There are always many areas to point to when Ohio State loses a football game, particularly when it loses a football game to Michigan.
It’s unfair to say that the defense’s performance cost the team the game in the second half. Not when an early Kyle McCord interception set the Buckeyes behind from the get-go, the punt team didn’t win the field position battle as much as it could have, a final interception thanks to a pass protection breakdown ended Ohio State’s final drive.
Again, there are a lot of factors that go into a football loss.