Buckeyes need complete game vs. No. 4 Michigan
Ohio State has to be feeling fortunate to reach its annual showdown against Michigan with only one loss after a narrow escape last Saturday at Maryland.
The Buckeyes were on the brink of throwing away their Big Ten and national championship aspirations before rallying past the Terrapins for a 52-51 overtime victory.
Coach Urban Meyer knows No. 10 Ohio State (10-1, 7-1 Big Ten) will have to play much better against No. 4 Michigan (10-1, 8-0) on Saturday (noon ET, FOX) — probably the best the Buckeyes have played all year — to have a chance as a rare underdog in a Big Ten home game.
Ohio State hasn’t been able to put together a complete game in a while. Two weeks ago at Michigan State, the defense played well, but the offense was sluggish. Last week against Maryland, the offense was humming and the defense struggled.
Asked what was wrong with the defense, which was gashed for 298 rushing yards by freshman running back Anthony McFarland and gave up 51 points against Maryland after allowing just 274 total yards against Michigan State — Meyer said, “A bunch of things happened. Obviously, it was very alarming to see — I thought that we started to crack the rock the last few weeks as far as playing good defense, elimination of big plays. And obviously it was not good.
“So we’re not blaming people, whether it be missed tackle, alignment, scheme, whatever it is. It’s a matter of getting ready for this one. We watched it with the defense and it was not good.”
Defensive coordinator Greg Schiano blamed the problems against Maryland on missed tackles and the Terrapins’ confusing schemes.
“We’ve had some really good defensive plays at times, but not consistently,” Schiano said. “I’ve said that after the first quarter of the season, I said that at the midway. It’s frustrating that we’re not a consistent defense right now, but rest assured every waking minute we have, we’re going to try and get that fixed. … We’ve just got to keep putting it together and go out next week and find a way.”
On paper, the matchup against Michigan appears to be between the teams’ two strongest units (Ohio State’s offense vs. Michigan’s defense) and their two weakest (Ohio State’s defense vs. Michigan’s offense).
Michigan’s defense is ranked No. 1 nationally in fewest yards allowed per game. Ohio State’s offense is No. 2 in the country with 541.8 yards per game and No. 8 in scoring at 41.6 points per game.
Ohio State trigger man Dwayne Haskins, who has brilliant against Maryland with three touchdown passes and three rushing TDs, is No. 3 in passing yards and No. 5 in total offense.
Haskins gave the Buckeyes an element that has been missing all season when he was able to run for 59 yards on 15 carries and the three scores last week. His willingness to take off with the ball and run will give Michigan’s defense something else to think about this week.
“Everybody has big dreams and part of being a big dream is being that guy that can move a team, not just throw a pretty pass but do things you have to do to win a game,” Meyer said.
