Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh after a huddle in last year’s Wolverine victory at Ohio Stadium Nov. 26, 2022. Credit: Katie Good | Lantern File
No Harbaugh, no cheating, no problem.
Ohio State will march into the Big House undefeated, heads held high and ready for anything — except Michigan.
Despite all the drama surrounding Connor Stalions, head coach Jim Harbaugh and the Big Ten, Michigan went to Happy Valley, Pennsylvania, and took control of the game from the second quarter to the end.
It held a top-10 team to just 74 passing yards, though the Nittany Lions went for 164 yards on the ground.
Without their head coach and junior quarterback J.J. McCarthy throwing for just 60 yards, the Wolverines still handily beat the third-best team in the conference, almost entirely on the ground, ironically.
The run killed Ohio State last year too. Without then-junior starting back Blake Corum, sophomore Donovan Edwards stepped up and ran for 216 yards and two touchdowns to ice the game in Columbus in front of a stunned crowd.
However, even if Edwards didn’t have those two scores, Michigan still would have won by a touchdown — as McCarthy threw for over 250 yards and three scores.
Regardless, it’s a new year. Michigan is still dominating both ways. It is outscoring opponents by 31.5 points per game on offense and ranks No. 1 overall in the country on defense.
Sure, you could say Michigan hasn’t played anyone notable besides Penn State, and it has played like a team that should be annihilating unranked teams.
Ohio State has been phenomenal, too. It has played great on both ends and has the best receiver in the country, Marvin Harrison Jr.
However, junior quarterback Kyle McCord has struggled as of late — outside of his stellar bout against Michigan State Saturday, McCord threw three interceptions against Wisconsin and Rutgers the previous two weeks.
Aside from Saturday, he’s struggled to get the offense going early — in fact, in those two games where McCord was underwhelming, junior running back TreVeyon Henderson had to carry the load, recording back-to-back games with 200-plus all-purpose yards.
McCord is in a position to excel — with weapons in Harrison, junior receivers Emeka Egbuka and Julian Fleming and senior tight end Cade Stover, there should be no reason to have a poor day. He certainly cannot afford to start slow or not find his receivers against the Wolverines.
The defense will do its job against Michigan — Ohio State’s secondary has been among the top in the country despite missing players for multiple games, including junior cornerback Denzel Burke, senior safeties Lathan Ransom and Josh Proctor, and senior linebacker Tommy Eichenberg.
The defensive line has also been great, especially in the past few games, headed by junior defensive ends J.T. Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer.
Unfortunately, the line has allowed big runs that have skewed how good it has been. But all it takes is a couple of big runs, as Ohio State is all too familiar with.
Although the secondary will lock up Wolverine receivers — notably senior Roman Wilson — the Buckeyes are going to get run all over by Corum, Edwards and McCarthy. Corum leads the Football Bowl Subdivision by a substantial margin in rushing touchdowns and is going to keep this up behind a stout offensive line.
On the other end, Michigan’s defensive line will prove too much for McCord and his own line — he will take at least three sacks and throw at least one interception.
The Buckeyes will be extremely confident going in and, despite losing by at least one touchdown Nov. 25, they will still have their playoff hopes alive.
There ya go, Ohio State fans, that’s the hope you should keep.
