Michigan coaches discuss keys to facing Ohio State WR Marvin Harrison Jr.

Michigan Wolverines football has hardly been tested by good quarterbacks and receivers this season. That will change this weekend, when No. 2 Ohio State comes to town for a rivalry game this weekend.

The Buckeyes average 9 yards per pass (15th nationally) and 283.7 per game (24th). Junior wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. has hauled in 62 catches for 1,093 yards and 13 touchdowns, widely considered one of the top players in the country.

Michigan’s pass defense has been stellar. The Wolverines are allowing only 144.8 passing yards per contest, the second fewest in the country (behind only the Buckeyes). The Maize and Blue are registering 2.5 sacks per game, and as head coach Jim Harbaugh mentioned Monday, the pass rush and coverage work together.

Co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach Steve Clinkscale knows what kind of challenge lies ahead.

“This is definitely the most talented group of receivers that we’ve faced — really, their offense as a whole,” the Michigan assistant said on the ‘Inside Michigan Football’ radio show. “They’re very good. They run the ball well. They do a good job of play-action pass, they find great opportunities and great ways to get different receivers the ball. The tight ends do a great job of blocking and getting open. So, they’re pretty complete across the board on offense.

“Our job is really, we don’t want to go out there and hurt ourselves, so we gotta do a great job of communicating. We’ve gotta fall on our pillars. It’s gotta be a pillar game. And then, there are going to be times you gotta win your one-on-one. You may be against the best receiver in the country, so it’s time to step up and do what you came here to do.

“We’re all excited. That’s why we all came here. That’s why I came here. That’s why [Michigan sophomore cornerback] Will [Johnson] and all the other players — [graduate defensive back] Mike [Sainristil] stayed and came back. That’s why they’re all here, this game. I think it’s the same on both sides, so I’m excited about the matchups, and we have to do our job. But he’s a special player, and we’ve got special players. We have to find a way to do your job but not also let them handedly beat you. We’ve got a tough challenge this week.”

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Clinkscale wants his group on the back end to keep doing what it’s done all season.

“We do what we have to do,” the Michigan assistant said. “Just do what you do all the time. That’s what I tell people. Don’t try to change the course. Being disciplined is one thing, but being consistent is really the key. We’re not going to just go out there and do something totally different than we’ve done.

“You have a foundation. We have our pillars, which is our foundation. We build on those, and we watch film, we correct things that we need to correct and don’t go out there and repeat those mistakes.”

From an offensive standpoint, Michigan coordinator Sherrone Moore desires to control the football by picking up third downs, putting together long drives and chewing clock.

“Ball control is going to be a huge piece for us in this game, how we attack them on offense and make sure those guys aren’t on the field as much,” Moore said. “They’re really, really good players — incredible players — especially 18. They all have great talent, but he’s a special player.”

The Michigan offense has been high powered but not as efficient the last two weeks. Moore hopes to have a complete performance Saturday.

“I think it never really is,” Moore said when asked if the offense is where he wants it. “You’re never satisfied. But there are spurts of it where we’re close to where we need to be, where we want to be. There’s more still out there, and I think that’s going to show this week.”

Moore also acknowledged that Ohio State has strong edge rushers. He discussed how to combat that.

“One, you have to be able to run the ball against them to slow that down a little bit,” the Michigan coach said. “And then you have to have a great plan of how to attack them with different sets, different things, different angles, keeping them off guard with different people in their face. Just attacking them in our pass protection, so we’ve gotta be able to do a good job with that.”