Ohio State at Michigan
▶ Kickoff: Noon, Saturday, Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor
▶ TV/radio: FOX/94.7 FM
▶ Line: Ohio State by 11½
▶ Records: No. 1 Ohio State 11-0 (8-0 Big Ten); No. 15 Michigan 9-2 (7-1 Big Ten).
▶ Series: Michigan leads 62-56-6 (Last meeting: Nov. 30, 2024 — Michigan 13, (at) Ohio State 10)
Angelique S. Chengelis of The Detroit News breaks down Michigan’s Week 14 matchup against Ohio State.
Key matchup
MATT PATRICIA VS. BRYCE UNDERWOOD
Patricia, Ohio State’s first-year defensive coordinator, has built the nation’s No. 1 defense, and the Buckeyes have dominated in every facet. Underwood is Michigan’s freshman quarterback, but through 11 games, he hasn’t seen a defense like this one. It will be interesting to watch Patricia’s chess moves to try to disrupt Underwood, while also trying to slow Michigan’s run game. Underwood has looked more comfortable in recent weeks, despite having some turnovers along the way, and built confidence with his performance last week at Maryland. But how ready he is for Ohio State and Patricia’s defense is the wild card.
Three Buckeyes to watch
▶ Julian Sayin, quarterback: Ohio State has launched its clever Heisman campaign, #WeSayinHeisman, for Sayin, a redshirt freshman, who leads the nation in completion percentage at 79.4% — the record is 77.45% by Oregon’s Bo Nix in 2023. He enters the game at Michigan ranked No. 4 nationally at 9.4 yards per attempt, No. 4 with 27 touchdown passes and 16th with 2,832 passing yards and 19th with 257.5 yards a game. He’s had multiple touchdown passes in eight of the last 10 games and has six 300-yard passing games.
▶ Jeremiah Smith, wide receiver: Smith became the fastest player in Ohio State history to reach 1,500 career receiving yards (19 games), 2,000 career receiving yards (24), 100 receptions (20 games) and 25 touchdown receptions (25 games). He is ranked No. 6 nationally in touchdown receptions (10), and also holds national rankings of No. 11 in receptions (69), No. 13 in receiving yards (902), No. 8 in receptions per game (6.9) and No. 8 in receiving yards per game (90.2), despite missing one game. Smith has at least five catches in nine of Ohio State’s 11 games.
▶ Caleb Downs, safety: Downs is a finalist for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, the Thorpe Award and the Bednarik Award, and he’s a semifinalist for the Walter Camp Award. He is third on the Buckeyes with 49 tackles and he is second with 32 solo tackles. He has five tackles for loss, including one sack, and has a team-high two interceptions along with a pass breakup and quarterback hurry.
Facts and figures
▶ This season, Ohio State’s defense has held 10 straight opponents to less than 300 yards of total offense. It’s the second time since 1960 the Buckeyes have achieved that streak. In 2019, they held teams under 300 yards 11 times.
▶ Ohio State and Michigan rank 1-2 in Big Ten Conference victories, the Buckeyes with 565 and Michigan with 557. Michigan has more overall wins at 1,021, while Ohio State has 989. The Buckeyes have won all 11 games this season and since 1935 have had an unbeaten record entering The Game 17 times. They are 11-5-1 in those games and 4-3-1 when the games have been played in Ann Arbor. An 11-0 Ohio State team is 4-3 in games vs. Michigan.
▶ Beating Michigan would put the Buckeyes in the Big Ten championship game. They’ve been in six title games and are 5-1 with five consecutive wins. Their last time in the championship game was in the 2020 season. Ohio State’s five title game wins and six appearances are the most of all Big Ten schools. But … a loss to Michigan coupled with Purdue and Washington wins over Indiana and Oregon, respectively, would mean Michigan and Ohio State would meet in the Big Ten title game.
achengelis@detroitnews.com
@chengelis
