COLUMBUS, Ohio — Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson limped across the room.

A protective blue sleeve covered his right knee. He reached a set of steps and stopped in obvious pain, unable to bend his right leg. A bright red bruise stretched across his right cheek.

He was beat up and bruised, a walking symbol of the entire team after Ohio State demolished the Wolverines, 62-39, on Saturday, the most points given up by the Wolverines in the history of the series.

“We ran into a good Ohio State team,” Patterson said.

Uh, yeah.

That’s understating it.

There was no controversy. No officiating ruling that will be debated. Ohio State whupped the Wolverines on the field.

“It didn’t go good, didn’t end up good,” Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said. “And we take responsibility for it.”

More:Michigan's Jim Harbaugh first U-M coach to start 0-4 vs. Ohio State

This was a failure across the board.

A failure to reach the next level.

A failure to beat its arch rival — Ohio State has now beaten Michigan seven straight times.

A failure to grab what was sitting there, just waiting to be taken. The Wolverines had a chance to get to the Big Ten championship game, and the College Football Playoff was within reach.

But they blew it.

Yes, the Wolverines finished with a 10-2 record. And if that is how you view success, then that’s your prerogative.

To me, this season should be viewed as a failure.

This was like sailing through a class, acing the mid-term, getting extra credit and then bombing the final. The only part that mattered. This was a stunning, historic collapse.

As Harbaugh said, this is the game Michigan will think about for the next 365 days.

And they will remember one thing: Ohio State's domination.

To me, that makes it a failure of a season.

This is beyond blowing an opportunity. The Wolverines might have taken two steps forward this season, but they just did a face plant backward.

The Buckeyes looked better across the board.

They got better coaching. Better tackling. Better blocking. Better quarterback play. Better everything.

This was more than a collapse. This was an unraveling. Ohio State took a look at Michigan’s strengths — or at least, what was perceived to be its strengths — and ripped them to shreds. The Buckeyes shredded Michigan’s defense, finding weaknesses, forcing pass interference penalties. Getting the Wolverines shaken up.

Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins was fantastic, tearing apart Michigan’s top-ranked pass defense.

“I was licking my chops,” Haskins said.

Wait a second. What?

“I see the one-high covers and that's a quarterback's dream,” Haskins said. “The biggest responsibility for me all week was to be able to pick up blitzes and protection, because we saw a lot of different fronts and exotic looks. I spent hours in the film room just trying to figure out how we can pick the blitzes up. And once we picked it up, receivers make plays, and I'm going to put it there. And it was a great overall team effort today.”

Ohio State won this game at the line of scrimmage. The Buckeyes gashed the Wolverines for 262 yards on the ground, including 99 by Mike Weber (Detroit Cass Tech).

And Michigan couldn’t get any kind of pass rush. Haskins threw the ball 30 times, but Michigan couldn’t sack him. He just sat back there, ripping apart Michigan’s defense.

“It's a crazy win,” Haskins said. “We saw a lot of man coverage, lot of one-high, so we knew that we could get a lot of one-on-one matchups and crossing routes on them. And made some plays when it mattered the most. And it was a great win today.”

Those crossing routes killed the Wolverines.

“The (second-ranked) offense in America just put a bunch of yards on the number one defense in America,” Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said. “So just great players and a really good offensive staff, and that’s how you do what you did.”

It sounds so simple when he says it.

And yes, there is some irony there.

More:Urban Meyer whips Jim Harbaugh again, embarrasses Michigan football

0-for-Ohio for Harbaugh

The blame starts with Harbaugh.

In the biggest moment, on the brightest stage, Harbaugh was outcoached by Meyer once again.

The Buckeyes came into this game with a major weakness — they couldn’t stop anybody on the ground. But Michigan couldn’t take advantage of it and the play calling made you want to pull your hair out.

Meanwhile, the Wolverines made mistakes all over the field. There were dropped passes. A blocked punt. Missed tackles. Blown coverages. Defensive pass interference penalties. You name it, it went wrong.

It was a failure to make plays. A failure to make adjustments — that’s on the coaches. A failure to handle the pressure. And in my eyes, that makes this entire season a failure.

Michigan made all kinds of progress this season. The offensive line jelled. Shea Patterson made the offense work.

And the defense was fantastic, until facing the Buckeyes.

This program is judged by one game (OK, two. I don't want to dismiss Michigan State).

This is why Harbaugh was hired. To win this game. To beat Meyer. To lift Michigan back to a place where it hasn’t been in forever.

But Harbaugh couldn't do it. Couldn’t put his players in a position to win. Couldn't get his team to play up to the Buckeyes' level. Couldn't call the right plays. Couldn't make the adjustments. Couldn't find the right wrinkles. And he made some seriously questionable decisions, chasing points early in the game and failing on a pair of 2-point conversion attempts.

This was a game Michigan had to win. That Harbaugh had to win, after losing three straight to Ohio State.

So make it four in a row for Harbaugh.

All hail, Ohio State.

The Buckeyes have everything that Michigan wants.

But can't get.

Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @seideljeff. To read his recent columns, go to freep.com/sports/jeff-seidel.