Nov 22, 20183 min read

CFB: Michigan @ Ohio State Preview

History of the Series: The Game between Michigan and Ohio State is one of the biggest rivalries in all of sports, and this year, it's even more impactful than usual. 4th ranked Michigan is two wins away from earning a bid in their first College Football Playoff. The team standing in their way? 10th ranked Ohio State, who still has an outside chance of reaching their third CFP. One thing we do know, is the winner of this game will play 19th ranked Northwestern in the Big Ten title game. As for the series as a whole, the Wolverines hold a slight edge with a 58-49-6 record against their biggest rival. However, the Buckeyes have absolutely owned Michigan lately, winning the last six games and compiling a 15-3 record since the turn of the century.

Season Reviews: Michigan, the road team in this matchup, comes in winning 10 straight games against the likes of Wisconsin (15th ranked), Michigan State (24th), Penn State (14th), and more. No team has ever gone 10-0 in a conference schedule and the Wolverines are two wins away from doing so. RB Karan Higdon has been arguably the best player on the team thus far, running for 1,106 yards, 10 touchdowns, and 5.3 yards per carry. On the other side of things, Ohio State has struggled a bit more than usual. With that said, they've still earned a 10-1 record with wins over TCU (15th), Penn State (9th), and Michigan State (18th). QB Dwayne Haskins has been the x-factor, throwing for 3,685 yards, 36 touchdowns, and seven interceptions.

Why Michigan Wins: This season seems to represent a changing of the guard atop the Big Ten East, and has completely shifted the perception of every team in the division. While the past couple years Ohio State has been known to lay an egg on the road against a mediocre team like they did against Purdue this season, they have continued to struggle to beat bad teams ever since then. Only beating Nebraska by five and a Maryland program surrounded by turmoil by one in overtime, shows that Ohio State is much more vulnerable than in years past. Meanwhile, ever since their opening game loss to Norte Dame, Michigan has been the one that’s steamrolled everyone on their revenge tour, so why would that change on Saturday?

Why Ohio State Wins: While Michigan has the numbers this year to back them up, Ohio State has the overall numbers to support their case. Since 2000, this has been a one sided rivalry, with Ohio State boasting a 15-3 record against Michigan in that time frame. The only years Michigan got the victory was while they had one of the most talented QBs in school history at the helm in Drew Henson in 2000, a Heisman finalist of Chris Perry in 2003, and when Ohio State went through their massive scandal back in 2011. The overall numbers back Ohio State up here, and while they haven’t been playing as well this season that could all change this weekend. Especially since the Buckeyes are 10-4-1 in the last 15 games against Michigan in Colombus.

Staff Picks:

Blake Stoll: Michigan (45-34)

Caleb Henderson: Michigan (21-13)

Charles Post: Michigan (30-24)

Chinedum Wejinya: Ohio State (28-21)

Max Heninburg: Ohio State (45-42)

Greg Schwochow: Michigan (34-31)

Tyler Taylor: Ohio State (30-27)

Raven Martin: Michigan (24-20)

Player of the Game:

1. Karan Higdon (RB)

2. Dwayne Haskins (QB)