It’s finally here. The Game. Ohio State-Michigan. The one game that decides whether a season is a success or failure. If you poll 100 Ohio State fans whether they would rather lose to Michigan and win the National Championship or just beat Michigan, 95 of them would choose to just beat Michigan.
This rivalry is more than just a dislike due to playing often. It’s full-blown hatred. It’s the fans’ entire personality. “Ohio” vs “That Team Up North”. These two teams, schools, and fanbases aspire to beat the everloving snot out of the other and nothing is more important than victory.
Ohio State-Michigan is often the crown jewel of the college football season. With yet another top-three matchup on the way, it’s going to be the most anticipated matchup of the season, short of the College Football Playoff National Championship.
All the talk and all the hype lead to this. Sure, a trip to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Championship against Iowa is on the line. But both teams would trade that for another sweet, sweet victory over their mortal enemy.
This is war.
The 2023 Ohio State-Michigan Matchup by the Numbers
The Storied History
Two of college football’s bluebloods, Ohio State and Michigan have faced off 117 times. The first matchup was back in 1897 when Michigan, who had been playing the sport for 18 years, won 34-0 over Ohio State in its seventh year of existence. The rivalry started 13-0-2 in favor of the Wolverines over the course of 21 years.
The two have faced off yearly since 1919, save for 2020. After Michigan got off to that 13-0-2 lead, both programs have traded periods of dominance. Starting in 1920, Ohio State won three straight, then Michigan won five in a row. The next 10 years were 7-3 Ohio State before Michigan went 10-2-2 from 1938-1951.
Then Woody Hayes happened. After losing his first matchup in 1951, Hayes and Ohio State went 16-7-1. The latter part of this run was just the beginning of the “10-Year War” between Hayes and Bo Schembechler, who took the following three. After that third loss, Hayes was fired after punching a Clemson player in Ohio State’s bowl game.
1979-1984 was 4-2 Ohio State then Michigan dominated until the end of the century. No matter how good the Ohio State teams were in those 16 years, they just struggled to get past Michigan. The Wolverines owned an 11-4-1 mark.
Since 2001, Ohio State has had a new life. 15 wins (16 if you count 2010), four losses. Two of those losses, however, have come in the last two years.
Overall and officially, Michigan owns a 60-51-6 lead. Ohio State’s longest win streak was nine straight from 2012-2019 and Michigan’s was nine straight from 1901-1909.
2023 Common Opponents
When it comes to 2023, the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry has been tight. Naturally, both teams enter the game 11-0 and have beaten every common opponent. This year, they’ve gone through the Big Ten East and have two similar Big Ten West opponents in Minnesota and Purdue. This is how both teams have fared with scores, offensive output, and defensive performances:
Penn State
Ohio State won, 20-12 (home)
Ohio State 286 passing yards, 79 rushing yards
Penn State 191 passing yards, 49 rushing yards
Michigan won, 24-15, (away)
Michigan 60 passing yards, 227 rushing yards
Penn State 74 passing yards, 164 rushing yards
Maryland
Ohio State won, 37-17 (home)
Ohio State 320 passing yards, 62 rushing yards
Maryland 196 passing yards, 106 rushing yards
Michigan won, 31-24 (away)
Michigan 141 passing yards, 150 rushing yards
Maryland 247 passing yards, 15 rushing yards
Rutgers
Ohio State won, 35-16 (away)
Ohio State 189 passing yards, 139 rushing yards
Rutgers, 129 passing yards, 232 rushing yards
Michigan won, 31-7 (home)
Michigan 214 passing yards, 201 rushing yards
Rutgers 180 passing yards, 77 rushing yards
Michigan State
Ohio State won, 38-3 (home)
Ohio State 353 passing yards, 177 rushing yards
Michigan State 88 passing yards, 94 rushing yards
Michigan won, 49-0 (away)
Michigan 357 passing yards, 120 rushing yards
Michigan State 133 passing yards, 49 rushing yards
Indiana
Ohio State won, 23-3 (away)
Ohio State 380 passing yards, 143 rushing yards
Indiana 153 passing yards, 82 rushing yards
Michigan won, 52-7 (home)
Michigan 244 passing yards, 163 rushing yards
Indiana 140 passing yards, 92 rushing yards
Minnesota
Ohio State won, 37-3 (home)
Ohio State 219 passing yards, 215 rushing yards
Minnesota 89 passing yards, 70 rushing yards
Michigan won, 52-10 (away)
Michigan 241 passing yards, 191 rushing yards
Minnesota 52 passing yards, 117 rushing yards
Purdue
Ohio State won, 41-7 (away)
Ohio State 334 passing yards, 152 rushing yards
Purdue 134 passing yards, 123 rushing yards
Michigan won, 41-13 (home)
Michigan 335 passing yards, 110 rushing yards
Purdue 144 passing yards, 125 rushing yards
The Quarterback Battle
This year’s showdown is flipped from recent memory when it comes to the quarterback matchup. J.J. McCarthy comes in for Michigan with first-round hopes whereas Kyle McCord is the field manager type. It’s a complete 180 in terms of what the rivalry has seen since the 2018 season where Ohio State has had back-t0-back-to-back NFL Draft first-round talents calling the shots.
McCarthy, overall, has the advantage. However, McCord has been more productive. These two offenses are vastly different. Michigan leans on the run while Ohio State will use the passing attack to gash defenses. Even then, both offenses have had explosive success passing and running the ball.
On the year, McCord has accounted for 2,899 yards and 22 touchdowns with a 66.4% completion percentage and only four interceptions. McCarthy has just 2,335 yards and 18 touchdowns with four interceptions but has a 73.8% completion percentage (best in the Big Ten, third in FBS). The biggest difference between the two is the fact that McCarthy can use his legs and McCord just does not.
Last year, McCarthy threw for 263 yards and three scores. However, two busted coverages resulted in a total of 144 yards and two massive scores. Both quarterbacks will have their work cut out for them against a pair of elite defenses.
Rushing Attacks
The running backs in this Ohio State-Michigan matchup are as elite as any. The game will be decided by each team’s rushing attack. With so many home-run threats, it only makes sense.
Michigan’s offense runs through Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards. Corum leads the nation with his 20 rushing touchdowns and came back to Michigan with the goal of winning it all. Both Corum and Edwards have big-play potential but Corum is the guy in Ann Arbor. He’s scored at least once in every single game but his numbers could be a bit skewed. Of those 20 scores, only one was longer than five yards. In total, his average scoring run is 3.7 yards per carry. Take away that 30-yard outlier and that number is 2.3.
Ohio State has a handful of good running backs but the leader this year is easily TreVeyon Henderson. In just eight games played, Henderson has run for 794 yards and 10 scores and added 16 catches for 210 yards. For comparison, Henderson’s average scoring rush is 26.7 yards. While Corum has 12 rushes for two or fewer yards, Henderson’s shortest score is seven yards. Additionally, Henderson has four rushing touchdowns of at least 30 yards, Corum’s longest on the year.
Both of these running backs have a future in the NFL, there’s no denying that fact. Ohio State-Michigan is often defined by an elite game by a running back. The question will be who will it be this year?
Skill Out Wide
If there is an obvious strength one way or the other, Ohio State has better receiving weapons out wide. The Buckeyes boast a pair of future first-rounders in Marvin Harrison, Jr. and Emeka Egbuka. By far, the leading receiver for the Buckeyes is Harrison and his 1,093 yards and 13 touchdowns off of 62 receptions. Egbuka missed some time but in eight games, the junior receiver has logged 427 yards and three scores.
The second-leading receiver for Ohio State is actually tight end, Cade Stover. With 534 yards and five touchdowns, Stover became just the third Ohio State tight end to eclipse 1,000 career yards. The former linebacker has developed into a serious threat and is turning heads in the NFL Draft world.
For Michigan, its receivers have slightly less productivity due to the lack of leaning on the passing attack as a whole. The leader heading into this game is Roman Wilson and his 612 yards and 10 touchdowns off of 37 receptions. He exited the Wolverines’ game against Maryland in the first quarter, so his status for the Ohio State-Michigan game is still unclear.
Just like Ohio State, Michigan’s second-leading receiver is a tight end. Colston Loveland has amassed 462 yards and four scores off of 32 receptions.
Lights-Out Defense
While these two teams may be ranked second and third in the College Football Playoff Committee Rankings, it’s one-versus-two when it comes to defense.
Michigan leads the nation in scoring (9.0 points allowed per game) and total defense (234.8 yards per game). They’re also second in passing defense (144.8 yards per game) and ninth in rush defense (90 yards per game).
Ohio State, on the other hand, is first in passing defense (144.4 yards per game), second in scoring defense (9.3 points per game), third in total defense (252.9 yards per game), and 21st in rushing defense (108.5 yards per game).
There are All-American cases for both teams and each is as justified as the last. There will be many future NFL players lining up for both.
Both defenses will go into this game wanting to prove themselves as the top defense in the nation. The Ohio State-Michigan rivalry does not need more juice as it’s already war. Regardless, these two units are going to make sure the offenses have their chinstraps buckled and their heads on swivels.
The. Game.
Ask any college football fan in the Midwest what the greatest rivalry in all of sports is and they’ll say Ohio State-Michigan without hesitation. Year in and year out, this game often decides a trip to Indianapolis and, by extension, a CFP berth.
This year is going to be different than last. Even if Ohio State has a solid resume aside from this game, a loss by either team will likely eliminate them from CFP contention. Four of the “Power 5” conferences have an undefeated team with the title games left to go. Chaos happens but there would need a 2007-esque meltdown in order for both to make it.
This is what it’s all about. At 12:00 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry kicks off yet again and it will be war.
