I was reading the Scouting Report, and something caught my attention. Actually, a few things caught my attention.
the Wolverines... are ranked No. 4 in the College Football Playoff standings
The Wolverines... lead the Football Bowl Subdivision with only 234.8 yards allowed per game.
Michigan’s offense... (is) averaging 36.6 points per game (24th in the FBS) and 429.6 yards per game (47th in the FBS)
Impressive. These guys are legit. I don't think anybody is questioning that. I remember the last time I thought these guys were legit coming into Columbus... it was way back in 2016.
I decided to dig into the 11W archives (start here, click newer to go through the week) and see what was being said, and what else was happening the week leading up to The Game.
STOCK UP
MIKE WEBER — OHIO STATE RUNNING BACKThings were a little shaky early on for Weber in Saturday's 17-16 win over Michigan State as the redshirt freshman fumbled when Ohio State had the ball inside the red zone.
But Weber responded nicely, and his 4-yard touchdown run in the third quarter wound up being the game-winner against the Spartans. Weber also had a 52-yard run on that drive to help set up the score. The Detroit native is now over 1,000 yards for the season — Weber has 1,046 rushing yards — as he became just the third freshman in Ohio State history to ever reach that mark.
The Buckeyes are going to lean heavily on Weber, the Michigan native, in Saturday's matchup against the Wolverines.
STOCK DOWN
OHIO STATE'S BIG-PLAY DEFENSEThe Buckeyes did a really good job containing Michigan State on Saturday with a few exceptions, but those few exceptions are what almost cost them the game. Ohio State's defense must do a better job of eliminating explosive plays.
Spartans running back L.J. Scott had a 64-yard touchdown catch and another 61-yard run. The Buckeyes' defense is best when it's making teams sustain long drives. If Michigan has the same success against Ohio State with the big play, the Buckeyes could be in trouble.
Interesting...
Ohio State slipped by Michigan State last Saturday, winning 17-16 after Chris Worley and Malik Hooker teamed up to intercept Tyler O'Connor and deny a 2-point conversion attempt with under 5 minutes to play. The Buckeyes needed another interception from Gareon Conley a few minutes later to seal the deal but when the final whistle blew, all attention turned to the Michigan Wolverines.
Wait a second... Did you read that?
Ohio State... winning 17-16... deny a 2-point conversion attempt...
Yeah, that. Oh, that MSU team finished the season 3-9, by the way.
Back to what the Preview had to say:
Michigan is 10-1 and ranked third in the latest set of College Football Playoff rankings
hmmmmm...
Jim Harbaugh's team owns statistically one of the best defenses in the country
yep...
Harbaugh is always coy with the media when talking about his team... That is why he hardly gave any indication to the health of his starting quarterback, Wilton Speight... Multiple outlets reported Speight broke his collarbone and is out for the remainder of the regular season.
Key player with a "broken collarbone"... really? You can't make this stuff up.
I don't see it in the text, but an attached chart shows that TTUN's offense in 2016 was ranked 11th nationally in scoring.
What else was going on that week?
Eric Seger gave us a look at how the Buckeyes and Wolverines fared against common opponents in 2016, and most of the time the Wolverines appeared to be the better team.
John O'Korn making guarantees?
Matt Gutridge gives his breakdown of the top 10 Ohio State home wins in The Game. I'd imagine this changed immediately following the Brooklyn Dagger.
A review of the roundtable shows that Eric, Johnny, and Andrew all felt that the Buckeyes would pull out a close victory.
This sure feel an awful lot like 2016 to me, and this year's Buckeyes have shown something we saw from 2016's Buckeyes... a never give up, always fighting back attitude.
Let's do this.
Go Bucks. Beat Blue.
