By the numbers: How Michigan has fared the week before facing the Buckeyes

Ann Arbor is buzzing after Michigan football scored a huge 21-17 victory at Penn State last week. Two wins — and a loss from Michigan State in its final two contests, at Ohio State and versus PSU — are standing between the Maize and Blue and a Big Ten East division title. ‘The Game’ between the Wolverines and arch-rival Ohio State Nov. 27 is one fans have been circling on their calendar since the two teams weren’t able to play last season. 

The only problem? Michigan has to play at Maryland first. The Terrapins are 5-5 and unranked, and the matchup isn’t exactly one of the most anticipated in college football this weekend. But, in terms of Michigan’s championship hopes, it means just as much as the one versus the Scarlet and Gray. 

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With the Wolverines being 15-point favorites in College Park this weekend, the biggest concern from Michigan fans has been whether or not their team will overlook the Terrapins and instead have their minds on Ohio State. It’s the quintessential trap game.

After all, those who have been around long enough have seen it happen, but only twice over the last 51 years in which Michigan has played the Buckeyes (since 1969; the two teams did not play in 2020). Michigan is 39-11-1 the weekend before playing Ohio State during that span, with one trap-game loss in 1986 and a tie in 1992.

Michigan was undefeated and ranked No. 2 in the Associated Press poll in 1986, before falling at home to Minnesota one week before heading down to Columbus. The Gophers went 6-6 and wouldn’t have been bowl eligible without the win (Maryland is in a similar spot this year, with five wins and two games to go). The team’s quarterback, Jim Harbaugh, guaranteed victory over Ohio State the next week and got it done in a 26-24 win for the ages, sending the Maize and Blue to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl. Following a loss to Arizona State Jan. 1, Michigan wound up ranked No. 8. An undefeated Penn State team won the national championship, but if the Wolverines didn’t falter against the Gophers, the story could’ve been different.

In 1992, the Wolverines needed a 39-yard field goal by Pete Elezovic with 19 seconds to go, tying the game at 22-22, to avoid losing to a Fighting Illini club that posted a 6-5-1 record for the season. Michigan didn’t lose a game that season, but had three ties (17-17 to Notre Dame and 13-13 to Ohio State the next week).

Michigan’s 10 other losses in the penultimate game of the regular season since 1969 came against teams that finished with either the same or a better winning percentage than the Maize and Blue. The Wolverines have lost only once on the second-to-last weekend with Harbaugh as head coach, in 2017 at No. 5 Wisconsin. 

In short, it’s certainly possible that the Wolverines have a letdown, but Michigan has gotten it done in this spot way more times than it hasn’t. And if there’s any positive to take from the one loss the Wolverines have had in this situation, it’s that their head coach was there, at the forefront, and likely learned from the experience.

By The Numbers: Michigan Football vs. Maryland

3rd Is where Maryland redshirt sophomore quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa stands in the school’s record books in three major single-season statistical categories — completions, passing yards and passing touchdowns. Tagovailoa is just 19 completions, 395 passing yards and seven touchdowns shy of topping the lists in each respective category.

1.4 Pass breakups per game for Maryland senior defensive bavck Jakorian Bennett, with his 13 passes defended for the season leading all Power Five players.

4 100-yard rushing performances in the last five weeks for Michigan redshirt sophomore running back Hassan Haskins, who’s accumulated more than 150 rushing yards in each of the last two outings. He’s 15 yards shy of becoming the program’s first 1,000-yard rusher since 2018 and 22nd overall player in school history to accomplish the feat.

8-1 Series lead for Michigan over Maryland. The Wolverines have won five of the six games played as Big Ten Conference East Division foes, with the lone loss coming in 2014.

10.0 Sacks for each of Michigan junior defensive end Aidan Hutchinson and redshirt freshman outside linebacker David Ojabo, which makes them the first Wolverine duo to both reach double-digit sacks in the same season. Both players are two sacks shy of matching the single-season sack record at Michigan (12.0), set by David Bowens in 1996.

20 Receptions for 197 yards and two scores for Maryland senior tight end Chigoziem Okonkwo, a John Mackey Award Watch list member, in his last two tilts. He has 40 grabs for 374 yards and five touchdowns on the year.

21 Different Terrapins have recorded at least one tackle for loss this season, the most in the Big Ten.

25 Maryland seniors are being honored before the team’s final home game of the season.

Top-30 Nationally is where Michigan ranks in six offensive categories: total offense (30th), scoring offense (25th), red-zone offense (16th), rushing offense (13th), sacks allowed (tied-fourth) and tackles for loss allowed (tied-first).

105th In the country is where Maryland ranks in passing yards allowed per contest (258.2). The Terrapins are also giving up 157.5 yards per game on the ground (77th nationally).

152 Plays of 10 or more yards allowed by the Maryland defense, the most in the Big Ten. The Terrapins have also yielded a conference-high 54 gains of 20-plus yards.

1,140 Passing yards for Tagovailoa over the last three outings (419 against Indiana, 371 versus Penn State and 350 at Michigan State), the most of his career and the highest total by a Maryland quarterback in a three-game stretch since 1993. He’s thrown for 300-plus yards in six of the team’s 10 contests this year.