THE RUNNING START

When: Saturday, November 25, 2017
Where: That Stadium
TV: 12:00, FOX 
Announcers: Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt and Jenny Taft

This is the 114th time Ohio State and their rival will play each other in football. The Buckeyes are 49–58–6* all-time against That Team. The One Who Wear's Khakis' team enters this contest with an 8–3 record in 2017. 

*NCAA sanctions be damned.

Below you will find some interesting facts about the teams, key offensive player stats, coach information, and team stats.

THE LAST TIME...

• Ohio State played Them, the Buckeyes won 30-27 2OT last year in Columbus.
• The Buckeyes played their Rival in That Stadium, Ohio State won 42-13 in 2014.
• An Urban Meyer Ohio State team faced an unranked team from up north was in 2014.
• The Buckeyes lost the twelfth game of the season was 2011, against Them when Luke Fickell was coach.

ON THE HORIZON​

• Saturday will be Ohio State's 700th game as a member of the Big Ten.
• Due to NCAA sanctions, both teams enter this contest with 503 conference wins. A new leader will be crowned. 
• J.T. Barrett is one win away from tying Art Schlichter as Ohio State's quarterback with the most wins. Barrett is 35–6 as a starer and Schlichter was 36–11–1.
• J.K. Dobbins (1,089 yards) is 149 yards away from passing Maurice Clarett (1,237).
• Jordan Fuller has 54 tackles and might become the seventh non-linebacker in Ohio State history to lead the team in tackles. Damon Webb is second on the team with 49 stops. The leading linebacker is Jerome Baker with 46 total tackles.
• Ohio State is 21–2 in the month of November with Urban Meyer as head coach.
• Barrett is tied with Joe Germaine with eight 300-yard passing games. He is one 300-yard game from holding the outright record.
• This is the 206th game in Urban Meyer's career. Among active coaches, he has the highest winning percentage (.849) and is ranked third in the history of Division I history.
• Since 1890, the Buckeyes are 22–20 (.524) in the twelfth game of the season, but are 12–7 (.632) when the match-up is a regular season game. 
• Ohio State is 3–0 when ranked and facing an unranked Big Ten opponent on the road in game 12. 2013 was the last time this scenario occurred and the third ranked Buckeyes defeated That Team 42-41.

 University of That Team

GET TO KNOW THAT TEAM

• The campus is located in Ann Arbor, MI.
• The university was founded in 1817. 
• The Skunks are 8–3 this season.
• The team is 48–27 (.640) since 2012.
• The One Who Wears Khakis' team lost to Wisconsin 24-10 last week.
• Since joining the Big Ten, That Team is 512–207–19 (.694) against conference opponents.

​TODAY'S TRIVIA QUESTIONS:

1. Can you name the two Ohio State coaches to start and end their careers with wins against That Team?
2. This will be the sixth time Urban Meyer has faced That Team. Of Ohio State's 24 coaches, how many have played our rival six times? Hint, Include Urban Meyer in your answer.
3. How many Ohio State coaches have won The Game at least five times?
4. Of Ohio State's 24 coaches, how many defeated That Team in their first season?

Answers at the bottom of today's article.

2017 Player Comparison

OFFENSIVE LEADERS
J.T. BARRETT	2,698 YDS // 32 TD // 7 INT	PASSING	JOHN O'KORN	761 YDS // 1 TD // 5 INT
J.K. DOBBINS	1,089 YDS // 7.3 YPC 6 TD	RUSHING	KARAN HIGDON	874 YDS //  6.4YPC // 10 TD
PARRIS CAMPBELL	518 YDS // 2 TD	RECEIVING	GRANT PERRY	298 YDS // 1 TD
DEFENSIVE LEADERS
JORDAN FULLER	54	TACKLES	DEVIN BUSH	82
NICK BOSA	5.0	SACKS	CHASE WINOVICH	7.5
DAMON WEBB	3	INTERCEPTIONS	KHALEKE HUDSON AND 3 OTHER PLAYERS	2
SPECIAL TEAMS
K.J. HILL	3.5 YPR	PUNT RETURNER	DONOVAN PEOPLES-JONES	7.7 YPR
PARRIS CAMPBELL	36.6 YPR	KICKOFF RETURN	AMBRY THOMAS	21.9 YPR
DRUE CHRISMAN	43.5	PUNTING	BRAD ROBBINS	40.9
6		EDGE	3

THE COACHES

Urban Meyer

• 70–8 (.897) at Ohio State (6th year)
• 174–31 (.849) overall (16th year)
• 46–3 (.939) Big Ten regular season conference record

The One Who Wears Khakis

• 28–9 (.757) at That Team (3rd year)
• 86–36 (.705) overall as a college coach (10th year)
• 28–9 (.757) Big Ten regular season conference record

CLIFF CLAVEN'S LITTLE KNOWN FACTS CORNER

 

• Last week, Ohio State rushed for 300 or more yards in consecutive games for the first time since 2013 (Cal and Florida A&M).
• The Buckeyes kept Illinois under 100 yards rushing last week. That is the fifth time in the last six weeks the team has accomplished this feat.
• Ohio State's offense leads the nation with 281 first downs. 
• The Buckeyes have defeated Illinois in 11 of the last 12 regular games.
• Mike Weber has rushed for 270 yards and is averaging 13.5 yards per carry in his last two games.
• That Team's defense is No. 1 in the country against the pass and ranked third in overall defense.
• The Buckeyes have not allowed any opponent to return a punt this season.
• Tyquan Lewis has 21 career sacks. Two more will place him on Ohio State's Top 5 list.
• Ohio State has won 14 of the last 16 against That Team, including five straight. NCAA sanctions be damned.
• Sean Nuernberger has made 167 consecutive extra points.
• In the last 30 years, only Michigan (12) has more wins against Ohio State than Illinois (9). 
• Nick Bosa leads the Buckeyes with 11.5 tackles for loss.
• The Illini's last five wins against Ohio State have been in Columbus (2007, 2001, 1999, 1994 and 1992). The last time Illinois won in Champaign was 1991.
• Buckeye teams under Urban Meyer have scored 50 or more points 23 times. The Scarlet and Gray won all of those games.
• Daniel Dufrene was the last Illini player to rush for over 100 yards against Ohio State. He ran for 106 yards in 2007, the last time Illinois won a game in the series.
• The Buckeyes' last game on November 18th was the 42-39 epic win over No. 2 Michigan in 2006.
• Ohio State is 9–2 on the 18th of November and has won six of the last seven games played on that date.
• This is the first time since 1995 that the Buckeyes have played an opponent other than Michigan on 11/18.

2017 Statistical Comparison

OFFENSE
44.9	3rd	POINTS FOR	26.3	82nd
252.5	12th	RUSHING OFFENSE	194.2	35th
293.6	20th	PASSING OFFENSE	166.2	111th
546.2	4th	TOTAL OFFENSE	360.4	102nd
.496	4th	3rd DOWNS	.327	112th
.885	36th	RED ZONE	.861	53rd
DEFENSE
19.8	22nd	POINTS ALLOWED	17.1	11th
114.0	12th	RUSH DEFENSE	116.8	15th
177.5	15th	PASS DEFENSE	144.4	1st
115.1	27th	PASS EFFICIENCY DEFENSE	97.4	4th
291.5	8th	TOTAL DEFENSE	261.2	3rd
.301	14th	3rd DOWNS	.247	1st
.767	22nd	RED ZONE	.808	45th
SPECIAL TEAMS
3.8	117th	PUNT RETURN	7.5	63rd
25.0	15th	KICKOFF RETURN	19.5	99th
41.6	11th	NET PUNTING	36.0	106th
MISCELLANEOUS
+ 0.2	53rd	TURNOVER MARGIN	-0.1	71st
7.3	106th	PENALTIES	6.7	91st
11		EDGE	7

TODAY'S TRIVIA ANSWERS

Can you name the two Ohio State coaches to start and end their careers with wins against That Team?

Answer: Earle Bruce (1979, 1987) and Jim Tressel (2001, 2010).

This will be the sixth time Urban Meyer has faced That Team. Of Ohio State's 24 coaches, how many have played our rival six times? Hint, Include Urban Meyer in your answer.

Answer: Seven. Woody Hayes (28), John Cooper (13), John Wilce (11), Jim Tressel (10), Earle Bruce (9), Francis Schmidt (7) and Urban Meyer (6).

How many Ohio State coaches have won The Game at least five times?

Answer: Four. Woody Hayes (16), Jim Tressel (9), Earle Bruce (5) and Urban Meyer (5).

Of Ohio State's 24 coaches, how many defeated That Team in their first season?

Answer: Six. Sam Willaman (1929), Francis Schmidt (1934), Carroll Widdoes (1944), Earle Bruce (1979), Jim Tressel (2001) and Urban Meyer (2012).

ICYMI
The Series History: Ohio State/That Team
The 1942 Season Through The Words Of the Past: 11/22/1942
Some Serious Sixties Shade