Maybe it isn’t all that surprising anymore. 

A top-five matchup with Ohio State, a victory over the Buckeyes in The Game, a Big Ten East title punched in the process, a College Football Playoff berth all-but sealed by beating its biggest rival. In recent memory, all of it used to sound pretty out of the ordinary for Michigan. 

Now, it’s normal. 

Three wins over Ohio State in a row, three Big Ten Championship appearances in a row, a likely third College Football Playoff appearance in a row — for years such success looked like a fantasy for the Wolverines. But after 60 minutes against their biggest foe, it became something else: the standard.

That much was clear when the rumbling Big House turned into a mosh pit of fans storming the field as No. 3 Michigan (12-0 overall, 9-0 Big Ten) took down the second-ranked Buckeyes (11-1, 8-1), 30-24, in an iteration of The Game that had everything on the line. Both undefeated squads entered with College Football Playoff hopes, but after converting on timely moments throughout the game — capped by a late interception from junior defensive back Rod Moore to seal the win — only the Wolverines managed to walk away with their lofty goals intact. 

“This game is something we prepare for 365. It’s not a one-week affair,” offensive coordinator and acting head coach Sherrone Moore said. “It’s not something we just dropped that week, so it’s something that’s planned out very strategically.” 

No matter how normal a win like this has become, it was far from a normal afternoon at Michigan Stadium; everything was a little bit bigger. For one of the sport’s greatest rivalries, differences as minute as six Ohio State-branded benches sitting idle and empty on the visitor’s sideline hours before kickoff signified a clash anything but idle and empty to come. To overcome its toughest test of the year amid the highest of stakes, Michigan had to make timely plays. 

Be it a first-quarter interception by sophomore cornerback Will Johnson to keep star receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. in check and set up an easy score, or junior quarterback J.J. McCarthy hitting an extremely tight window for a touchdown strike to senior receiver Roman Wilson, the Wolverines made plays when they mattered to take a 14-10 lead into halftime. 

But for most of the game, no one really dominated the other side, no matter how badly each side wanted to. So it came down to picking spots, picking moments and striking in the second half. Ohio State first picked its spot by going smash-mouth in the third quarter. Rush after rush after rush, the Buckeyes moved the sticks, capping off a touchdown drive that tied the game at 17 with eight straight rushing attempts. 

Michigan needed to stay on time in response, but for a moment, everything stood still. 

Because in the ensuing drive as the Wolverines were rolling down the field late in the third quarter, senior guard Zak Zinter went down with a bad leg injury. Strapped with an aircast and placed on a stretcher, his entire team gathered around to end the multi-minute stoppage. He put his fist up in the air as he was carted off, showing support to a team and crowd that he wouldn’t be able to finish the game alongside. 

And on the very next play, senior running back Blake Corum broke free for a 22-yard touchdown, flashing the number ‘65’ — Zinter’s number — with his hands in celebration. A timely celebration for a timely score, as Michigan retook the lead, got a quick stop and then tacked on a field goal to make it 27-17 early in the fourth quarter to start feeling comfortable.

“We came together and we knew we had to do it for (Zinter),” Corum said. “And the very next play — boom.”

From that “boom,” Michigan led for the rest of the game. And the Wolverines weren’t just feeling comfortable on the field; they were feeling comfortable in their new place in this rivalry and the college football landscape, too. A place that was once strange for them, and now their usual stomping grounds. So comfortable that to ice the game after an Ohio State touchdown made it 27-24, they went back to the basics, back to how they created this new reality in the first place: beating up the Buckeyes in the trenches and dominating on the ground. 

The Wolverines got the ball with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter and churned out minute after minute of clock. A drive made so timely by how quickly the clock moved, it left the Buckeyes unable to respond, down six points with just over a minute left. Unable to fight back. Unable to stop a Michigan win, no matter how close they got. 

“The mindset was get the first down, smash ’em,” Corum said. “And then the last drive, we weren’t able to get the first down, and we were able to kick the field goal and go up (six). And then we relied on the defense, and they were able to get the job done.”

Getting the job done came through that late interception from Moore with 25 seconds left, leaving nothing able to stop the Wolverines from making a win in The Game no longer look surprising or shocking. 

But instead, look normal.