\t\u2014 Eleven Warriors (@11W) November 23, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n \n\tMichigan will be without its best running back, Justice Haynes, who underwent foot surgery earlier this month. But the Wolverines still have an excellent running back in Jordan Marshall, who\u2019s rushed for 871 yards and 10 touchdowns on 143 carries this season. Marshall is coming off a shoulder injury that caused him to miss Michigan\u2019s last game against Maryland, but he said Tuesday that he will play against Ohio State.\n<\/p>\n \n\tRELATED Jordan Marshall Chose Michigan Over Ohio State Because of Coaching and Culture: \u201cIt\u2019s All About Culture, and That\u2019s What I Wanted to Be Around\u201d<\/a>\n<\/p>\n \n\tEven if Marshall isn\u2019t 100%, the Wolverines showed they could still run the ball effectively without him last week \u2013 albeit against one of the Big Ten\u2019s worst run defenses \u2013 as Bryson Kuzdzal ran for 100 yards and three touchdowns against Maryland to lead a 228-yard, four-touchdown day on the ground for the maize and blue. A big part of what makes Michigan\u2019s running game so dangerous is the dual-threat ability of freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood, who\u2019s run for 322 yards and five touchdowns this season.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cYou gotta just be aware of him at all times,\u201d Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles said Wednesday. \u201cGotta keep him in the pocket. Gotta be aware of third downs, QB run, scrambling, stuff like that. So it’s gotta be 11 as one on the defensive side of the ball.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\tMichigan\u2019s passing game has been unspectacular this season, ranking 101st nationally with only 196.9 passing yards per game, but it is more dangerous than it was when the Wolverines beat the Buckeyes with only 62 passing yards last season. While Underwood has been inconsistent, completing 61.3% of his passing attempts for 2,166 yards and nine touchdowns with six interceptions, he\u2019s got a big arm that gives him the potential to make explosive plays through the air. The Wolverines also have an emerging standout wide receiver in freshman Andrew Marsh, who\u2019s caught 41 passes for 611 yards and three touchdowns in Michigan\u2019s last seven games.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\tAll of that is to say that while Michigan is far from elite on offense, ranking just 54th nationally with 29.3 points per game, the Wolverines are still one of the most dangerous offensive teams Ohio State has faced this season. So while Matt Patricia\u2019s defense has stifled opponents week in and week out, it needs to play one of its best games of the year in Ann Arbor \u2013 though it will also need more help from the other phases of the game than the Buckeyes\u2019 defense got when they held Michigan to 10 points and 234 yards in 2024.\n<\/p>\n \tDictate the game on offense<\/p>\n \n\tNo area of last year\u2019s loss to Michigan has drawn more scrutiny than Ohio State\u2019s offensive game plan. The Wolverines baited the Buckeyes into running the ball between the tackles by dropping extra defenders into coverage, and Ohio State played right into Michigan\u2019s strength, running the ball 26 times for 77 yards against a stout defensive line led by defensive tackles Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant, both top-15 picks in the 2025 NFL draft.\n<\/p>\n \n\tEven without Graham and Grant, Michigan\u2019s run defense has continued to excel this season, holding opponents to just 94 rushing yards per game (tied for 11th in the FBS) and 2.98 yards per carry (10th). So it stands to reason that Michigan will try to lure the Buckeyes into a run-heavy game plan again, but Ohio State needs to resist taking the bait this time.\n<\/p>\n \n\tOhio State\u2019s offensive game plan could be dictated in part by the health of Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate, but all signs are pointing toward both superstar wide receivers returning to action this weekend. Assuming they\u2019re on the field and playing at full speed, Ohio State should aggressively look to make plays throwing them the ball, which has been the Buckeyes\u2019 best offense all season.\n<\/p>\n \n\tThe Buckeyes often talk about taking what defenses give them, and Ohio State should look to do that, too. If Michigan shades coverages outside to take Smith and Tate out of the game, opportunities could open up over the middle of the field for tight end Max Klare, who had seven catches for 105 yards and a touchdown with Tate and Smith out last week. The Buckeyes certainly aren\u2019t going to abandon the run game completely, especially if Bo Jackson, Isaiah West and\/or James Peoples can break off some chunk runs early.\n<\/p>\n \n\tBut what the Buckeyes can\u2019t do is allow Michigan to scheme their best players out of the game. With Heisman Trophy candidate Julian Sayin at quarterback and the best wide receiver duo in college football, Ohio State should be dictating how Michigan defends it, not the other way around. Playing with that mindset could be the key to unlocking the explosive offense that eluded Ohio State in last year\u2019s game, when the Buckeyes gained just 252 yards.\n<\/p>\n \n\tRELATED Ryan Day Says \u201cEverybody Was Out There\u201d at Practice on Wednesday, Will Monitor Carnell Tate, Jeremiah Smith and Lorenzo Styles Jr.\u2019s Health Over the Next 48 Hours<\/a>\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \tStart fast<\/p>\n \n\tSlow starts have been a recurring trend in Ohio State\u2019s four consecutive rivalry game losses. The Buckeyes fell behind 10-3 in the second quarter of last year\u2019s game and 14-3 in the second quarter of the 2023 game. They didn\u2019t allow Michigan to pull away until the second half of the game in 2022 or 2021, but they never took a lead of more than seven points, leaving themselves susceptible to the post-halftime onslaughts that came.\n<\/p>\n \n\tIf Ohio State can race out of the gates and build a multi-score lead early \u2013 much like it did in last year\u2019s College Football Playoff wins over Tennessee, Oregon and Notre Dame \u2013 the Buckeyes could run away from the Wolverines, who aren\u2019t built to play from behind with their run-heavy offense.\n<\/p>\n \n\tStruggling out of the gates and allowing Michigan to build an early lead, on the other hand, could be the recipe for the Wolverines to pull off another upset. Ohio State hasn\u2019t trailed in the second half all season, so we truly don\u2019t know how the Buckeyes will respond if they face real in-game adversity for the first time this year.\n<\/p>\n \n\tWhile Day and his team have projected confidence all week<\/a>, they did going into last year\u2019s game, too, only to play tight after falling into an early hole. Another slow start could, theoretically, be all it takes for self-doubt to creep in for the Buckeyes against their rival once again \u2013 even though their national championship run last year, coupled with their 11-0 start that\u2019s already locked them into this year\u2019s CFP, should be exactly what they need to be loosely and confidently this time around.\n<\/p>\n \n\tThe importance of a fast start could also be amplified by the weather, as it\u2019s expected to snow at some point Saturday afternoon in Ann Arbor. As of Wednesday night, the forecast called for precipitation to begin around 4 p.m. \u2013 after the game will have already concluded. Should bad weather come earlier, however, it could make it tougher to pass the ball, which would mitigate Ohio State\u2019s most pronounced advantage.\n<\/p>\n \tFinish drives in the red zone<\/p>\n \n\tOhio State\u2019s offensive efficiency in the red zone has improved as the year has progressed, but it\u2019s still not an area where the Buckeyes are elite, ranking 23rd in red zone touchdown percentage (71.2%) and 31st in red zone scoring percentage (89.8%).\n<\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s also been an area where Ohio State has struggled in recent editions of The Game, particularly last year, when the Buckeyes had just one touchdown and one field goal on five red zone trips. They were a perfect 3-for-3 in the red zone in their 30-24 loss in 2023, but scored just one touchdown (with two field goals) on four red zone trips in 2022 and two touchdowns (with two field goals) on four red zone trips in 2021.\n<\/p>\n \n\tYou\u2019ll notice that winning the rushing battle isn\u2019t one of our five keys to the game. Even though the team that\u2019s won the rushing battle has won the last 23 editions of The Game, we believe Ohio State worried too much about that statistic last year, and shouldn\u2019t be afraid to lean into its passing advantage this year. The red zone is one area where the rushing attack could be crucial, however, as the Buckeyes need to be able to finish off drives with their ground game near the goal line \u2013 an area where they\u2019ve been hit or miss, though they\u2019ve shown big improvement down the stretch with 10 red zone touchdown runs in the last three weeks.\n<\/p>\n \t \n\t\tBo Jackson had two red-zone touchdowns against Rutgers, though he also had a fumble at the 1-yard line. (Photo:\u00a0Adam Cairns\/Columbus Dispatch\/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)\n\t<\/p>\n \n\tHad Ohio State finished off a couple more drives in the red zone last season, Michigan never would have had the opportunity to plant a flag in the middle of the Shoe. The Buckeyes can\u2019t squander prime opportunities to score seven points in a game of this magnitude, but at a minimum, they need to make sure their red zone trips end with three points, which brings us to our last section\u2026\n<\/p>\n \tExecute on special teams<\/p>\n \n\tFor all the philosophizing that\u2019s taken place over the last 362 days about why Ohio State didn\u2019t beat Michigan last year, the Buckeyes would have won the game if not for a pair of missed field goals inside 40 yards by Jayden Fielding. Ohio State\u2019s kicker, who said last week that he feels like he\u2019s in the best form of his career after battling a hip injury last season, is certainly hungry to make up for those misses this season.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cTo have a game like I did last year, to be able to come back this year and turn the tables and flip the script would be a dream come true,\u201d Fielding said.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\tJayden Fielding said it would be “a dream come true” to make a big kick against Michigan this year. pic.twitter.com\/uLze5aoFlK<\/a>\n\t<\/p>\n \t\u2014 Eleven Warriors (@11W) November 20, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n \n\tFielding has been reliable for the most part this season, making 13 of 15 field goal attempts, but he hasn\u2019t yet faced any high-pressure kicks this year like he faced in that game. And he wasn\u2019t the only part of Ohio State\u2019s special teams that struggled against Michigan last year. Joe McGuire averaged just 36 yards per punt on three punts in last year\u2019s rivalry game, and he hasn\u2019t been tested much down the stretch \u2013 with just six punts in Ohio State\u2019s last five games \u2013 after struggling early in the year.\n<\/p>\n \n\tOhio State\u2019s special teams have shown more ability to make impact plays as the year has gone along, most notably two weeks against UCLA, when Lorenzo Styles Jr. returned a kickoff for a touchdown<\/a> and Caden Curry blocked a punt. There are many examples of special teams plays making a big impact in The Game \u2013 Chris Olave\u2019s punt block that Sevyn Banks returned for a touchdown in 2018 comes to mind \u2013 and a blocked kick or explosive return could certainly go a long way for the Buckeyes this year in Ann Arbor.\n<\/p>\n \n\tMore importantly, though, the Buckeyes need to avoid making costly mistakes on special teams like they did last year. In a game where Ohio State should have the advantage on both defense and offense, special teams could be the great equalizer if the Buckeyes don\u2019t execute cleanly in that phase of the game \u2013 though neither team has been particularly good on special teams this year, as they enter The Game tied for 125th out of 136 FBS teams in ESPN\u2019s special teams efficiency metric<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n![\"Bo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/USATSI_27652278.jpg\" "\\"Bo")
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