GBMW: Michigan Football — "The Game" — Ohio State at Michigan — Preview

Ohio State at Michigan

Go Blue Michigan Wolverine — Preview

Well it is here, “The Game” is upon us, whether you like it or not the Buckeyes are coming to Ann Arbor in those scarlet and grey “throwback uniforms” that have no resemblance to the uniform and team they are saluting. There will be thousands of Ohio State fans coming to town with all their red shirts, red faces and their buckeye necklaces.

This is one game that all Michigan fans are hoping that everything finally comes together and that Michigan stops shooting themselves in the foot this week. Can UM on the national stage play the perfect game to beat Ohio State? Can the Wolverines come ready to play four quarters of football this Saturday? Even if UM does play a perfect game; we believe the team will need help to win. This is where Ohio State comes into play. Will the Buckeyes not come prepared or truly ready for this game, knowing that the Rose Bowl game is locked up and not really playing for anything other than “The Game” and the bragging rights between the players, teams, and fans, that carry on down the road?

Michigan actually matches up better against Ohio State than last week against Wisconsin, a game that GBMW pointed out obvious mismatches that showed in the final result. Michigan not having its main power runner, Brandon Minor, is at a huge disadvantage for this game. He is Michigan ‘s workhorse and the guy that can get those tough yards that were few and far between this year. For Michigan to have a chance, the offense needs to find a running game and try to control the tempo, along with the time of possession. This mission was accomplished in the first quarter against Wisconsin and actually for most of the first half. But then UM lost missed opportunities, and the tempo, and the final battle of the clock.

We actually think UM would have had a better chance winning this week, as opposed to last week, if Minor were healthy and running well. Players get injured all the time and going into this season one of our biggest concerns was could Minor and C. Brown finally stay healthy for a complete year, and the answer has been nope.

Michigan may now have to rely on freshman Tate Forcier and freshman V. Smith to carry the load. Hopefully M. Shaw and C. Brown can play as well. M. Shaw has been hampered with a thumb injury and the coaches are worried about him holding on to the ball, so that is why V. Smith has seen his reps and game time increase lately.

The primary reason Michigan does have at least a chance to win is Ohio State is not a world beater offensively, although our defense, this past month or so, is allowing all teams to look like world beaters and some opponents are having games worthy of Heisman contenders.

Michigan must control the line of scrimmage and win the turnover battle by at least two turnovers, in our opinion, to have a chance and the offense needs to be able to score when given the/any opportunity. If the defense forces a turnover, or creates a short field for the offense, then Michigan needs to score.

Michigan is 10th in the Big Ten regarding red zone scoring so that number needs to be drastically improved for Michigan to have a chance to win this game.

Ohio State is probably too strong for Michigan’s offense. Ohio State has the best defense and particularly the best front seven that Michigan will face this season.

The biggest factor might just be the first half. The Wolverine squad must be competitive very early in the game and show that they are in the Big House to fight the entire game and play with some passion and pride, allowing the fans to get into the game.

The closer this game is, going into the dreaded second half, the better the Michigan players should feel about the overall chance of winning, which is big right now for this young team. The third quarter has been the “death” quarter for both sides of the ball for Michigan the last six weeks. Whatever the squad has previously done at the start of the second half, this needs to stop. Maybe UM needs Barwis to give a little pep talk at halftime, like what happens right before the players go down the tunnel for warm-ups before the game. That, or maybe the students need to bring the banner out for the team to touch once again so the players thinks it is a new game.

Ohio State has a great running tandem of Saine, with the speed, and Herron, with the power attack. Michigan cannot afford to allow those guys to get in rhythm and just control the game. Michigan does not have the horses, or the depth, to take a pounding all game long from those big offensive linemen.

Tate Forcier is simply going to have to play beyond his years, which he can, but will he?

Ohio State is a good team but they only beat Iowa by three in overtime against Iowa’s back up quarterback on their home field.

So lets not make them into what they are not.

Ohio State is well coached and will come prepared.

Michigan must tackle well and limit the big plays, an outcome program followers have not seen for an entire game for a while. The defense also must make Ohio State one-dimensional and force Pryor to throw more than twenty times.

Michigan cannot afford to just let Ohio State pound the ball like OSU did in Michigan Stadium two years ago, a game in which the Buckeyes only threw the ball twice in the second half.

In the end, most of the GBMW contributors just do not think this Michigan team has the horses to win, but we do think it will be closer than the experts think, or at least we all hope for a competitive game. Michigan is bringing back the 1969 team, so maybe some of that magic can rub off on this year’s team and maybe the team can be inspired for four quarters and finally break the streak that the Buckeyes have enjoyed lately.

Come back later today to see our predictions.

Thanks for stopping by Go Blue Michigan Wolverine

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Written by CoachBt, Coach Webb, and ErocWolverine