5 predictions for Michigan football vs. Ohio State

Michigan sacks Kyle McCord at least three times

There has been a lot of talk about how Michigan football is going to fare in pass protection and it’s a fair point.

But Ohio State hasn’t exactly been stellar up front. The Buckeyes have had some protection issues of their own this season and I’m confident they haven’t faced a defensive line quite like Michigan’s.

Penn State is damn good, but the Nittany Lions didn’t even have Chop Robinson against the Buckeyes, so it’s not really an apples-to-apples comparison. To be fair, Michigan football doesn’t have any EDGE rushers as good as Robinson either.

But it does have three NFL defensive tackles in Mason Graham, Kris Jenkins, and Kenneth Grant. It also has some talented pass rushers, and Jesse Minter, if Michigan can force Ohio State into unfavorable down-and-distances, will make McCord’s life hell.

If this game is mostly on Kyle McCord to win, I think the Michigan pass rush makes that very difficult to achieve with at least three sacks.

Prediction

This is going to be a war. Not having Jim Harbaugh is a huge X-factor for Michigan in a negative way. We just don’t know the impact of that in a game like this.

However, even without Harbaugh, Michigan has the players to win this game. The Wolverines remain a tough matchup for the Buckeyes and we’ll see if Ohio State can block and tackle better than it did in 2021 and 2022.

That’s going to be the key for the Buckeyes turning the tide. The team that wins the line of scrimmage will win the game.

Gun to my head, that’s still Michigan.

Michigan 24, Ohio State 17