John Madden told Jim Harbaugh Michigan’s O-line performance vs. OSU was ‘as good as he’s ever seen’

Michigan’s offensive line had a masterful performance on Saturday, a 42-27 win over Ohio State.

The Wolverines knew during spring practices that they had the ability to run the ball well — they knew they could run on Ohio State.

The team with the better yards per carry average has won the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry for twenty years. Michigan averaged a staggering 7.2 yards per rush, Ohio State a paltry 2.1 yards. Michigan rushed for 297 yards, Ohio State just 64.

Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh said legendary NFL head coach and broadcaster John Madden reached out about the play of Michigan’s offensive line.

The Hall of Fame, Super Bowl winning coach loved the physicality Michigan’s o-line exhibited.

“That was quite a text from John Madden -- as he said in the text, ‘as a former offensive lineman I really appreciate offensive line play’, and that performance in that game was as good as he’s ever seen,” Harbaugh said.

Harbaugh told offensive line coach Sherrone Moore to keep that on his phone forever.

Michigan’s approach wasn’t rocket science, it all boiled down to imposing their will on Ohio State and being the tougher team in the trenches. Smashmouth football still works — and no running back was better than Hassan Haskins on Saturday (169 yards rushing, 5 touchdowns), no offensive line was better than Michigan’s.

“It was dominant,” Harbaugh said of the performance. “It was dominant with the offensive line, no question about it. There was movement, continual movement, up front by the guys and Hassan Haskins. They might have thought they saw a ghost but they didn’t. It was No. 25, Hassan Haskins. He was running with great determination, great purpose. Great ability.”

John Madden and the entire college football world were impressed by Michigan during their win over the Buckeyes, and this team will go far if the offensive line gains more steam moving forward — a locomotive that’ll be hard to slow down.