Before every game, we provide a preview of Ohio State football’s opponent for the upcoming week. It’s a twelve game slate to the regular season, so there’s plenty to talk about, and plenty of opponents to get up to speed on.
Of course, some you’ll know better than others. And this week it’s a team we all know very well — Michigan.
So, if you want to impress your friends while watching the game, we’ve got your cheat code right here. We do the research, you drop nuggets. You win on Saturdays. It’s as simple as that.
Ohio State’s twelfth game of the year is against a That Team Up North, a team that looked severely overrated at the beginning of the year, but that looks to have steered the sinking ship back out into open waters and is playing its best football of the year.
Here’s all you need to know about Michigan.
Next … Michigan all-time vitals
Michigan Record
(9-2 overall); (6-2 Big Ten): Last week beat Indiana 39-14
All-Time Record vs. Ohio State
58-50-6 (.530)
All-Time Vitals
Record: 962-344-36, No. 2 All-Time
National Championships: 11, No. 2 All-Time
Conference Championships: 42, No. 3 All-Time
Bowl Games: 47, No. 11 All-Time
Bowl Record: 21-26-0, No. 61 All-Time
Consensus All-Americans: 83, No. 3 All-Time
Heisman Winners: 3, No. 5 All-Time
NFL Draft Picks: 369, No. 5 All-Time
Best All-Time Season
1997 – Sorry, we refuse to go back to the days of leather helmets, so we’ll cherry pick the last time Michigan won a national title. That was win Charles Woodson was stomping around the secondary and winning himself a Heisman Trophy.
The Wolverines weren’t expected to be nearly as good as they were, but as the season wore on, it was clear this team was one that was as good as any in the country. It won some games convincingly, but used an attacking defense to win other close ballgames on its way to an undefeated record going into The Game against Ohio State.
The Wolverines jumped out early against Buckeyes before denying them a comeback for the ages. Michigan won The Game 20-14 in large part to a Woodson punt return touchdown, and went into the Rose Bowl where it disposed of the Washington State Cougars 21-16. The win catapulted Michigan to a share of the national championship with Nebraska.
Best Player Of All-Time
Charles Woodson, CB, 1995-1997 – You know this guy right? An Ohio native, Woodson left his home state to play for Michigan, and boy did he make an impact. He was good enough his freshman and sophomore seasons, but is one of the most iconic players in college football history for what he did his senior season.
He was a lock down corner with rare athletic gifts, and was used on offense and punt returns as well, many of his Heisman moments coming because of his impact on the offensive end. He’s in Michigan lore, and the Wolverines don’t win that 1997 matchup without his contributions. That year, Woodson was named the Big Ten Player of the Year, and won the Walter Camp, Bronco Nagurski, Chuck Bednarik and Jim Thorpe Awards.
Next … Head coach, offensive and defensive styles
Current Head Coach
Jim Harbaugh – 76-37 overall, 47-16 at Michigan
Offensive Style
You used to be able to count on a Jim Harbaugh team using a pro-style that leaned on a rough and tumble type of running game, with the play action mixed in. Those days are now gone.
Harbaugh lured Josh Gattis away from Alabama to install and implement more of the spread attack. You’ll now see the Wolverines spread the field more and get quarterback Shea Patterson out of the pocket often. The offense is geared to getting the skill position players out in space. It looked like a failed experiment earlier int the year, but the offense now seems to be getting its act together to become a dangerous one.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Ohio State coaching staff game plans against this attack as opposed to the one it saw in seasons past. And … how will having two former Michigan defensive assistants now on staff play into it?
Defensive Style
Dan Brown is still in charge and he’s made some adjustments after the Wolverine defense got lit up by both Ohio State and Florida last year. Brown is still a man-to-man 4-3 base guy, but the defense has used a lot more zone in situations this year.
The defense will still attack downhill with blitz packages designed to stop the run and get pressure on the quarterback, but the Wolverines are a little lighter and faster now in the second level to be more flexible against those crossing pass schemes they got burned on last year.
Let the chess match begin.
Next … Player to watch and the Wildcat’s chances
Penn State player to watch
Shea Patterson, QB — This Michigan team will sink or swim by how effective Patterson is. Against Ohio State, it’s unlikely the receivers on the outside will shake loose as often as they have in previous games. With Chase Young and the defensive line, you can also bank on a significant push up front from the Buckeye D. That means Patterson is going to have to make plays, and he has been up to the task in other contests.
He’s a dual threat and one that can be extremely dangerous if flushed out of the pocket to ad-lib. He’s not nearly as dangerous as Justin Fields in the running game, but he can keep plays alive and has the moxie to make something out of nothing. He had to play extremely well in this one.
Michigan Can Win The Game If …
It can slow down Ohio State’s running game.
Not one single team has really done that this entire year. The Buckeyes rank fourth in the country in yards per game, and have been able to wear down the opponents’ defensive front as the game has gone on. And it’s not just J.K. Dobbins and Master Teague.
Michigan also has to limit the big plays Fields’ can orchestrate on the ground. We saw more true QB designed runs against Penn State, and you can bet there will be more of that against Michigan.
If you look at the history of this game, the team that wins the rushing battle wins almost without fail. That’s how things are won in the cold, gray, and sometimes sloppy November in the Midwest.
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