History and keys to The Game
Current Ohio State wide receiver Garrett Wilson rambles up the sideline for a 41-yard catch during the second quarter against Michigan in 2019. The Buckeyes won the game, 56-27. Photo by Sam Fahmi/Columbus Wired.
When No. 2 Ohio State (10-1, 8-0 Big Ten) invades Michigan Stadium on Saturday afternoon to take on fifth-ranked Michigan (10-1, 7-1) it will mark the 12th time that both teams will square up as top-5 teams since the inception of the AP Poll in 1936.
By now, everyone is aware of the narrative going into the 117th version of The Game: two top-5 teams with not only a Big Ten East division title on the line where the champion will get a berth into the conference championship game but will also stay in the hunt for a spot in the college football playoff.
If the Buckeyes win, they’ll secure their fifth-straight and seventh overall trip to the Big Ten championship. A win there would mean their fifth appearance and third-straight trip to the college football playoff and the possibility to play for a third national championship since 2014.
If the Wolverines manage to pull off the “upset”, they’ll secure their first-ever trip to the B1G title game and undoubtedly move into the top-4 where a win in the title match will mean another first for the school: a spot in the college football playoff and chance at a national championship, something they haven’t had an opportunity for since 1997.
History
The first game between the two as top-5 foes was 1942 and the last came in 2016. Both of those games went to OSU when the Buckeyes were ranked fifth in ’42 and second in ’16. The Wolverines were ranked fourth and third, respectively.
Six of those matchups came in a nine-year span (1968-1977) where Ohio State went 4-1-1. The other three games were in 1997, 2003 and 2006, with Michigan winning the former two (1997, 2003) and the Buckeyes winning the latter (2006).
Overall, OSU is 7-3-1. However, they’re 1-3-1 when playing in the Big House. In all but one of those games (1997), the Scarlet and Gray were the higher-ranked team, being as high as No. 1 in 1973 and 1975. The Maize and Blue were ranked fourth in both of those game. The ’73 game was a 10-10 tie and ’75 was a 21-14 victory for Ohio State.
The 1977 game, the Buckeyes were No. 4 and the Wolverines were No. 5 and Michigan head coach Bo Schembechler notched a 14-6 win over OSU head coach Woody Hayes, his second-straight. Bo would go on the next year to defeat Woody a for a third-straight game, which would prove to be Woody’s last game ever in the “Ten Year War”.
The only game where Michigan was the higher ranked team at home and won was the ’97 game where the Wolverines were No. 1 and undefeated while the Buckeyes had one loss and were No. 4. Cornerback Charles Woodson solidified his name in The Game’s lore by single-handedly leading Michigan to a 20-14 win by catching a 37-yard pass on third-and-12 midway through the second quarter that enabled the Wolverines to continue the drive and score the first touchdown of the game. He then returned a 78-yard punt for six on Ohio State’s ensuing possession, then picked off OSU quarterback Stanley Jackson in the end zone early in the third quarter, negating a nine-play, 65-yard drive that would’ve given OSU their first score of the game.
Jackson would throw a second-straight pick on the Buckeyes’ very next drive that was returned by corner Andre Weathers 43 yards to the house and gave Michigan a commanding 20-0 lead midway through the third quarter. Ohio State would manage two touchdowns after that but would fall short in their comeback.
The Wolverines’ third top-5 win in Ann Arbor came in 2003 where former OSU head coach Jim Tressel was in his third year, defending the team’s 2002 national championship and was looking for a win that would possibly put them in the BCS national title game again. The Buckeyes were No. 4 while Michigan was No. 5 and the day belonged to the Wolverines as they never trailed and at two different points, held a three-touchdown lead. Michigan running back Chris Perry ran for 154 yards and two touchdowns while receiver UM Braylon Edwards caught seven passes for 130 yards and two scores on the way to a 35-21 win.
So let’s break down Saturday’s game and see who’s got the edge over who.
Michigan rush offense vs. Ohio State rush defense
The Big Ten’s second-ranked rushing defense will try to tackle the conference’s second-best rushing attack.
The Wolverines are averaging over 218 yards per game thanks to their two-headed backfield monster of running backs senior Hassan Haskins and sophomore Blake Corum. The duo have combined for 1,841 of the team’s 2,402 yards, which ranks 15th in the nation. Haskins is currently the conference’s third leading rusher in both yards and touchdowns at 1,063 and 13.
The Buckeyes are allowing a nation’s 11th-best 102 yards a game for a total of 1,125. Last weekend, they shut down Michigan State’s prolific Kenneth Walker III, holding him to a season-low six carries and 25 yards. He came in leading the country at 147 yards per game.
Ohio State has allowed only four teams to run for over 100 yards.
Michigan’s lowest output has been 112 yards in two separate games: at home against Rutgers on Sept. 25 and the following weekend on the road against Wisconsin.
However, the Wolverines have three games of over 300yards: Western Michigan (335), Washington (343) and Northern Illinois (373). They also have two 200-yard games which immediately followed those games against Rutgers and Wisconsin: at Nebraska (204) and home against Northwestern (294). Their 29 TD’s rank first in the conference and tied-for seventh in the nation.
Ohio State’s nine rushing touchdowns allowed puts them fifth-best in the conference and tied-for 16th in the nation.
Edge: Michigan
If we take a closer look at what the Buckeyes have done against the run this year, the stats can be somewhat misleading. They allowed two games of over 200 yards and in their game against Purdue, even though they held the Boilermakers to 91 yards, they still allowed the nation’s worst rushing offense to run for 4.8 yards per carry, which was double what Purdue was rushing for on the season.
Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh said in his press conference this week that he’s not sure whether or not Corum will play, who’s been sidelined the last two games since suffering a shoulder injury three weeks ago against Indiana. Going into that game, he led the team with 777 yards and was tied with Haskins with 10 rushing TD’s.
However, even if Corum plays, he could be rusty and still afflicted with the shoulder injury. Even then, he should be flying high with enough energy to stave off any ill effects.
But if Ohio State can corral Haskins (and Corum, if he plays) and jump out to a fast start like they did against the Spartans, then it could be a long day for Michigan’s rush game and they could abandon it early like Sparty head coach Mel Tucker did last week against the Buckeyes.
Expect the Wolverines to get theirs on the ground, though, however it probably won’t be to the extent of one of their five 200-yard games.
Michigan passing offense vs. Ohio State passing defense
Definitely not the strength of the Wolverines’ offense, they rank smack-dab in the middle of the conference at seventh with 229 yards per game and like to lean more on the run to get their offense going.
But those stats can be misleading, too. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Cade McNamara ranks right around the middle of the league in most categories but what looks most impressive are his 14 touchdown passes and only two interceptions.
And when it comes to defending the pass, the Buckeyes come in near the bottom of the B1G at No. 12, allowing over 250 yards a game. They’ve picked off opposing QB’s 11 times this year with an FBS tied-for first four interceptions for scores. But nine of their 11 as well as all four pick-sixes came in a four-game stretch starting with their third game against Tulsa and ended when they returned one in their sixth game at home against Maryland with less than three minutes to play.
Since that Maryland game, they’ve garnered two interceptions. And as we’ve seen, Ohio State can still be susceptible to giving up the middle of the field like they did in their home-opening loss to Oregon. Penn State’s Sean Clifford threw for a career, single-game fourth-best 361 yards and also allowed Purdue QB Aidan McConnell to throw for a career, single-game fourth-best in yards (390) for a single-game, career-high four touchdowns. Clifford threw one of the last two picks the Ohio State has snagged while McConnell didn’t throw any.
Edge: Even
This matchup is going to come down to the play of both opposing lines of scrimmage, obviously. But it could be one of the more intriguing matchups of the game.
The Buckeyes lead the Big Ten with 35 sacks, however, the Wolverines don’t allow their QB to get pressured all too often, allowing an NCAA fourth-best nine sacks all year long.
The Buckeyes are pretty stout on the edges and trying to throw deep up the sidelines against cornerbacks Denzel Burke, Cam Brown and Sevyn Banks is like trying force a basketball into a paper cup. It’s not going to happen.
But if given time to throw, McNamara has been efficient enough this season to make sound throws and could look to the middle of the field for some solid gains like a few other teams have done this year.
Ultimately, this could come to a stalemate where OSU gets lucky enough to get a sack or two.
But getting enough pressure on McNamara to force him to throw a pick is not likely to happen and if the Wolverines are able to establish the run, executing some play-action could catch the Buckeyes off guard where UM can get some big hits on crossing routes and hooks over the middle or passes out to the flat to their backs.
Ohio State rushing offense vs. Michigan rushing defense
The Buckeyes have been good running the ball, for the most part. They’re fourth in the Big Ten at 197 yards a game and true freshman running back TreVeyon Henderson is second in the B1G in yards with 1,098, which is also second in the country among freshmen. He also ranks third in scoring in the conference with 17 touchdowns, which broke former OSU running back Maurice Clarett’s school freshman season scoring record of 16. Henderson also broke former OSU running back and two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin’s single-game freshman rushing record when he ran for 277 against Tulsa.
Michigan’s one weakness defensively has been against the run, ranking sixth in the league at 127 yards a game. However, they get stingy when letting opposing running backs into the end zone with only 10 TD’s given up.
Ohio State has run for triple digits in all but one of their games this year with six games of over 200 yards including 326 against Tulsa and their last two games against Purdue and Michigan State with 263 and 206, respectively.
The Wolverines have yet to allow a game for over 200 yards with the most coming in their lone loss to Michigan State where they gave up 199 with 197 of those yards and five touchdowns yielded to Kenneth Walker.
Edge: Ohio State
If Ohio State’s hogmollies up front can push around Michigan’s stout defensive line, then this could prove fruitful for the Buckeyes. They have a good blend of experience with guys like senior Thayer Munford and redshirt junior Nicholas Petit-Frere, who are projected as NFL draft picks. Combined with redshirt freshman center Luke Wypler who has aptly filled in for preseasonB1G O-line pick Harry Miller, as well as five-star project Parris Johnson, Jr. and mammoth 330-pounder Dawand Jones, the Scarlet and Gray once again have themselves an offensive line that is reminiscent of all-star lines in the past.
Ohio State passing offense vs. Michigan passing defense
This is it. This is where the game is going to be won or lost on both sides of the ball.
The Buckeyes are the sixth-best passing team in the country (362 yards per game) and sit as the best overall offense in the nation at 559 yards a game. They also score more points than any other team in all of the FBS at 47 points per game.
That’s primarily thanks to OSU quarterback C.J. Stroud, who ranks as the country’s second-most efficient QB at 186.7 per game who is fifth in total offense at 346 yards per game. His 3,468 passing yards currently rank ninth in the nation and is already the second-most amount of yards thrown in a single season in OSU history.
And a big reason for the redshirt freshman’s success is having what some say is the best receiving corps in the nation in the “Big 3” in wide receivers Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who are considered by pretty much every CFB pundit as being the most dangerous triple-threat in the nation.
Olave ranks first in the country with 13 touchdown catches while his counterpart, Wilson, ranks tied-for second-best in the NCAA with 11.Smith-Njigba became the school’s sixth all-time receiver with over 1,000 yards in a single season and currently leads the Buckeyes with 1,132.
But when it comes to allowing passing yards, the Wolverines are stingy at 178 yards a game, which is second-best in the conference. They’ve only allowed 11 TD’s through the air which is best for 13th in the country.
Edge: Ohio State
Suffice it to say, Michigan is STOUT against the pass, ranking second in the Big Ten and eighth in the NCAA at 178 yards a game while their 29 sacks is tied-for fourth in the conference. Senior defensive lineman Aidan Hutchinson and junior linebacker David Ojabo have been wreaking havoc on offensive lines all year with a combined 21.5 tackles for-loss and each lead the team with 10 sacks apiece. No slouch is fifth-year senior linebacker Josh Ross, who leads the team with 80 tackles and is third to those two with 7.5 tackles for-loss.
However, OSU has only allowed a B1G second-best 13 sacks on the year.
Even though the Buckeyes’ up-front beef are second to Michigan on the year in sacks allowed, OSU can be just as stalwart as the Wolverines in allowing their QB to sit in the pocket and throw, hence their nation-leading stats.
Stroud hasn’t thrown for lees than 300 yards in a game since Tulsa, their third game of the year when he threw for a career-low 185.
If Ohio State’s line can protect their redshirt freshman then it’s going to be a long day for the Wolverines.
However, if Michigan’s second-best passing D can come to the fold and force the Buckeyes into situations that they’re not used to, then it could be a long day for the Scarlet and Gray. Ultimately though, Stroud and the gang should come correct and throw all over then Wolverines’ pass D.
The Game kicks off at noon EST and will be aired on FOX.