Usually I’ll leave other people for superlatives, but for when two unbeaten teams, ranked #1 and #2 in the nation, get together for a game which virtually decides who’s going to the National Championship game in January, then I’m the first to say that it doesn’t get bigger than this. This is the big one…Michigan vs Ohio State.
Last season Ohio State beat Michigan in a 28-21 thriller, but since then, both seasons have gone from strength to strength, with banner victories against some of toughest teams in the country.
Michigan went to Notre Dame and destroyed Brady Quinn & Co. 47-21, stunning Irish Nation and vindicating the millions of others that feel that Notre Dame (which, incidentally, is still in with a shout for the National Championship game) is overrated. The Wolverines also went to Penn State – never the easiest place to play – in front of 110,000 screaming white-clad fans dressed and won with superior, and opportunistic defence. They were nearly embarrassed by `bush-league’ Ball State, who came within eight points of causing an upset. But the Wolverines won, 34-26, and now destiny is calling.
Ohio State have been #1 all year- and played like it. They cruised at 2005 National Champion Texas, beating the Longhorns 24-7 in a rematch of the 2005 classic. They trashed Penn State, gaining revenge for their 17-10 loss to the Nittany Lions at Beaver Stadium. They went to Iowa – who were also thought as potential Big 10 winners – destroying the Hawkeyes 34-18. It was only against an amped-up Illinois side that they failed to play well – or excite, squeezing by 17-10.
Offence-wise, there’s excitement to be had all over the park. In blue and maize (the Ann Arbor faithful HATE you calling it yellow!) you’ve got QB Chad Henne, who’s thrown for nearly 2,000 yards and 20 touchdowns. At running back Mike Hart has been brilliant all year, running for over 1,300 yards and 11 TDs. On special teams Steve Breaston is one of the quickest punt returners/wide receivers in all of college football. When he touches it, don’t turn over the TV.
As for Ohio State, they’ve got probable Heisman winner Troy Smith, who can’t seem to do anything wrong, rushing out of the pocket and still managing to drill his wide receiving corps of the excellent Antony Gonzalez and the speedster Tedy Ginn Jr. At running back, it might not be flashy, but it’s effective. Antonio Pittman’s run over Big Ten defenses all season long for his 1,000 yard, 12 touchdown season, but against the best rushing defense in the country, it’ll be victory if he goes over 100 on Saturday afternoon.
The defences stack up pretty well too. Lamar Woodley, the Wolverine giant is virtually unstoppable running at defenses, while Ohio State James Laurinaitis will probably win the Butkus Award for the country’s best defensive player. Both are incredibly fast- and very opportunistic.
So…this should be one for the ages. And for once, I’m so glad I can watch it on TV…in the UK.
3 replies on “Michigan vs Ohio State”
C’mon Fergie You know Uxley thought of this idea before you…how dare you sneak into his brain and steal it before he could write it down…I mean NOBODY else could possibly be writing about this game, right?
🙂
hahaha agreed…Fergie…thats good…Fergalicious?…anyways, pretty good analysis though I think you could go into a little more detail. I’m going to hold off to vote for it until you fix one HUGE error in the intro.
“…the national championship game in JULY…”
Wrong month!
where’s the prediction How could you write about this game without predicting a winner? Everyone knows the stars for each team and what they’ve done this year; you should have done some more analysis about the actual game.