Cade Stover Addresses Alleged Michigan Sign-Stealing Operation

Former Ohio State tight end Cade Stover addressed the alleged Michigan sign-stealing operation in a brief media availability for his current team, the Houston Texans, on Thursday, citing a suspicious play during his tenure with the Buckeyes.

Michigan first went under investigation when multiple media outlets reported in Oct. 2023 that former Michigan staffer, Connor Stalions was the leader of an alleged sign-stealing operation, which allegedly dated back to at least 2021.

Stover, who was the starting tight end for Ohio State against Michigan in the 2022 and 2023 games, gave some of his thoughts on the alleged sign-stealing operation when asked if he watched the Netflix, “Untold” documentary episode, starring Stalions that debuted on Aug. 27.

“No, I knew enough about that bull—t as it was,” Stover said.

The breaking point for Stover was when Ohio State tried to run a tight end screen to Stover in a formation that they hadn’t used, only for it to be immediately picked up by Michigan, according to the former Buckeye.

“We tried to throw a tight end screen in a formation we’ve never used before, like ever,” Stover said. “As soon as I lined up out wide we had one play where I was going to motion back in and they were going to throw a screen to me. When they start yelling screen when you’re throwing a tight end screen that’s when you know like, what the f— is this? We never ran this before.”

Although Stover didn’t say so, many on social media have assumed that the play in question took place during Ohio State’s 45-23 loss to with 4:34 to go in the first quarter on first-and-10. During the play, it appears as though, Stover popped out for a screen but was quickly followed by a trailing Michigan defender, a pump fake from former quarterback C.J. Stroud grabbed the attention of multiple Michigan defenders. With Stover blanketed, Stroud couldn’t throw to the tight end and instead scrambled for a five-yard gain to bring up second-and-five. The Buckeyes picked up the first down a couple of plays later but would go on to kick a field goal on the drive to take a 10-3 lead.

Asked by @LandryLocker about the Michigan sign-stealing scandal, Cade Stover said the Wolverines identified a TE screen play that Ohio State had never used in a game before.

I went back and re-watched the 2022 game and found this play, which could be it. https://t.co/WCpciizN4h pic.twitter.com/aX0Q5xzm16

— Josh Poloha (@JorshP) September 6, 2024

Two days before the “Untold” episode, Michigan was handed a Notice of Allegations from the NCAA. The Notice of Allegations hasn’t been released to the public yet, but a draft of the allegations obtained by ESPN, reported that the NCAA accused former Michigan Head Coach, Jim Harbaugh, and former Michigan staffers, Chris Partridge, Denard Robinson and Stalions of committing level 1 violations. Additionally, current Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore was also accused of committing a level 2 violation for deleting a thread of 52 text messages sent to Connor Stalions on the day he was reported to be at the center of the operation.

Stover showed he still clings to his hatred for Michigan when he was asked if he could hate Michigan any more.

“Nope, not possible, but I don’t have a lot of room to talk. I didn’t do much. They beat us, so it is what it is,” Stover said.