Staff predictions: Michigan Wolverines football vs. Ohio State

It’s Michigan vs. Ohio State for all the marbles, just as it was written, just as it was supposed to be …

Well, a lot of the marbles. There’s still that pesky ‘championship game’ for the winner, probably against a much-improved Wisconsin team. That would probably be a speed bump for the Buckeyes, but it could be a war if the Wolverines somehow upset their rival Saturday.

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But we’re getting ahead of ourselves here …

Saturday is the focus, and for years, this rivalry was one of the best in sports. Bo Schembechler and Woody Hayes made it that way, Hayes with his hatred for everything maize and blue and Schembechler in trying to one-up his mentor.

In reality, though, it hasn’t been much of a rivalry at all over the last 30 years. The Wolverines owned it from 1985 to 2000, going 12-3-1. Done with the misery, OSU sold its soul in bringing in The Senator, Jim Tressel, to beat the hated Wolverines by any means necessary.

Beat them he did before becoming the latest successful Ohio State coach to leave in shame.

No matter, though. He’d accomplished the No. 1, 2 and 3 goals among Ohioans. Not health, financial success or good teeth — he owned U-M, and that was all that mattered.

Urban Meyer arrived with his baggage and somehow left with more, but he also accomplished goal No. 1. We imagine he’ll be carried on the shoulders of his former players too someday when they honor him the way they did Tressel a few years back.

Not only did his most recent disgrace not move the needle, but some have proposed his statue include him sitting at ‘that’ bar stool with a smirk on his face.

“Oh, that’s just Urban being Urban,” the jerks in their circles will say at parties before quickly changing the subject. “Remember when he put up 62 on Meatchicken?”

Now comes Ryan Day, who has allegedly vowed to ‘hang 100’ on Michigan if he gets the chance. Had it been last year … well, we’d have given him that chance.

But not this year. We predict this Michigan team will at least provide some resistance, and if there really are football gods … well, let’s be honest. It’s time for them to even out the breaks a bit.

Congratulations to last week’s winner. This week’s receives two tickets to a future Detroit Lions playoff game of his choice.

Our Michigan – Ohio State Predictions:

CHRIS BALAS: This Michigan team is focused, talented in a lot of areas and hungry  — and yet it still doesn’t have all the weapons it needs to compete with the Buckeyes, at least not without a little help from the football gods (or the men in stripes, and we all know that’s not in the cards).

This wouldn’t exactly be like the 1980 USA hockey team beating the Russians, when Herb Brooks told his team, ‘they might win nine out of 10.’ This one feels more like seven or eight, meaning there’s a 25 percent chance or so U-M can pull this one out.

OSU’s offense is a juggernaut. It’s going to come down to red zone play, and we expect U-M will do okay — just not well enough. Ohio State 37, Michigan 27

JOHN BORTON: The experts say Michigan doesn’t stand much of a chance. The experts know Ohio Stare is capable of ending a team’s futile hopes in 30 minutes of unrelenting embarrassment. The experts say, good for Michigan — it’s come a long way this year, but this run is done.

The experts missed on this team all year long. Maybe they will one more time. Michigan 34, Ohio State 31

CLAYTON SAYFIE: It’s going to be a great scene at Football’s Valhalla on Saturday as the two iconic sets of colors mix and clash on a furious palette.The 2021 Michigan Wolverines are more than capable of pulling off an upset over hated rival Ohio State, but it’ll take an extraordinary effort and some breaks for the Scarlet and Gray to meet a dastardly fate.

The Buckeyes are due to stumble a bit, and maybe they will, but with the way this offense is rolling and the defense is improving, I wouldn’t bet on it. Ohio State 41, Michigan 31

ANTHONY BROOME: Here we go. The Game is here and means more than anyone could have imagined coming into this year. That’s a testament to how special this group has been and the internal drive it has taken to make this a rivalry showdown with the biggest stakes of the Jim Harbaugh era.

Ohio State is a juggernaut but is not unbeatable. Oregon proved that earlier this season. As the gap between OSU and everyone else has grown in talent acquisition, it has always felt like it would take a special and unique group of guys to beat the Buckeyes.

Michigan has a team capable of that if it can play its best four-quarter game of the season. Ohio State’s defense is improved, but the Wolverines should still be able to move the ball. They won’t be able to shut down the OSU offense, but they don’t entirely have to. Get off the field in critical moments, force a turnover somewhere, don’t jump offsides on a punt. These are all things Michigan can control.

If they can find a way to keep this game in the low-to-mid 30s, Michigan is going to have a shot to pull this off. It just feels like OSU has a bit too much offensively and they have a variety of spots to turn when someone needs to make a play.

Clos(er), but no cigar again. Ohio State 42, Michigan 33

DOUG SKENE: “Michigan MUST get to the quarterback and make him feel the heat.  If not, this could turn into a track meet.

Michigan MUST gain at least 150 yards rushing and keep the dangerous OSU offense off the field.

Michigan MUST score touchdowns in the red zone.  Field goals will not be enough. Ohio State 35, Michigan 28

DOUG KARSCH: So many HUGE questions leading into this game. Can Michigan’s pass rush make OSU QB CJ Stroud uncomfortable? Ohio State has only allowed Stroud to be sacked 13 times this year (13th in the nation). 

Can Michigan run the ball? Ohio State’s rush defense ranks 11th in the country allowing just 102 Yards per game. The Buckeyes have shut down everyone on the ground post-Oregon. But those teams are also some of the worst rushing offenses in America (Akron, Maryland, IU, PSU and Purdue — all ranking 100+ in Rush offense). 

So what does this game come down to?

Who steps up in this huge moment. 
History tells us Ohio State steps up. But I have bought in. This Michigan team is different. And they prove it Saturday. The Wolverines, helped by two interceptions, get the job done. Michigan 28, Ohio State 27