For Ohio State on Saturday, The Game is all about righting the wrongs of the past three years when Michigan football ran roughshod over the Buckeyes, stealing their birthright to win the Big Ten and get into the College Football Playoff. For Michigan football, it’s all about pride, continuing to assert dominance, and extending the three-game winning streak, thus showing that the Wolverines are on the right path.
The maize and blue will certainly be heavy underdogs in the matchup and stats or advanced analytics won’t tell the whole story, but it at least gives us a glimpse into how The Game might go. With that in mind, OSU is better than the Wolverines in nearly every metric per PFF’s grades through Week 13, but styles do make fights, and if Michigan can rely heavily on its pass rush, then it will at least be in the game.
Here are the rankings and ratings for PFF’s major categories for both teams.
Overall
| Rtg | Rnk | Rtg | Rnk | ||
| Michigan | 87.8 | 33 | Ohio State | 94.6 | 2 |
Michigan offense vs. Ohio State defense
| Michigan | Rtg | Rnk | Ohio State | Rtg | Rnk |
| Offense | 70.3 | 100 | Defense | 93.8 | 2 |
| Pass | 55.1 | 122 | Coverage | 90.3 | 12 |
| Pass Block | 66.5 | 85 | Pass Rush | 83.5 | 11 |
| Receiving | 64.3 | 105 | (see coverage above) | – | – |
| Run | 81.2 | 67 | Run Def. | 93.5 | 5 |
| Run Block | 64.4 | 56 | Tackling | 78.9 | 27 |
Ohio State offense vs. Michigan defense
| Ohio State | Rtg | Rnk | Michigan | Rtg | Rnk |
| Offense | 89.9 | 5 | Defense | 92.3 | 9 |
| Pass | 88.2 | 8 | Coverage | 76.5 | 81 |
| Pass Block | 68.7 | 77 | Pass Rush | 90.7 | 1 |
| Receiving | 84.3 | 5 | (see coverage above) | – | – |
| Run | 90.6 | 11 | Run Def. | 93.6 | 3 |
| Run Block | 69.3 | 29 | Tackling | 80.1 | 24 |
Special teams
| Rtg | Rnk | Rtg | Rnk | ||
| Michigan | 81.1 | 29 | Ohio State | 84.0 | 17 |
Conclusion
Jim Harbaugh used to say you have to win two out of the three phases of the game to come away with a win. OSU has a stellar defense, but even when Michigan’s had bad offenses, it’s tended to be able to draw some things up against the Buckeyes on that front. The Wolverines’ best chance is to force mistakes on the defensive side of the ball, get short fields, find ways to score touchdowns instead of field goals, but hit the field goals when necessary. Special teams could play a factor in this game if Michigan is in the game.
A win is unlikely, but no one thought Oklahoma would be able to dominate Alabama on Saturday, and yet that happened. Games are played for a reason, and Michigan will need its best performance of the year in order to be in the game. The good news is that the Wolverines are coming off their most complete performance in the week before with the 50-6 win over Northwestern.