The Game has often featured at least one great defense. Once again, this year’s Ohio State defense comes into the final week of the season as the best or one of the best in just about every category. Michigan’s unit is not far behind in a number of ways, as expected. All year, the Ohio State defense has not really been tested. Arch Manning wasn’t quite ready for a big-time matchup in Week 1. After that, can you name the best offensive player the Buckeyes have faced? Could it have been Demond Williams Jr. and Jonah Coleman at Washington? The running back duo at Penn State?
Plain and simple, the unit, while performing at an elite level, has not had to worry much. In fact, the most stress put on the starting defense for the Buckeyes was whether or not the backups would give up a touchdown to blow the shutout.
Against Michigan, the Buckeye defense isn’t facing a high-flying offense. Rather, Michigan’s offense does what it does well with a sprinkle of unpredictability in the form of a true freshman athletic quarterback.
Last year, the defense did its job to win, for the most part. While it only allowed 13 points and held Michigan to 62 passing yards with two interceptions, it couldn’t get a stop at the end of the game. Of course, that drive was also after back-to-back drives ended via interception, so you could argue the defense did do its job.
The Ohio State Defense Has a Tall Task in ‘The Game’
The Ground Game
The point that has been hammered into the ground is that the team that wins the rushing battle often wins The Game. On the surface, that seems profound. At the same time, when you look at the Urban Meyer-era wins, Ohio State got up early through the air and parked the bus by running it out. Michigan, down by scores, abandoned its own run game to throw it. It’s not exactly the end-all, be-all indication of who will win the game.
Ohio State’s defense ranks second in the country in rushing defense. However, that 80-yard-per-game total is inflated by Texas in Week 1. If you remove that 166-yard effort, the defense has held opponents to under 100 in 10 straight for an average of 71.4 yards per game. Of course, the Buckeyes haven’t played a rushing attack like Michigan’s. The Wolverines average 223.5 yards per game, good for the 10th-best. Ohio is the closest Buckeye opponent at 15th (216.9 yards per game). The next-closest is Washington at 170 yards per game.
Justice Haynes will miss his fifth straight game, but Jordan Marshall, who missed last week, should be good to go. Marshall, the former sixth-best player from Ohio in the 2024 recruiting class, was pedestrian until given a full workload. Over his last four games, Marshall is averaging 142.5 yards and has seven touchdowns.
He gave Ohio State a little bulletin board material this week, claiming that he chose Michigan due to culture, and he “didn’t want to be around people that were about themselves.”
Freshman Mistakes
Taking away Marshall is easier said than done. With Bryce Underwood also a threat on the ground, the Buckeyes will have to be prepared to be attacked from all sides. Of course, if the defense can eliminate the rushing attack, whether it be from tenacity or just because the offense does its job, it can pin its ears back.
Underwood is at his best when the defense needs to be ready for both his arm and legs. Take away his legs, and he’s a freshman quarterback. This year, he is completing just 62.2% of his passes. Obviously, they are two very different quarterbacks leading two very different offenses, but Julian Sayin was held to under 70% twice this year (on 19 and 20 passing attempts). Underwood has failed to reach 70% in all but one of his games.
Normally, it’s not a big deal. However, in an offense that runs the ball 40 times per game as compared to 25 passes, every incompletion matters.
To take away his legs, the Ohio State defense will need to be as gap-sound as possible and not allow Underwood to slip by and find green grass. It might even behoove Matt Patricia to employ a spy.
In a year with coaches like Jedd Fisch, P.J. Fleck, and Steve Sarkisian praising Patricia’s exotic near-NFL defense, Underwood has two paths forward. Either he’s going to torch the defense in a true coming-out moment, or he’s going to crumble under the pressure.
With players like Kayden McDonald, Arvell Reese, Sonny Styles, and Caleb Downs, this year’s unit has even fewer excuses to falter on the biggest stage against a winnable opponent. Force Underwood to make mistakes and look like a true freshman.
Gotta Want It
It’s about as cliché as it gets to say “the team that wants it more will win.” Well, as we’ve seen in Michigan’s four-game win streak, the Wolverines wanted it more. It started with desperation and doing literally whatever it could to get back on top, resulting in sanctions, show-causes, and technology at the bottom of a lake. Last year, despite literally everything saying Ohio State had the edge, Michigan came out on top. The Wolverines wanted it more. They won the mental battle.
Now, the script has flipped.
Despite being 11-0, ranked number one, and well on its way to defending its national title, Ohio State still has doubts. In the Meyer era, Michigan was just another Big Ten game with how confident fans were. Ohio State needs to regain that mentality.
Day’s alleged “hang 100” comments during the COVID meetings continue to live in infamy. The Buckeyes have scored 84 points in four losses since. Now, the 2020 game could have resulted in 100 points for the Buckeyes, but we will never know.
Plain and simple, the Buckeyes need to want this one. Led by the Ohio State defense setting the tone early, the Buckeyes can do so. It will take Day and the coaching staff to do what they do best to make it happen. The Buckeye defense is championship-level. It’s time to prove it. The real season begins at noon in Ann Arbor on Saturday, November 29.
How To Watch:
Date and Time: Saturday, Nov. 29th | 11:00 a.m. CST
Location:Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, MI
Television: Fox
Main Photo: Barbara J. Perenic/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
