Ohio State Football: Predictions for ‘The Game’

It’s time for the biggest game of the year – The Game.

Ohio State travels to Michigan as the Buckeyes continue to try to get into the College Football Playoff while the Wolverines want to give Jim Harbaugh his first win over OSU.

Can Ohio State continue to dominate like it has been doing all season? I think so.

Michigan’s offense is much improved since the beginning of the season as they are scoring 33.5 points per game. Quarterback Shea Patterson has had a nice season with 2,523 passing yards, 21 touchdowns and five interceptions while running back Zach Charbonnet has also found success, running for 635 yards. Their offense hasn’t seen a defense like Ohio State’s though.

The Buckeyes are allowing the least amount of points in the country, 10.5 per game, and have a bunch of future NFL players paying for them. It’s hard to beat guys like Chase Young, who had three sacks against Penn State, and others like Jordan Fuller, Jeffrey Okudah, and Damon Arnette.

Defensively, Michigan is only allowing 16.2 points per game behind the stellar play of Khaleke Hudson who has 88 tackles on the year. However, that defense also hasn’t seen an offense line Ohio State’s.

Justin Fields is probably the most efficient quarterback in the country and he is surrounded by a ton of elite receivers in Chris Olave, K.J. Hill and Binjimen Victor. Oh, and he also has the best running back in the country in the backfield with him in J.K. Dobbins. There are just too many weapons to worry about.

The Game always seems to be close, other than last year, and I think this game will be close – until the fourth quarter. I think Ryan Day will figure out how to beat the Wolverines by time the fourth quarter comes and the Buckeyes pull away to move to 12-0.

Prediction: Ohio State 35, Michigan 21