There's a reason it's called running out the clock.

Holding onto a two-point lead, Michigan's offense took the field with more than six minutes left in the game. But the Wolverines attempted two passes before freshman Kevin Grady took a handoff up the middle for a loss of one yard - the only time Michigan ran on the drive.

Unable to gain any yards on the ground, the Wolverines gave the ball back to Ohio State with 4:17 remaining.

"The game was still in our hands," tailback Mike Hart said. "But down at the end of the game, when you want to work the clock, we didn't have the running game to do it. So we had to throw the ball."

Michigan knew before the game began that it would have a hard time establishing the run against Ohio State. After all, the Buckeyes possess the second-stingiest run defense in the nation and have allowed just one running back to gain more than 100 yards this season.

But the Wolverines didn't expect its ground game to be completely shut down.

Ohio State's front seven dominated Michigan at the line of scrimmage from the start, allowing the Wolverines to gain more than two yards on just seven of their 24 rushing attempts. Even Hart - who briefly returned to the lineup after missing almost three games due to injury - couldn't find a way to churn out yards against the Buckeyes.

Michigan started the contest with five straight passes before Hart notched a four-yard draw, but the Wolverines didn't run again until their first drive of the second quarter. On that series, Hart carried the ball four times with little success, gaining just six yards.

Throughout the first half, most of the Wolverines' runs went up the middle, where Ohio State linebackers A.J. Hawk and Anthony Schlegel stopped Michigan's tailbacks almost immediately. But even when the Wolverines started to switch it up and run to the outside, the Buckeyes were there to bring them down. And Ohio State did all this without senior Bobby Carpenter, who was injured on the first play of the game and did not return.

"(The Buckeyes) have three linebackers that are going to stuff the hole so it's tough to run," quarterback Chad Henne said. "If we have to pass, we have to pass. We passed the ball a lot; we should have been a little more balanced."

Hart gained just 15 yards on nine carries before he limped off the field at the start of the third quarter. Coach Lloyd Carr said after the game that Hart was not 100 percent.

Without Hart for the remainder of the contest, Michigan turned to Grady, who managed just 11 yards on six carries. The longest run of the day actually belonged to Alijah Bradley, who gained seven yards on a single carry early in the fourth quarter.

Carr did not provide details about Hart's injury but did leave it up in the air as to whether the sophomore will be ready for the bowl game.

Injury update: Right tackle Jake Long missed the first seven games of the season after he injured his left leg at the end of August. Now it looks as if he will have to sit out of the bowl game - only this time he hurt his right foot.

Long suffered the injury in Michigan's win over Indiana last week when another player rolled over his foot. Michigan's doctors decided the injury required surgery before Saturday's contest, but they cleared Long to play because they felt he couldn't make the injury worse. Carr said that Long will have surgery on his foot this week. The redshirt sophomore said the surgery is similar to the one he had on his left leg before the season.

After the game on Saturday, Long said it was "tough" to play through the injury, but he's "got the offseason to worry about pain."

"He's as courageous a guy as you'll ever see," Carr said of Long. "I don't know how he played."

But the rash of injuries to Michigan's offensive line didn't end with Long. Fifth-year senior Leo Henige was carted off the field after he broke his right leg late in the fourth quarter. Carr said Henige will also miss the bowl game.

Notes: Wide receiver Steve Breaston surpassed 1,000 career receiving yards with his 11-yard grab in the third quarter. The redshirt junior finished the game with a career-high seven receptions. - Senior co-captain Jason Avant moved into a tie with Anthony Carter for third place on Michigan's career receptions list with 161. Avant also ranks seventh on the career receiving yards list. - With 223 passing yards on Saturday, sophomore quarterback Chad Henne passed Steve Smith for sixth all-time with 4,999 yards.