The Ohio State Buckeyes face perhaps their toughest, or perhaps their second-toughest, test of the season in "The Game" from Ann Arbor this Saturday. The only question is whether or not the Texas Longhorns were a more game opponent in Week 1. OSU won that 14-7 from the "Shoe" in a defensive performance that set the tone for the season.
Grappling with being a big underdog, Michigan OnSI's Seth Berry believes there's an opening for the Maize and Blue at the "Big House" this weekend: exploiting the Buckeyes with the run, in the same way Texas did.
Berry conceded that the Longhorns didn't exactly exploit Matt Patricia's run defense during that outing, though. Then again, Ohio State hasn't faced any running back like Jordan Marshall, who has gone for over 100 yards in the last four games. Marshall returns from a shoulder injury after not facing the Maryland Terrapins last week. Justice Haynes is out for the regular season with a foot injury.
"As difficult as it is to put much weight into Week 1, when the Buckeyes played Texas in late August, the Longhorns are probably the most comparable team to Michigan OSU has played when comparing talent and overall success," Berry wrote.
"In that game, even though OSU was outstanding in shutting down Arch Manning, the Longhorns were able to sustain several drives in that game and ended up running the ball for 166 yards on 37 attempts (4.5 yards per rush).
"Ohio State really buttoned up its run defense since that point, but it's not as if they have played a rushing attack nearly as good as what Michigan possesses, even with Jordan Marshall as Michigan's lead back and not Justice Haynes."
OSU has looked appropriately dominant against weak competition, something the fellow Big Ten undefeated Indiana Hoosiers cannot also say. There's no reason to think Las Vegas will be so badly off in this one.
Good teams win, and great teams cover. There hasn't been a single game this year the Buckeyes haven't at least pushed in most even-line spreads across multiple sports books.
Maybe FOX gets its money's worth and this one is close. All told, there's a better chance the next time there's drama for Ohio State is in the Big Ten Championship. Indiana looms as a team with an upperclassman transfer quarterback who's playing his best ball. TTUN cannot say the same with freshman Bryce Underwood playing in his first serious rivalry game against the best defense in the country.
One that should have a better showing against Marshall than the Northwestern Wildcats, Purdue Boilermakers, Michigan State Spartans, and Washington Huskies did.