OHIO STATE PREVIEW 2022

The #3 ranked Michigan Wolverines, 11-0, travel to Columbus to battle the #2 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes, 11-0, for the 118th meeting between the two schools in the biggest rivalry in college football. Ohio State is a 7.5 point betting favorite. The Wolverines lead the series against the two rivals, 59-52-6 with a record of 27-28-2 in Columbus, and a record of 24-24-1 at the Horseshoe. Jim Harbaugh is 1-5 against the Buckeyes, and 72-24 since taking the Wolverine Head Job. Ryan Day is 1-1 against the Wolverines; he has accumulated a 45-4 record at Ohio State, and is 31-1 in Big Ten Conference play. Michigan's last win in Columbus was 2000 with a 38-26 victory; the Wolverines are hoping to end a 9 game losing streak in Columbus. Michigan had a 3 game winning streak at Columbus, 1986-1990, and that is the longest Wolverine win streak at Columbus since Woody Hayes was hired in 1951.

Jim Harbaugh Press Conference on November 21 Ryan Day Press Conference on November 22 Michigan Game Notes for Ohio State Ohio State Game Notes for Michigan

One of Ryan Day's first big moves as Buckeye Head Coach to help defeat Arch-Rival Michigan was to steal two of their Assistant Coaches when he inked Al Washington and Greg Mattison; he also hired former Michigan Linebacker, Joe Bolden, 2012-2015, as Quality Control Coach on Defense, and and Matt Barnes, Secondary Coach who was a Michigan football defensive analyst in 2015.

Michigan Band performed Script Ohio on October 15, 1932 at Columbus; the Buckeyes adopted the tradition in 1936. At one time, both football programs had mutual respect for one another; however, that changed in 1951 when Woody Hayes arrived in Columbus.

On offense, the Buckeyes are led by Redshirt Freshman Quarterback, C.J. Stroud; he is the odds on favorite to win the Heisman Trophy this season. Stroud has completed 204 of 307 passes for 2,991 yards and 11 Touchdowns with 4 interceptions; he has ran 33 times for 77 yards, and has only been sacked 7 times for 57 yards. If he has time to throw, he is going to complete passes with 70% accuracy. Northwestern held Stroud to a 10 of 26 afternoon in passing for only 76 yards, and forced Ohio State into 7 punts; the Wildcats held a 15 play time of possession advantage with a 13 minute advantage in Evanston. Sophomore Kyle McCord is the backup QB. Sophomore Marvin Harrison Jr. is perhaps the nation's best receiver with 65 receptions for 1,037 yards and 11 TDs. Sophomore Emeka Egbuka has 57 catches for 914 yards and 8 TDs. Junior Julian Fleming has 24 catches for 415 yards and 6 TDs. Senior Tight End Cade Stover has 30 receptions for 386 yards and 5 TDs. The Buckeye running attack is anchored by Redshirt Freshman, TreVeyon Henderson; he has 107 carries for 571 yards and 6 TDs, but will miss the Michigan game due to injury. Redshirt Sophomore Miyan Williams missed the Maryland game, but will start the Michigan game; however, he is their leading rusher with 117 attempts for 783 yards and 13 TDs. Their other backup running back is Freshman Dallan Hayden with 100 rushes for 503 yards with 5 TDs. The Ohio State Offensive line is anchored by Seniors, Left Tackle Paris Johnson and Right Tackle, Dawand Jones; Matt Jones and Sophomore Donovan Jackson are the guards, and Junior Luke Wypler in their center. The Buckeye offense averages 46 points per game with 493 total yards per game with 289 in the air and 203 on the ground, 7.4 yards per play, and convert 48% on 3rd down; in the red zone, Ohio State has scored 43 touchdowns in 52 trips. Notre Dame held the Buckeyes into only 2 red zone opportunites in Columbus as did Northwestern in Evanston; Michigan needs to have a similar effort on Saturday. It is an explosive offense that will be hard for the Wolverines to contain particularly in Columbus with the home field crowd spurring them on.

Ohio State tore down the Michigan Banner in the 1973 game by order of Woody Hayes; the banner tradition began at Michigan in 1962. This is just one of the incidents that ended the mutual respect between the two football traditions.

On defense, Ohio State is led by Senior MIKE Linebacker, Tommy Eichenberg; he has 105 tackles, ranking him 4th in the Big Ten and 16th nationally, including 12 for loss, and 5 quarterback hits. Senior Steele Chambers is the WILL Linebacker; he is also very active, and an outstanding tackler with 66 stops this season including 6 for loss. Junior Cody Simon will also see action at Linebacker. The Buckeye defensive front is led by Ends, Senior Zach Harrison and Sophomore J.T. Tuimoloau; they are both excellent pass rushers, and will give our tackles, Ryan Hayes and Karsen Barnhart a real challenge to block. Sophomore Jack Sawyer and 5th Year Grade Javonte Jean-Baptiste are other ends that are difficult to block; between the 4 ends, they have 25 tackles for loss including 15 sacks. The inside tackles are Senior Taron Vincent and Junior Ty Hamilton; Redshirt Freshmen Tyleik Williams and Michael Hall will also see action. In the backfield, Ohio State is led by Junior Safeties Lathan Ransom and Ronnie Hickman; both are solid tacklers amassing 109 tackles so far this year, and are also good in cover. Hickman led the Buckeyes with 100 tackles in 2021. The cornerbacks are Senior Cameron Brown and Redshirt Freshman Denzel Burke, and the Nickel Back is Tanner McCallister; they will be tight with man coverage on Ronnie Bell, Cornelius Johnson and Roman Wilson. Senior Josh Proctor and Redshirt Freshman Jakailin Jackson will also see action in the backfield. There are those who believe that Ohio State has a weak defense; however, they are ranked #9 nationally in total defense, #10 in scoring defense, #15 in rushing defense, #7 in first downs allowed, #11 in 3rd down conversions allowed, and #10 in turnover margin with 3 defensive touchdowns ranking them 8th nationally. They are a solid group that will be difficult to put up points on especially in Columbus. Penn State put up 482 yards of total offense against Ohio State at Happy Valley, and held a 20 minute time of possession advantage, but defensive scores by J.T. Tuimoloau turned back the Nittany Lions comeback. Maryland put up 402 yards of total offense with 5 red zone opportunites last week against Ohio State at College Park, but a blocked punt really helped the Buckeyes in the second half to hold off the Terrapins.

Bo and Woody brought the rivalry to new heights during the "10 Year War" following the 50-14 game in 1968 where Woody went for 2. Woody coached The Game in 28 seasons, and Bo coached it 21 times which was longer than any other coach from either school.

Michigan Football Depth Chart for 2022

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On special teams, the Buckeyes have a solid, reliable placekicker with 5th Year Graduate Student Noah Ruggles; he has hit 12 of 14 this season with his longest from 47 yards, and has hit 67 of 68 extra points. Their punter, Sophomore Jesse Mirco has 39 punts for a 45.5 yard average with 19 downed inside the 20, and 11 punts over 50 yards including a 77 yarder. Redshirt Freshman, Mason Arnold, is their snapper. 5th Year Grad Xavier Johnson handles kickoff returns; he has 7 returns for a 25.4 yard average. Emeka Egbuka handles punt returns; he has 11 returns for a 6.8 yard average. Freshman Jayden Fielding handles kickoffs; he has 91 kickoffs with 35 touchbacks, and 3 placed out of bounds. Lathan Ransom blocked two punts in the last two weeks for the Buckeyes. Overall, Michigan has a chance for potential opportunities on punt and kickoff returns to create a field position advantage, and turnover chances on special teams could help swing momentum in the Wolverines favor.

In order for Michigan to defeat Ohio State in Columbus, the Wolverines will first need to establish a running game. To do this, they need both Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards to be healthy enough to play along with Guard Trevor Keegan. Ohio State knows that they cannot give up 297 yards in rushing as they did in 2021 in Ann Arbor with 5 rushing TDs; they will be employing run blitzes, and doing everything to disrupt the Michigan running game. The most effective way for the Wolverines to inhibit the Buckeye offense is by possessing the ball, and controlling the time of possession; this will limit Ohio State possessions to employ their eruptive offense. One of the important factors in the game is moving the Buckeye safety tandem away from the line of scrimmage, and to accomplish that the Wolverines will need to hit some long passes early in the game. Michigan will also need to establish a balanced attack with gaining at least 200 yards in the air as well as on the ground, and a healthy Luke Schoonmaker could really help accomplish this; obviously, they will also need to play a mistake free offensive game with no turnovers. On defense, the Wolverines will need to hurry C.J. Stroud with their terrific edge rushers, and hopefully create turnovers. I would speculate that Ryan Day will plan to run the football more because film study has shown how vulnerable the Wolverine defense is particularly with its linebacking corps; the Illinois game showed how a good running attack can be effective on the Michigan defense. Michigan's defensive line is the strongest part of the Wolverine defense, and they will need to be stout in stopping the Buckeye running game as well as maintain control at the line of scrimmage. Michigan must limit the Buckeyes to under 30 points as they did last season if they are to have a chance to prevail; the over-under for this game is 57.5 points. The weather forecast for Columbus on Saturday is high 40s for game time with winds from 5-10 mph, and a 50% chance of rain; it could warm up to 53 degrees by mid-afternoon. Without a doubt, as good as the Ohio State football team is, Michigan is their toughest opponent to defeat, and that will be true Saturday in Columbus.

Final Score Prediction: Michigan 34 Ohio State 31

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The Maniacal Hayes tried to tear down the banner again in 1977, but Wolverine Dave Gallagher held him off

Harry Kipke, Fritz Crisler, Bennie Oosterbaan, Bump Elliott and Bo Schembechler in 1968; they coached Michigan Football, 1929-1989

Bump Elliott, Bo Schembechler, Gary Moeller and Lloyd Carr in 2004; they coached Michigan Football, 1958-2007

This is the greatest rivalry in all of sports in the United States. They have played every year since 1918, and the game was moved to the last Saturday of the season in 1935. Even though Michigan holds an advantage with 59 wins in 117 games; since 1918, the series is 47 wins and 49 losses with 4 ties. The Buckeyes began calling this series the "Gold Pants" which began in 1934, and hold a 42-37-4 advantage. Ohio State also takes pride in their record against Michigan since the Snow Bowl in 1950 when the Woody Hayes era began, they are 36-28-2 since 1951 (2010 Buckeye win removed). Harbaugh crushes Buckeye Nut with Hammer on Bo's Grave

Chris Spielman had 29 tackles against Michigan in 1986, but it wasn't enough to defeat a Jim Harbaugh guaranteed win, 26-24

Fielding Yost and Cliff Keen in 1935; Keen was Michigan's longest tenured football coach at 33 seasons, 1926-1958, and his 1947 and 1948 Lightweight Teams won Big Ten Championships. His 1948 team defeated Ohio State twice in one season, the only Michigan football coach to do so. Keen hired graduate student George Allen as his Assistant in 1947. Michigan has a great history of outstanding assistant football coaches including Bill McCartney, Dan McGuigan, Dave Allerdice, George Veenker, Harry Kipke, Bennie Oosterbaan, Ray Courtright, Frank Cappon, Wally Weber, Clarence "Biggie" Munn, Ernie McCoy, Bump Elliott, Don James, Hank Fonde, Jim Young, Larry Smith, Gary Moeller, Lloyd Carr, Jerry Hanlon, Jack Harbaugh, Les Miles, Greg Mattison, Vance Bedford, Teryl Austin, Mike Debord, Don Brown, etc.

No NCAA Football Team has been #1 more times than Ohio State since the AP Poll was created in 1936; the Buckeyes have been #1 105 times with 867 appearances, and Michigan is second with 820 appearances

Ernie Godfrey in 1944; Godfrey is the longest tenured Ohio State football coach like Keen at 33 seasons, 1929-1961, and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Ohio State like Michigan has enjoyed many great assistant coaches including Bo Schembechler, Nick Saban, Sid Gilman, Mark Dantonio, Pete Carroll, Lou Holtz, Earle Bruce, Jim Tressel, Larry Coker, Glen Mason, etc.

Chic Harley led the Buckeyes to their first win over Michigan in 1919; Former Wisconsin Fullback John Wilce coached the Buckeyes, 1913-1928, with a 4-7 record in the series

Albert Herrnstein played Halfback at Michigan, 1899-1902, and coached at Ohio State, 1906-1909; however, he couldn't defeat Yost's Wolverines over those four seasons

2021 Michigan 42 Ohio State 29

2011 Michigan 40 Ohio State 34

2003 Michigan 31 Ohio State 23 Part I Part II

2000 Michigan 38 Ohio State 26 Part I Part II

1999 Michigan 24 Ohio State 17 Part I Part II Part III

1997 Michigan 20 Ohio State 14 Part I Part II

1996 Michigan 13 Ohio State 9 Part I Part II

1995 Michigan 31 Ohio State 23 Part I Part II

1993 Michigan 28 Ohio State 0 Part I Part II

1991 Michigan 31 Ohio State 3 Part I Part II

1990 Michigan 16 Ohio State 13

1989 Michigan 28 Ohio State 18

1988 Michigan 34 Ohio State 31 Part I Part II

1986 Michigan 26 Ohio State 24

1985 Michigan 27 Ohio State 17

1983 Michigan 24 Ohio State 21

1980 Michigan 9 Ohio State 3

1978 Michigan 14 Ohio State 3

1977 Michigan 14 Ohio State 6

1976 Michigan 22 Ohio State 0

1973 Michigan 10 Ohio State 10

1971 Michigan 10 Ohio State 7

Bob Ufer Poem: Burying Michigan

1969 Michigan 24 Ohio State 12

1964 Michigan 10 Ohio State 0

1959 Michigan 23 Ohio State 14

1950 Michigan 9 Ohio State 3 (The Snow Bowl)

Michigan gained no first downs in 1950, but still came up with a 9-3 win at Columbus; Chuck Ortmann punted 24 times for 723 yards

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Memories from 1969: Dick Caldarazzo

Memories from 1969: Billy Taylor and Jim Brandstatter

Memories from 1969: Jim Betts

Memories from 1969: Bo Schembechler

Memories from 1969: Thomas J. Takach, M.D.