Bo Knows Rose Bowl: Michigan Wins, 28-18 : Big Ten: A victory over Ohio State sends Wolverines to Pasadena for New Year’s Day. It’s the 10th time under Schembechler.

Bo Schembechler has won or shared 13 Big Ten Conference championships in 21 years at Michigan.

It would seem to be old hat to him, but Schembechler was particularly pleased by the latest title after Michigan beat Ohio State, 28-18, Saturday at Michigan Stadium.

“That’s the first time we’ve won outright championships back-to-back, and it’s the first time it has been done in the Big Ten in 23 years,” Schembechler said.

Michigan State was the last team to win consecutive conference championships, in 1965 and 1966.

So Schembechler and his Wolverines are back in the Rose Bowl for a rematch with USC on New Year’s Day. Schembechler is 2-7 in Rose Bowl games, but has one his last two.

It wasn’t an easy accomplishment for the Wolverines on a cold day and the score doesn’t reflect the close nature of the game.

Ohio State, a 13 1/2-point underdog, trailed at halftime, 14-3, but outplayed Michigan throughout most of the second half.

As a result, Michigan had only a 21-18 lead midway through the fourth quarter.

And, with 3:42 remaining, after Michigan punted to Ohio State, the Buckeyes had plenty of time to win.

Ohio State was successful with a relentless ground attack in the second half with fullback-tailback Scottie Graham supplying most of the yardage.

But the game turned on Ohio State’s second down play from its own 32-yard line.

Quarterback Greg Frey’s pass was intercepted by cornerback Todd Plate at the Michigan 41-yard line. That, in effect, was the game.

The Wolverines added a final touchdown on fullback Jarrod Bunch’s 23-yard run with 1:28 left to provide the false impression that Michigan won comfortably.

A crowd of 106,137, fourth largest in Michigan history, was understandbly quiet moments after the interception.

Plate collided with his teammate, free safety Vada Murray, after the interception. Both players went to the ground, but Murray didn’t get up.

He was motionless for several minutes and was carried off the field on a stretcher to the University of Michigan hospital.

Murray did not suffer a serious head injury but remained hospitalized as a precautionary measure.

Michigan (10-1), the nation’s third ranked team, lost only to Notre Dame in its opening game and was 8-0 in the Big Ten.

Ohio State (8-3), which struggled to a 2-2 record at the outset of the season, including a 42-3 loss to USC, wound up 6-2 in the Big Ten.

The Buckeyes’ only chance of getting to the Rose Bowl--and it was a slim one--was to beat Michigan and hope woeful Northwestern could upset Illinois.

However, Illinois easily beat Northwestern, and Ohio State couldn’t beat its traditional rival.

Ohio State Coach John Cooper thought his team had an opportunity to win with 3:42 remaining to play.

“I told our offense on the sidelines, ‘Hey guys, we’ve got them right where we want them,’ ” Cooper said. “Then, their guy makes the interception. Give credit where credit is due.”

Schembechler said it was a game of shifting momentum--and so it was.

Michigan was dominant in the first half, scoring on a one-yard run by Leroy Hoard and a two-yard run by Allen Jefferson.

Ohio State could counter with only a field goal, and saw another partially blocked.

However, the Wolverines should have had an even more commanding lead.

Hoard lost a fumble at the Ohio State 16-yard line after catching a screen pass, and quarterback Michael Taylor fumbled in the open field at the Buckeye 22-yard line.

Ohio State, which changed its offensive philosophy early in the season, from a pass to a run-oriented team, took control of the game in the third quarter.

The Buckeyes closed to 14-6 on Pat O’Morrow’s second field goal of 22 yards and then drove 40 yards to a touchdown after a shanked, 14-yard Michigan punt near the end of the quarter.

With the exception of one first-down pass for nine yards, it was a ground assault with Graham, playing tailback for the first time this season in place of injured Carlos Snow, carrying on seven of the eight running downs.

He got the touchdown from the three-yard line, but Frey fumbled the snap on a two-point conversion try, so Michigan was still ahead, 14-12.

Early in the fourth quarter, Hoard, a 6-foot, 220-pound senior from New Orleans, broke through a huge hole at the Ohio State 44, running with his head down.

When he looked up, he had an open field and kept moving until he was tackled by Ohio State cornerback Vinnie Clark at the Buckeye four-yard line.

Michigan scored on third down, Taylor passing five yards to Bunch, making it 21-12.

Hoard, the most valuable player of Michigan’s 22-14 victory over USC in last January’s Rose Bowl game, sprained his left ankle on the run that revived the Wolverines when the Buckeyes were surging.

He left the game for good with 13 1/2 minutes left after gaining 152 yards rushing for a 7.2-yard average.

Hoard, who alternates between tailback and fullback, was at tailback replacing Tony Boles, who had arthroscopic knee surgery Wednesday and has been declared out of the Rose Bowl game.

His touchdown run might have finished off most teams, but not the Buckeyes. They drove 80 yards to a touchdown with Graham, who had 133 yards in 28 carries, bulling his way in from the four-yard line.

Then, O’Morrow’s try for the extra point was blocked by strong safety Tripp Welbourne, preventing Ohio State from being able to win the game with a field goal.

“That blocked extra point really killed us,” Cooper said. “If we make it, it changes the whole complexion of the game. A tie doesn’t do us any good. It puts Michigan in the Rose Bowl.”

Michigan made sure it would get to the Rose Bowl again, though, with Plate’s interception and a third down pass for a first down by Taylor that sustained the Wolverines’ final scoring drive.

So Bo is back in the Rose Bowl.

“USC is a great, great team,” Schembechler said. “We were fortunate to beat them last year and we’ll try to do it again.”