Michigan safety Rod Moore: Ohio State rivalry has 'always been personal'

Michigan Wolverines football sophomore safety Rod Moore is one of six scholarship players on the roster from the state of Ohio. A three-star prospect, Moore wasn’t recruited by Ohio State as a prep player, but he had no interest in staying close to his hometown of Clayton.

He feels he’s right where he belongs.

“That’s like an hour from where I live, and I wanted to go somewhere that was far enough from home but not too far,” Moore explained.

Since arriving at Michigan as a summer enrollee ahead of the 2021 campaign, Moore has made a big impact for the Wolverines. His playing time increased as last season went on, and tied for the team’s lead with 9 tackles in a 42-27 win over the Buckeyes.

This season, he’s fifth on the team with 40 stops and leads the squad with 3 interceptions.

RELATED

• Here’s the blueprint: Five reasons why Michigan beat Ohio State in 2021

• Jim Harbaugh confirms ‘third base’ remark was about Ryan Day; Ohio State coach comments at press conference

When he committed to the Maize and Blue, the Michigan safety told family and friends back home that he would beat the Buckeyes, something the Wolverines hadn’t done since 2011 at the time. His prediction came true in his first rendition of the game.

“It’s always been a personal game,” Moore said. “But I would never have wanted to went there. I would’ve liked to be recruited by them, but I wouldn’t have went there.

“It’s always a personal game because I’m from there, I have a lot of family and friends that are fans of Ohio State. It’s personal for me, as it is for everybody on this team.”

He still has some family members and friends that root for Ohio State, in addition to him as an individual.

“I tell them, ‘Y’all can root for Ohio State, but I don’t know how that’s going to go for you,'” a smiling Moore revealed. “They always tell me they’re going to root for me, so there’s always love through the bloodline, but that’s what I tell them.”

Moore is excited for his first trip to Ohio Stadium as a Michigan player, with the Wolverines and Buckeyes set to square off Saturday afternoon (noon ET on FOX) with the Big Ten East Division title on the line.

“I’ve been to the stadium before, just not on a visit. I expect it to be loud, just like everywhere we go,” Moore said. 

Ohio State touts a high-level passing attack led by quarterback C.J. Stroud, who leads the nation with 35 scoring tosses. The receiving corps is headlined by wideout Marvin Harrison Jr., who has hauled in 65 receptions for 1,037 yards and 11 touchdowns.

“They present a big challenge, just like any other team,” the Michigan safety said. “They have good receivers. There’s not one in particular — all of them, everyone on the field is good — so we’re just gonna have to do what we do in the secondary and stop them.”

Ohio State threw for 394 yards against Michigan last season, but the Wolverines made the Buckeyes drive the length of the field and score in the red zone, outside of one 25-yard touchdown pass. Not allowing big plays will be key again, but Moore said he even wants to slash that passing yard total.

“They’re going to try to pass the ball, like every team does, but we have to … I would say we have to cut that in half,” Moore said. Four hundred [passing yards] is way too much. We’re going to have to do that, and continue to lock in and execute everything that we do.”

Known for delving into more film study than any other player on the team, Moore said he’s watched the 2021 Michigan vs. Ohio State game “multiple times” throughout this season. In addition, he’s been preparing for Saturday’s game since January, from a mentality standpoint.

“I wouldn’t single out anything, I would just say that every single day we come in here, and everything we do, we do at a high level to prepare for Ohio State,” Moore said of how the Wolverines prepare on a daily basis. “You see the sign, ‘What are you doing today to beat Ohio State?’ You just have to do everything at a high level and continue that every day, and go from there.”

Last season was the breakthrough for Michigan in the rivalry, but Moore said he and the Wolverines want to keep it going and start their own streak.

“That’s just one win,” Moore said. “And I would say, I think it was 11 or 10 years before that since we had beat them. So we just want to do that, flip the script and keep doing that every year from now on, and keep the streak going.”