COLUMBIA, OHIO The game everyone has been waiting for has arrived, as Ohio State and Michigan finish the regular season unblemished with everything on the line.
But the Wolverines have their weapons as well, and those pieces are tasked with making sure OSU doesn’t turn this rivalry around in the same stadium they flipped it in two years ago. Ohio State has a deep roster. So does Michigan, and it’s looking to tap into all of those options on Saturday.
Here are the players who are the biggest threats to Ohio State in the game:
J.J. McCarthy, quarterback
McCarthy hasn’t lost to the Buckeyes yet. He was a backup, playing a small role when he beat them in 2021, and then did so as a starter in Columbus last season. Now he’s looking to three-peat.
Not much has changed in terms of how Michigan uses him as a playmaker, though he’s doing so in a more efficient manner, completing 73.8% of his passes for 2,335 yards, 18 touchdowns, and only four interceptions. His 178.28 passer rating is fifth nationally and first in the Big Ten, with an almost 15-point gap between him and Kyle McCord at No. 2.
Despite his efficient play, the former five-star recruit isn’t coming into Saturday on the highest of notes, as he hasn’t thrown a touchdown pass since October while also having a win over Penn State, where he threw just eight passes. The clear defensive approach will be for OSU to challenge McCarthy to beat it from the pocket. He proved capable of doing so last season thanks to a few lapses in the secondary. But an improved unit should make it a more formidable dible approach for the Buckeyes.
The Big Ten’s best running back tandem
Blake Corum probably could’ve used the 2022 matchup to stamp his ticket to New York as a Heisman Trophy finalist. Instead, he missed the game with an injury and opened the door for Donovan Edwards to run all over Ohio State. That has been the theme of the last two games. Michigan is running the ball at will, and the Buckeyes have no answer for it.
Hasan Haskins was the face of that concept in 2021, with 169 yards and five touchdowns. Corum (87 yards on six carries) and Edwards (20 total yards) also played a role in that game. Then in 2022, with Corum out and Haskins off to the NFL, Edwards went for 216 yards, including back-to-back touchdown runs of 75 and 85 yards, to seal the win.
Edwards hasn’t been quite as explosive so far this season, averaging just 3.4 yards on 90 carries. But he has been a weapon in the passing game, with 24 catches for 225 yards. Meanwhile, Corum has taken over the lion’s share of the carries as the engine behind the offense, with 888 yards and 20 touchdowns.
Stopping Michgian’s offense starts with those two.
Roman Wilson, wide receiver
Michigan doesn’t have the most explosive passing attack, but when it does look to push the ball down the field, it’s going to Wilson more times than not. His 37 catches for 612 yards and 10 touchdowns make him the only person on the team with at least 500 receiving yards this season. He’s well on his way to surpassing Ronnie Bell’s 889 yards from last season, when he was the only player with more than 500 receiving yards.
There were questions about whether Wilson would be available for this game after leaving a win over Maryland early with an injury. But offensive coordinator Sherone Moore, who will serve as acting head coach on Saturday, stated that Wilson should be “good to go” for the game.
Will Johnson, cornerback
Michigan has two players on its roster who were five-star recruits coming out of high school. The oldest is McCarthy, leading the offense. Johnson is the other as a Wolverines legacy who now serves as the Big Ten’s last chance of shutting down Marvin Harrison Jr.
Johnson has shut down his side of the field for the past two seasons, but that’s been especially true this year. He’s only been targeted 26 times, including three games where he wasn’t targeted at all. Those targets have only resulted in 12 catches for 176 yards and no touchdowns.
This will be Johnson’s second chance to match up against Harrison. Last season, the two went head-to-head on three targets, all of which ended in receptions for 34 yards. His other matchups were giving up two catches on two targets to Emeka Egbuka for 27 yards and another catch for six yards going up against Cade Stover.
Even if 100% of his targes resulted in catches, those plays didn’t turn into much for the Buckeyes. OSU is hoping that changes this time around, while Johnson looks to build on a quality first showing in The Game.
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