unlikely" to "cooked." Herron ran over a few Wolverine defenders on his way to a 32-yard touchdown run on Ohio State’s first possession of the second half. And on his next carry, he tied the longest play from scrimmage in school history with an 89-yard run, which would have been a 98-yard touchdown if not for a penalty.

Pryor completed three passes in the second half, and Herron carried the ball 17 times for 176 yards to finish off the Ohio State win.

THEY’LL BE BACK: Seven in a row, nine of the last 10 times, Ohio State has beaten Michigan.

The Wolverines’ ineptness since Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez took over in 2008, in particular, has drawn more attention to the lack of parity. Ohio State has outscored Michigan 100-24 in the three losses under Rodriguez. The Buckeyes haven’t dominated Michigan over a three-game span to that degree since the 1930s when the Wolverines were shut out four years in a row.

The sentiment in the Ohio State press conference after the 30-point win was that Michigan’s always a tough game — and that the Wolverines will bounce back.

“Michigan is among the elite programs, and will be,” Tressel said. “Their record will reflect that, over the course of time. You know, we all have our ups and downs and periods and so forth. … There’s constantly changes. But Michigan will be back. You don’t have to worry about that.”

Tressel has yet to experience the “downs.” Saturday’s win clinched the Buckeyes’ sixth straight Big Ten championship.