It doesn’t matter who won the staff picks last week.
All that matters is this week.
Right here. Right now.
Every staff pick until today was just practice. Preparation.
For this moment.
For this pick.
Ohio State is at Michigan on Saturday and it is the most important thing in the world.
This is the staff pick you’ll tell your children about.
This is the staff pick that where legends are born.
This is the staff pick that will define a generation.
No pressure.
Caroline Rice
It looked like Ohio State could have beaten Penn State last week by a lot more than they did had they not turned the ball over and given Penn State opportunities to stay in the game. But the Buckeyes understand that they can’t get away with turning the ball over like that again this week.
Michigan has been improving throughout the season and I think the Wolverines are embarrassed about what happened last year and will be looking to ruin the Buckeyes’ season. They know how dominant Ohio State has been all season, but I think playing in the Big House will give them an edge and will be a new challenge for the Buckeyes as they have not played their biggest games this season on the road. I expect this to be a typical Ohio State and Michigan game.
I do not think Don Brown’s defense will be enough to limit Justin Fields’ passing abilities and J.K. Dobbins’ work on the ground. But they have to be more careful than last week. Michigan QB Shea Patterson has been improving throughout the season and can run the ball, but the entire Buckeye defense is playing really well and has been able to successfully force quarterbacks into bad throws.
I think this game will be a fight, but with Ohio State’s talent and the way they have been able to make really good teams look like bad ones, I have to say the Buckeyes will be too much for Michigan on Saturday.
Ohio State 41, Michigan 24
Michael Citro
If you want to hear someone talk themselves into something in real time, just listen to this week’s Silver Bullets Podcast, in which all of my Stockholm Syndrome from the 1990s returns all in a rush. The one thing I understand about this rivalry is that sometimes things happen that defy logic. It’s completely possible that Ohio State will win this game by four or more touchdowns, but I don’t expect that.
Michigan, to me, is a better team at this point in the season than Penn State and has a more complete defense than the Nittany Lions. Ohio State seemed afraid to test Penn State’s secondary and Michigan’s is better. Shea Patterson has embraced the jump ball and his quality receivers. On the other side, the Buckeyes struggled to protect Justin Fields against Penn State. They broke out no long runs. They turned the ball over and took penalties. Now Ohio State goes into The Game on the road with a quarterback who has never played in this rivalry (historically not a good indicator of success), who may not be 100%, and who doesn’t have a viable backup. It enters the game with a coach who has led his team into two big games this year and got ultra conservative in the second one. The Buckeyes have also laid some serious eggs after the Penn State game in recent years, albeit after much closer and more emotional victories.
All of these things have me greatly concerned and Saturday will be even more physical than the Penn State game. I hope Day and his staff have sufficiently worked out the kinks in pass protection this week. I hope they have stressed the importance of ball security and discipline and that the message has been appropriately received by the players. I hope Ohio State plays with more aggression. But most of all, I hope my lingering PTSD from the John Cooper years proves my prediction to be not only wrong, but also completely silly.
Michigan 26, Ohio State 24
Chip Minnich
Any time Ohio State plays “That Team Up North”, I am concerned. Something about the 1990s has me irredeemably scarred.
I have found solace in listening to Gerd and Tom’s podcasts, and the fact that the Wolverines are going to be trotting out a quarterback who has a tendency to make bad plays and choices periodically in just about any game, let alone THE GAME. I like Ohio State’s defensive line and linebackers clamping down on the Wolverines’ running game, and I also like Ohio State’s secondary being able to handle the talented wide receivers that the Wolverines will trot out. It will go all four quarters.
Ohio State 31, Michigan 21
Michael Meihls
Simply put, Ohio State is the best overall team in the nation. No one matches up this season with the Buckeyes evenly. And OSU is playing great football this late in November as well. Michigan, on the other hand, is coming into The Game overmatched. But they are an overmatched team that is playing its best football of 2019.
If Patterson is able to stay upright and connect with any of his talented receiving options, Michigan will move the ball. Bell, Collins, and DPJ are all good weapons. But if Michigan can’t keep Chase Young away from Patterson, they won’t be impact players. I fully expect the Silver Bullets to eat this week. OSU’s defense, even with the best player in college football, has been mostly overlooked this year, and this week they make a statement.
Michigan’s defense is, statistically speaking, the best team Ohio State will have faced all season. They are 13th against the run, and have allowed the 4th fewest passing yards. However, not one team they’ve faced has the weapons OSU does.
This episode of The Game will be a slobber knocker, and it will be much closer than last year’s matchup. If Ohio State plays terribly, and UM plays absolutely out of their mind, there’s a chance Michigan wins this game. But that’s as likely to happen as it is that pick Ohio State to lose this Game. In the end, talent and coaching will always win out, and Ohio State has a clear advantage in both.
Ohio State 35, Michigan 24
Brandon Zimmerman
The Game is finally here and surprisingly Michigan looks like a half-way competent team heading into Saturday. This is something none of us could have imagined about a month ago. I mean, they still have no consistent running game and their entire offense is predicated on their wide receivers coming down with a 50/50 ball, but I’m sure they will be fine on Saturday.
Offensively, we saw some chinks in the armor of Ohio State against Penn State. Those chinks were self-inflicted by key players and the coaching staff BUT they were exposed. With weather looking iffy and Justin Fields a little banged up, I think we will see a lot of JK Dobbins and Master Teague running the ball. It has been well-documented the team that runs the ball best usually wins the game. I think we will see OSU run the ball pretty darn well on Saturday. I think KJ Hill has a big day supplementing the run game.
On the defensive side of the ball, this game has Chase Young’s name written all over it. Michigan has found success throwing the ball but it takes a little time to develop. Even if Chase Young doesn’t get 3 or 4 sacks, him being triple-teamed will open up guys like Jashon Cornell and Zach Harrison time to get to Shea Patterson. Defensive player of the game will be Jordan Fuller with at least one pick.
Ohio State 45, Michigan 17
Tom Orr
Michigan is almost certainly the best team the Buckeyes have faced yet this season. But that doesn’t mean the Wolverines match up particularly well with OSU.
It sure doesn’t seem like Michigan is going to be able to run the ball consistently on Saturday. If they can’t, that’s going to put a lot of pressure on their passing game. The Wolverines have a very talented wide receiver group, and will almost certainly hit a few big plays through the air. But that passing game is going to be somewhat limited by the combination of OSU’s talented secondary and the ever-present pass rush threat of Chase Young.
On the other side of the ball, Michigan’s interior defensive line is fairly talented, but not particularly deep. It’s an area that the Buckeyes should be able to pound on throughout the game, and ultimately break at some point.
This shouldn’t come as a shock, but look for a big day from J.K. Dobbins and Justin Fields on the ground, and from Young on defense.
Ohio State 31, Michigan 20
Tony Gerdeman
Three times this season has an offense driven the length of the field on Ohio State’s first-team defense and scored a touchdown. That has to count for something.
Drue Chrisman will have to have his best game in order to make life difficult on the Wolverine offense.
The Buckeyes will need to protect Justin Fields for a number of reasons, but not least of which because he is banged up and Michigan smells blood.
Michigan must stop the Ohio State run game or else this will never be a game. The weather conditions may make throwing the ball difficult. Ohio State’s defense will also make throwing the ball difficult.
The weather favors the Buckeyes, as does the talent on hand. JK Dobbins goes for 170.
Ohio State 31, Michigan 17