Image courtesy of MGoBlue.com
This weekend is “Rivalry Weekend” in college football. The Crown Jewel of this weekend is the Michigan vs. Ohio State game. There has been talk from various sports media outlets debating what the best college football rivalry is. I have tried to look at this objectively (admittedly impossible), and it’s not even close. Michigan vs. Ohio State is the best rivalry in all of college football, and would probably be in the team photo for the best rivalry in all of sports. Now, on to the preview.Michigan and Ohio State meet for the 103rd time on Saturday at 3:30 pm local time at the Horseshoe in Columbus. In the previous 102 meetings these teams have never entered the game at 1-2 in the polls. Both teams have entered the game undefeated only twice before since 1935. The Wolverines are 27-21-2 all-time in Columbus and they lead the series 57-39-6.

This year’s game features 2 high-powered offenses. Heisman trophy front-runner, Troy Smith, leads the Buckeyes on offense. He is definitely worthy of the accolades he’s getting this season. He’s completing 66% of his passes, throw for 2191 yards and has 26 TDs compared to only 4 INTs. Unfortunately he’s not their only weapon. Ted Ginn Jr. (677 yds. 8 TDs) and Anthony Gonzalez (673 yds. 7 TDs) lead the receiving corps, and Antonio Pittman (1032 yds. 13 TDs) leads the charge on the ground. Contrary to the media attention that has focused mainly on the Ohio State offense, Michigan boasts an electric offense as well. Quarterback Chad Henne (61.9% 1932 yds. 18 TDs 7 INTs) leads the Wolverines on offense. While Henne and big play threat Mario Manningham (538 yds. 9 TDs) provide flash for the Michigan offense, Michael Hart (1373 yds. 11 TDs) is the foundation of the Michigan offense. He is the nations’ fourth leading rusher.
The defensive units will have to try and slow down those offenses. These two defenses have proven themselves capable. The Wolverines come into the game third in total defense and the Buckeyes defense isn’t too far behind at eighth. Michigan’s defensive leader is LaMar Woodley (11 sacks). He has terrorized offenses all season. James Laurinaitis fills the void left by NFL rookies AJ Hawk and Bobby Carpenter.

Keys to the Game

Michigan Wolverines

• Get Mario Manningham involved. He needs to catch more than 5 balls.
• Contain Troy Smith. Woodley and the boys need to hold Smith under 200 yards.
• Control the Ball. Michigan needs to not only win the time of possession battle, but also cause turnovers.

Ohio State Buckeyes

• Ted Ginn Jr. return game. He has game-changing ability on special teams.
• Run the ball. If they can consistently run the ball on this defense, they probably deserve to win.
• Home field advantage. Playing at the Horsepooshoe is a huge advantage for the Buckeyes.

So who wins?
I think this game will actually live up to the hype. I gotta go with Michigan in the upset. What do you think? What are your keys to the game? Who wins?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 15th, 2006 at 10:10 pm and is filed under College Football, Football, Michigan Wolverines, NCAA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.