THE GAME: B1G EAST TITLE ON THE LINE
11/19/2018 10:30:19 AM | Football
The 115th edition of “The Game” is here. And this year, the winner heads to Indianapolis for a date in the Big Ten Championship Game against Northwestern. No. 10 Ohio State (CFP) and No. 4 Michigan (CFP) renew their storied rivalry on Saturday at noon inside Ohio Stadium live on FOX.
Saturday’s game features Michigan’s top-ranked total defense against Ohio State’s No. 2-ranked total offense. Additionally, Michigan is No. 4 in scoring defense while Ohio State is No. 8 in scoring offense. The Buckeyes have the nation’s No. 4-ranked passing offense while the Wolverines are No. 1 against the pass.
Ohio State is averaging 541.8 yards per game, second only to Oklahoma, and is coming off a 658-yard effort in last week’s win over Maryland.
Michigan at Ohio State Game Information
Ohio State Game Notes | Urban Meyer Weekly Press Conference | Michigan Game Notes | Big Ten Weekly Release
Broadcast Information
TV: FOX | Online: FOX Sports Go | Radio: 97.1 FM / 1460 AM | Tune-in | The Ohio State Buckeyes App
Dwayne Haskins headlines the passing attack, as he is tied for ?rst nationally with 36 touchdown passes. In all, he has set 12 different single season school records this season. His most recent were single season yardage (3,685) and the TD passes (36) marks, both occurring last Saturday at Maryland.
J.K. Dobbins’ 915 yards and eight touchdowns leads the ground attack. He’s coming off a career-high 203-yard eff ort last week that also included a career-high 37 carries.
The Buckeye defense ranks 24th nationally with 80.0 tackles-for-loss. Dre’Mont Jones (12.0 for minus 63 yards) and Chase Young (10.5 for minus 59 yards) are tops in the group. Young had four tackles and two sacks last week while Jones chipped in with four tackles, two TFLs and one sack vs. Maryland.
As a team, Ohio State leads the Big Ten in third down defense, surrendering a conversion just 30 percent of the time.
Quick Hitters
- “The Game” this week matches the No. 1 and No. 2 winning programs in Football Bowl Subdivison history. Michigan has 953 wins and Ohio State has 908.
- Ohio State and Michigan will meet for the 23rd time when both teams are ranked in the Top 10. The 2016 game also featured a Top 10 matchup (OSU 2; UM 3)
- The Ohio State-Michigan game has been decided by one score 40 times previously. Each team has won 20 of those contests.
- Twelve seniors will be honored before Saturday’s game. This year’s class has won a CFP national championship, two Big Ten titles and four Big Ten East division championships.
IT’S GAMEDAY … FOR THE 43RD TIME
Columbus, Ohio, USA will be the center of the college football universe as it so often is – as is Ann Arbor, Mich., in odd number years – when Ohio State and Michigan play. The game will be nationally televised for the umpteenth time and leading up to it the sights, sounds and linear and digital worlds will include:
Saturday marks Ohio State’s 43rd game at a GameDay site. Ohio State has an overall GameDay record of 29-13, including a 12-5 mark in Columbus. The Buckeyes are tied with Alabama for the most GameDay appearances since the show started in 1993. GameDay has originated at the site of the Ohio State-Michigan game ?ve times previously: in 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007 and 2016. Ohio State is 4-1 in those games.
ESPN’s College Game Day in the SW corner of the end zone for the last hour of its show.
MORE HYPE AND HOOPLA OUTSIDE THE HORSESHOE
FOX Sports’ pregame, halftime and post-game show airing live from the NW corner of the end zone and The Big Ten Network’s pre- and post-game studio show will also broadcast live from the NW corner of the end zone.
Notes to Know
ON THE CUSP OF BACK-TO-BACK
J.K. Dobbins could become the ?rst player in Ohio State history to record 1,000-yard rushing seasons as a freshman and as a sophomore. His 203-yard game vs. the Terrapins increased his season total to 915 yards. He had a school-freshman record 1,403 yards rushing last season.
OHIO STATE REMAINS UNBEATEN WHEN …
Ohio State is now 16-0 when either Mike Weber or sophomore J.K. Dobbins rush for 100 yards or more in a game. Dobbins has nine career 100-yard games while Weber has eight. They doubled up in 2017 vs. Michigan State.
HASKINS TOPS YARDS & TDs MARKS
The school-record extending fourth 400-yard passing day of the season for Haskins against Maryland enabled the junior from Potomac, Md., to break the 20-year-old Ohio State single season passing record of 3,330 yards held by Joe Germaine in 1998. Haskins’ 405-yard afternoon increased his season total to 3,685 yards. He also broke J.T. Barrett’s single season touchdown mark with three more touchdown passes to increase his total to 36, which is tied for No. 1 in the nation.
SEVEN CONSECUTIVE 10-WIN SEASONS
Ohio State has extended its school record of consecutive seasons with 10 or more victories to seven. The streak is currently third-longest nationally.
Consecutive Seasons 10-or-More Wins
11 – Alabama
8 – Clemson
7 – Ohio State
4 – Wisconsin
3 – Oklahoma, Oklahoma State
— THE GAME —
SERIES HISTORY
Saturday marks the 115th edition of “The Game.” with Michigan leading the series 58-49-6. Since it became the last game of the regular season in 1935, Ohio State holds a 42-36-4 advantage.
Ohio State has won six consecutive in the series and will look to even the series record in Columbus, which Michigan leads 27-26-2. Winner of this game will represent the Big Ten East Division at the Big Ten championship game Dec. 1 at Indianapolis.
Since 1951, Woody Hayes’ ?rst season as Ohio State’s head coach, the Buckeyes lead the series 37-27-2. Michigan won 13 of the ?rst 15 games in this series with two ties, but since Ohio State’s ?rst win in 1919 the series tilts in Ohio State’s favor by a 49-45-4 margin. These two teams have played in the regular season ?nale every year since 1935 except one: Ohio State’s national championship year of 1942.
HEAVYWEIGHT MATCHUP
the Big Ten conference/division championship has been decided between Ohio State and Michigan 22 times (since moving to end of the season in 1935). In these meetings, “The Game” was the de facto conference/division championship game, with both teams going 10-10-2.
The Book on TTUN
Michigan brings the nation’s No. 1 overall defense and a 10-game winning streak with it to Columbus for Saturday’s tilt against the Buckeyes.
QB Shea Patterson, a ?rst-year starter after transferring from Ole Miss, directs an offense that averages 429.6 yards per game. The junior is completing nearly 66 percent of his passes for 2,177 yards, 19 touchdowns and just four interceptions.
RB Karan Higdon is the Big Ten’s second leading rusher with 1,106 yards and nine touchdowns. He’s rushed for 100 or more yards in eight of the last nine games.
Michigan’s defense, ranked No. 1 nationally, is surrendering just 234.8 yards per game, which is 20 yards less than the No. 2-ranked unit at Clemson. The Wolverines are also No. 1 against the pass (123.2 yards/game) and No. 4 in scoring defense (13.5 points/game).
