Michigan defends the belt, 35–21, at home over Ohio State.
AP poll, week 14: Ohio State No. 4 at Michigan No. 5 · No. 1 that week: Iowa. The belt vs. the polls →
Where this game sits in the lineage
Michigan came in 28 days into reign #257, which began with a win over Purdue, with 2 defenses already behind it; this was its third defense. It was the last defense: USC took the belt in the very next belt game, on January 1, 2004.
For Ohio State this was its 14th shot at the belt; it had held the belt 6 times before.
It was the 8th of 11 belt games between the two; going in, Ohio State led the belt series 5–2; all-time Ohio State leads 8–3. Every meeting →
About this game
Michigan defended the College Football Belt at home against Ohio State on November 22, 2003, winning 35-21 to retain the belt.
Written by Claude, strictly from this site’s own record of the game — the score and what it meant for the belt. CFBD doesn’t have a box score for games this old, so nothing here is invented beyond what’s verifiably on file.
Key plays
CFBD play-by-play| When | Team | Yards | Play |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 1:08 | Michigan | +0 yd | Extra point by Garrett Rivas (MICH) is good. |
| Q1 1:08 | Michigan | +3 yd | Steve Breaston (MICH) rushed right side for a 3 yard touchdown. |
| Q1 0:39 | Michigan | +25 yd | Kickoff returned by Maurice Hall (OSU) for 25 yards. |
| Q2 13:45 | Michigan | +64 yd | John Navarre (MICH) pass across the middle complete to Braylon Edwards (MICH) for a 64 yard touchdown. |
| Q2 13:45 | Michigan | +0 yd | Extra point by Garrett Rivas (MICH) is good. |
| Q2 5:55 | Michigan | +23 yd | John Navarre (MICH) pass left side complete to Braylon Edwards (MICH) for a 23 yard touchdown. |
| Q2 5:55 | Michigan | +0 yd | Extra point by Garrett Rivas (MICH) is good. |
| Q2 5:49 | Michigan | +21 yd | Kickoff returned by Maurice Hall (OSU) for 21 yards. |
| Q2 0:48 | Ohio State | +8 yd | Craig Krenzel (OSU) pass right side complete to Santonio Holmes (OSU) for a 8 yard touchdown. |
| Q2 0:48 | Ohio State | +0 yd | Extra point by Mike Nugent (OSU) is good. |
| Q3 13:13 | Michigan | +0 yd | Extra point by Garrett Rivas (MICH) is good. |
| Q3 13:13 | Michigan | +30 yd | Chris Perry (MICH) rushed up the middle for a 30 yard touchdown. |
| Q3 11:38 | Ohio State | +41 yd | Craig Krenzel (OSU) pass left side complete to Michael Jenkins (OSU) for 41 yards. |
| Q3 7:35 | Ohio State | +26 yd | Craig Krenzel (OSU) pass right side complete to Michael Jenkins (OSU) for 26 yards. |
| Q3 6:59 | Ohio State | +13 yd | Craig Krenzel (OSU) pass right side complete to Santonio Holmes (OSU) for a 13 yard touchdown. |
| Q3 6:59 | Ohio State | +0 yd | Extra point by Mike Nugent (OSU) is good. |
| Q4 14:05 | Ohio State | +0 yd | Extra point by Mike Nugent (OSU) is good. |
| Q4 14:05 | Ohio State | +2 yd | Lydell Ross (OSU) rushed up the middle for a 2 yard touchdown. |
| Q4 14:30 | Ohio State | +40 yd | Scott McMullen (OSU) pass right side complete to Santonio Holmes (OSU) for 40 yards. |
| Q4 13:47 | Michigan | +0 yd | John Navarre (MICH) pass right side intercepted by Chris Gamble (OSU). Returned for no gain. |
| Q4 8:35 | Michigan | +0 yd | Extra point by Garrett Rivas (MICH) is good. |
| Q4 12:02 | Michigan | +0 yd | Wolverines fumble by Steve Breaston (MICH), recovered by Leon Hall (MICH), advanced for no gain. |
| Q4 9:16 | Michigan | +31 yd | John Navarre (MICH) pass right side complete to Tyler Ecker (MICH) for 31 yards. |
| Q4 8:35 | Michigan | +15 yd | Chris Perry (MICH) rushed up the middle for a 15 yard touchdown. |
| Q4 7:34 | Ohio State | +33 yd | Punt by B.J. Sander (OSU) returned 33 yards by Steve Breaston (MICH) to the Buckeyes 45. |
| Q4 1:54 | Ohio State | +8 yd | Scott McMullen (OSU) pass across the middle intercepted by Ernest Shazor (MICH). Returned for 8 yards. |
Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).
Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 233260130) · This game in the downloadable dataset