Ohio St at Michigan -3 O/U 46, 12:00 ET
Ryan Day and the Buckeyes head into Ann Arbor as underdogs, for sure an unfamiliar role. You would have to go back to Week 13 in 2018 vs Michigan the last time they were underdogs in a regular season game. Ohio St won that game 62-39 and Dwayne Haskins threw for 6 touchdowns. Now, are the Buckeyes going to score 62 today? Absolutely not. Quite the contrary, their stout defense is going to lead them to victory today. A zero-turnover game from Kyle McCord and the offense will surely damper the Wolverines ability to score any defensive points. A category Michigan has excelled in, in 2023. Scoring defensive touchdowns, you would almost call their specialty. I know many of you are sitting there thinking, the Wolverines ran for 250+ yards in each of the last two matchups with OSU, being victorious in each. Yes, you would be correct, Ohio State got embarrassed defensively in the ground game both years. So, what did they do? Go recruit defensive players and execute better on the defensive side. Michigan is going to face a different animal on Saturday. Their inability to pound the rock is going to leave the game in J.J. McCarthy’s hands. While he is certainly capable of getting the job done, eliminating that electric ground game is going to impede the passing game greatly. What’s the old phrase? The run game opens up the passing game, well, that most surely applies to this Wolverine squad. At the end of the day if the game lies in McCarthy’s hands vs Kyle McCord and a Ryan Day run offense led by phenom WR Marvin Harrison Jr., I will most surely be backing the Buckeyes!
