| OHIO STATE | OFFENSE | MICHIGAN |
|---|---|---|
| 33.6 (30th) | SCORING | 28.2 (53rd) |
| 407.8 (46th) | TOTAL OFFENSE | 399.2 (53rd) |
| 198.7 (24th) | RUSHING | 179.8 (35th) |
| 209.1 (74th) | PASSING | 219.4 (65th) |
| OHIO STATE | DEFENSE | MICHIGAN |
| 11.4 (1st) | SCORING | 20.8 (27th) |
| 237.5 (2nd) | TOTAL DEFENSE | 335.1 (29th) |
| 82.7 (4th) | RUSHING | 143.6 (54th) |
| 154.7 (2nd) | PASSING | 191.5 (20th) |
OSU Offense:
Has actually been rather efficient. The heart and soul of the offense, much like last year, is the rushing attack. "Beanie" Wells, Mo Wells, and Brandon Saine are the three headed monster
that power the offense. Todd Boekman, a grey shirt junior, has stepped into the big shoes of Troy Smith and avoided falling on his face. He throws a decent deep ball which works well given the quality of receivers. However he has been turnover prone the last few games which has caused blowouts to be close games and a close game a loss.Michigan Defense:
With a number of new parts and freshman CBs the Michigan defense has been simply put average. They have been above average in defending the pass (pass efficiency, sacks) but below average against the run, as witness the mauling at Camp Randall last week. The one area that they are in the excellent category is causing turnovers (averaging more than 2 a game).
Michigan Offense:
Get's a big phatty question mark. With Mike Hart, the running game behind top 3 pick Jake Long is about as good as it gets. Without Mike Hart the rushing game has averaged 75 yards a game the past two games. Can Hart overcome the dreaded high ankle sprain to make the cuts the zone blocking scheme requires? Chad Henne is a four year starter but he to has been battling injuries (throwing shoulder and injured leg) since the game against Oregon. With Henne the passing offense with David Terrell clone Mario Manningham is tough to cover. However an injured Henne means inconsistent Ryan Mallet has to try to be the first freshman to win the game.
OSU Defense
Statistically is among the best in the country. Loads of talent in the secondary (Malcom Jenkins), linebacker (the Little Animal) and defensive end (Gholston). They lead the Big 10 in sacks and Vernon Gholston's arms are bigger than most people's waists. However the weakness to the Buckeyes D is the young defensive tackles that Illinois exposed last week. In fact the defense has steadily given up more points and more yardage each week.
Intangibles:
Michigan is playing at home and possibly for the last time for Lloyd Carr. They have 3 seniors (Henne, Hart, Long) who came back to defeat OSU and win a BCS bowl game. OSU has won the past 3 but has not won 4 in a row since 1967. OSU has slim BCS title hopes alive. OSU's kicker is from South Africa, host of the next World Cup.
Fun Historical Facts
Michigan was 13-0-2 in the first 15 games of the series
Since then Michigan leads 44-40-2.
Over the past 50 years OSU leads the series 25-23-2
The rivalry game has had a major impact on the Big 10 Winner 45 times
23 of the 45 times the two teams have decided the title between themselves based on The Game
OSU did not play Michigan from 1913-1918 when Michigan left the Big 10
All OSU players receive gold pants if they beat Michigan.
Gold pants are in fact very stylish
Famous Games That I Was At
1922 Michigan beats OSU 19-0 in the first game at the Horseshoe.
In 1950 Michigan beat OSU in the famous Snowball game 9-3, without getting a single first down
In 1973 the two teams tied 10-10 but the Big 10 ADs voted 6-4 OSU to the Rose Bowl because Michigan State hates Ann Arbor.
1987 OSU's coach Errol Bruce was fired the week before the game. In solidarity with their coach the players wore headbands with his name on it and won 23-20. Headbands became cool as a result
In 2002 Will Allen's interception sent the OSU and the Big 10 to its first BCS Championship
Game.
In 2006 for the first time I enjoyed turkey pepperoni while watching the OSU Michigan game. The outcome was irrelevant as I enjoyed turkey pepperoni
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