No. 1 Ohio State tops No. 15 Michigan 27-9, will play No. 2 Indiana for B10 title

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Ryan Day can rest easy. Julian Sayin and No. 1 Ohio State dominated The Game on Saturday.

Sayin threw three touchdown passes, including a 35-yarder to Jeremiah Smith on a fourth down in the second quarter, and the Buckeyes beat No. 15 Michigan 27-9 to give Day a sorely needed victory in one of college football's biggest rivalries.

With Day on the sideline, Ohio State had lost four in a row to Michigan. Not so much this time around, not with Sayin and Bo Jackson powering the offense, and the defense shutting down Bryce Underwood and the Wolverines.

“Nobody wants to win this game more than me,” Day said. “To win this game, it’s just a great moment. It’s one of those moments that you want to just grab on for a while and just enjoy it.”

The defending national champion Buckeyes (12-0, 9-0 Big Ten, No. 1 CFP) likely earned a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff. They can keep their top seed with a win against No. 2 Indiana (12-0, 9-0, No. 2 CFP) in the conference championship game Saturday night in Indianapolis.

It was quite a performance by Ohio State a year after it was a big favorite for The Game and ended up losing to Michigan in Columbus. That upset sparked speculation that Day might lose his job.

“It’s a great win when you think about the point where we were at last year,” Day said.

As much as Day tried to redirect the focus to his players, they knew the win meant a lot to him.

“I could see the joy on his face,” said Jackson, a freshman who rushed for a season-high 117 yards.

The Wolverines (9-3, 7-2) started strong with two field goals and an interception on the first three possessions of the game, but couldn't generate pressure when Ohio State wanted to pass.

Just Sayin.

After throwing an interception on his second snap, the redshirt freshman took advantage of the time and space he had to throw.

Sayin was 6 of 6 for 68 yards with two touchdowns on third and fourth down in the first half, including a 4-yard throw on third down to Brandon Inniss with 16 seconds left that made it 17-9 at the break. He finished 19 of 26 for 233 yards and threw for at least three touchdowns for the sixth time this season.

Like a savvy veteran, Sayin gave credit to his offensive line.

“All season long they’ve just had an edge them and played nasty,” he said. “We hand it off, we get 7 yards. You see guys getting thrown on the ground, it looks like carnage out there.”

His clutch throw to Smith early in the second stirred some controversy.

Smith bobbled the ball as he went into the end zone and Fox’s officiating expert, Mike Pereira, questioned the call during the TV broadcast.

“They said that he had control of it — didn't look like he had control of it,” Michigan coach Sherrone Moore said. “They told me that it was inconclusive.”

Michigan might have gotten a break early in the game when edge rusher Jaishawn Barham was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct, but wasn’t ejected, after appearing to make contact with an official.

“The official grabbed him and he shouldn't have reacted,” Moore said.

In the end, the calls were moot because Ohio State put together a convincing performance.

Sayin helped the Buckeyes pull away with a perfect pass to Carnell Tate for a 50-yard touchdown in the third quarter, lofting a ball over the receiver's shoulder after he got past Michigan’s secondary.

That put the game out of reach for the Wolverines, who couldn’t catch up after being relegated to kicking three field goals in the first half and failing to get their defense off the field in the second half.

The Buckeyes removed all doubt with a field goal midway through the fourth, capping a 20-play, 81-yard drive that took nearly 12 minutes off the clock.

Underwood, the nation’s No. 1 recruit a year ago, was 8 of 13 for a season-low 63 yards with an interception late in the game.

The Wolverines ran for just 100 yards on 24 carries against the nation’s top-ranked defense.

“It's got to be better,” Moore said. “I put it on me.”

Ohio State: Day improved to 2-4 against the Wolverines, quieting any critics that were not convinced by the national championship he won.

“To tell you that the last four years have been easy is not true,” Day said after beating Michigan for the first time since his debut season in 2019.

Michigan: Underwood’s uneven season as a passer proved to be costly because it limited big-play potential against a defense that didn’t give up a touchdown for the fifth time this year.

“We just couldn’t get a rhythm,” Moore said.

The Buckeyes will face the Hoosiers for the first time since beating them 38-15 a little more than a year ago.

Michigan will find out next Sunday where it play in a bowl game with just pride at stake.

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Ohio State running back Bo Jackson (25) runs the ball against Michigan linebacker Jaishawn Barham (1) during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025, in Ann Arbor, Mich. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate, right, runs against Michigan defensive back TJ Metcalf during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025, in Ann Arbor, Mich. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Ohio State tight end Will Kacmarek, right, celebrates near Michigan defensive back TJ Metcalf after a first down during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025, in Ann Arbor, Mich. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, left, catches a pass for a touchdown against Michigan defensive back Zeke Berry during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025, in Ann Arbor, Mich. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin throws during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Michigan, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025, in Ann Arbor, Mich. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged to revive his struggling government but faced growing calls to resign after a disastrous set of local and regional elections for his Labour Party.

As the final results came in Saturday, Labour suffered a net loss of more than 1,100 local council seats across England, lost control of several local authorities it had held for decades and was booted from power in Wales after 27 years. Anti-immigration party Reform UK gained over 1,300 seats across England and made significant gains in legislative elections in Wales and Scotland.

It was a blunt verdict from voters in elections widely seen as an unofficial referendum on Starmer, whose popularity has plummeted since he led the center-left party to power less than two years ago.

Here are five things we’ve learned from the elections.

Starmer insisted he would not walk away and "plunge the country into chaos,” and the dire election results did not produce an immediate challenge to his leadership.

"The right thing to do is rebuild and show the path forward,” Starmer said Saturday. “That’s what I’m going to do in the coming days.”

Starmer’s Cabinet colleagues expressed support, and none of the high-profile Labour politicians considered potential challengers has made a move. Health Secretary Wes Streeting, former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham are keeping quiet for now.

But a growing number of Labour lawmakers urged the prime minister to set a timetable for his departure this year. British politics allows parties to change leader midterm without the need for a new election.

“There has to be a timetable,” legislator Clive Betts told the BBC. Another lawmaker, Tony Vaughan, said there should be an “orderly transition of leadership.”

Starmer tried to demonstrate change on Saturday by bringing back two figures from past Labour governments. He made former Prime Minister Gordon Brown a special envoy on global finance, and appointed the party's ex-deputy leader Harriet Harman an adviser on women and girls.

Starmer is due to make a speech on Monday in an attempt to regain momentum, before the government sets out its legislative plans on Wednesday in a speech delivered by King Charles III at the State Opening of Parliament.

The elections were a breakthrough for Reform UK, the latest hard-right party led by the veteran nationalist politician Nigel Farage.

Running on an anti-establishment and anti-immigration message, the party won hundreds of local council seats in working-class areas in England’s north, such as Sunderland, that were solid Labour turf for decades. It also made gains from the Conservatives in areas like the county of Essex, east of London, and increased its vote share in Wales and Scotland, new terrain for the party.

Farage said the results marked a “historic change in British politics.” He said he's confident that “voters who have come to us are not doing it as a short-term protest.”

Reform UK currently holds just eight of the 650 seats in the House of Commons and it’s unclear whether it could repeat its success in a national election.

The elections produced semiautonomous administrations in Scotland and Wales led by parties devoted to independence and the breakup of the United Kingdom — though neither has that policy on the front burner.

The Scottish National Party, which has governed in Edinburgh since 2007, won another term but fell short of a majority, meaning an independence referendum is unlikely. Labour and Reform tied in a distant second place.

Plaid Cymru (The Party of Wales) won the most seats in the Cardiff-based legislature, the Senedd. The party, which has an ambition for Wales to leave the U.K. but no plan to do so anytime soon, fell short of a majority but will likely form the new government. Reform came second and Labour a distant third in one of its most historic heartlands, with outgoing First Minister Eluned Morgan losing her seat.

The economy lies at the heart of Labour’s troubles, as it does for many incumbent governments.

Since ending 14 years of Conservative rule roiled by austerity and the COVID-19 pandemic, Labour has struggled to ease the cost of living and jump-start a sluggish economy against the tough economic backdrop of war in Ukraine and, more recently, Iran. Starmer also has angered supporters with attempts to cut welfare spending, some of which were reversed after Labour revolts.

Some in Labour say the government's achievements, including protections for renters and a higher minimum wage, are going unnoticed. Many blame Starmer, an uninspiring leader distracted by scandals including his disastrous decision to appoint Peter Mandelson, a scandal-tarnished friend of Jeffrey Epstein, as Britain’s ambassador to Washington.

But Stephen Houghton, the outgoing leader of Barnsley council in northern England, where Labour lost to Reform, said the problem “goes deeper than the prime minister.”

“This has been coming for 30 years around the country, in post-industrial communities, coastal communities, that have been left behind,” he said. “You can change prime ministers all day long. If you don’t change policy, it’s not going to change.”

The results reflect a fragmentation of U.K. politics after decades of domination by Labour and the Conservative Party, which also suffered major losses on Thursday.

The elections offered voters a rainbow of choices, including the centrist Liberal Democrats and the nationalist parties in Scotland and Wales.

But the big winners were populist insurgents, Reform UK and the Green Party, whose focus has expanded from the environment to social justice and the Palestinian cause under self-described “eco populist” leader Zack Polanski. The Greens won hundreds of council seats from Labour in urban centers and university towns and took control of several local authorities.

Tony Travers, professor of government at the London School of Economics, said the results suggest the next national election, due by 2029, won’t produce a majority for any party.

“So then you’re in the world of, after the election, two or three big minority parties trying to work out how they would govern,” he said — something traditionally considered “very un-British.”

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaking to the media after meeting Labour Party members during a visit to AFC Wimbledon in south London, Saturday May 9, 2026. (Maja Smiejkowska/PA via AP)

First Minister and SNP leader John Swinney with some of the newly elected SNP MSPs in Edinburgh, Saturday May 9, 2026, following the 2026 Holyrood elections. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy meeting Labour Party members during a visit to AFC Wimbledon in south London, Saturday May 9, 2026. (Maja Smiejkowska/PA via AP)

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaking to the media after meeting Labour Party members during a visit to AFC Wimbledon in south London, Saturday May 9, 2026. (Maja Smiejkowska/PA via AP)

Observers from the Scottish National Party (SNP) watch as votes are counted for the 2026 Holyrood elections, at Dewars Centre in Perth, Scotland, Friday May 8, 2026. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage speaks to supporters at Chelmsford City Racecourse, Friday May 8, 2026, in Essex, England, following the 2026 local election results. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)

Britain's Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaks to Labour Party members at Kingsdown Methodist Church Hall, in Ealing, west London, Friday May 8, 2026, a day after the local elections. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)