Michigan football has limped around all year, with few signature wins. Yes, beating USC and Michigan State are nice feathers in the cap, and Minnesota has turned out to be a much better team than anticipated in the preseason. And while the Wolverines finally looked like themselves for the first time all year against a middling Northwestern team, this upcoming week at Ohio State is a giant step up in competition.
Ranked No. 2 in the country, there’s nothing more the Buckeyes crave than a win over Michigan. After losing three straight games to their rival up north, OSU has retooled their team, bringing in Kansas State quarterback Will Howard to replace Kyle McCord, Alabama safety Caleb Downs to help out on the backend of the defense, and No. 1 recruit in 2024 in wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, who has become a solid replacement for Marvin Harrison Jr.
While the bigger challenge for Michigan is likely the offense vs. the Buckeye defense, it’s nearly just as challenging facing the Ohio State offense. On the Inside Michigan Football radio show, Wolverines defensive coordinator Wink Martindale was discussing the backend in the win over the Wildcats before he quickly turned his focus towards the Buckeye wide receiver trio of Smith, Emeka Egbuka, and Carnell Tate.
“I was really glad to see Aamir (Hall) step up in the Northwestern game,” Martindale said. “But this game we have coming up — so completely different animal. You know it, they got three werewolves out there that we got to try to cover, and it’s going to be a great challenge for us.”
But that’s not all that concerns Martindale when it comes to facing the Buckeye offense. What’s worrying him in advance of The Game?
“Everything. I mean, seriously — they’re just a machine right now offensively,” Martindale said. “And we know that it’s going to be a physical game. To me, that’s advantage us in the physicality area. But we have done a great job of patching together a secondary essentially all season. So it’s going to be a test, because you’ve got to have some premier guys to go against premier guys. And it’s going to be a great, great challenge for us.”
Michigan and OSU kick off at noon EST at The Shoe.