Why health and offensive evolution are the keys to Ohio State defeating Michigan this season

Ohio State was able to outlast Penn State at home in a 20-12 win on Saturday to remain undefeated this season.

Many now view the Buckeyes’ next big test as their season finale against rival Michigan, one of the most dominant teams in college football this season that’s had Ohio State’s number the last two years in the matchup.

On3’s Andy Staples and JD PicKell discussed the Buckeyes’ big win over Penn State, but also touched on what Ohio State needs to do in order to beat Michigan in their regular season finale based on what they saw Saturday, starting with their overall health as a team.

“We don’t exactly know how long it’s gonna take them to get healthy, but that’s a situation where they will have had a month to get completely healthy,” Staples said. “Where if they have all their weapons, we saw it last year, they played much better against Georgia in the Peach Bowl than they played against Michigan in the regular season finale.”

The Buckeyes were without a multitude of key contributors versus Penn State like running back TreVeyon Henderson, wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, and cornerback Denzel Burke. They still managed to beat the No. 7 ranked Nittany Lions with an undermanned squad, but will definitely want as close to a fully healthy roster as possible when they visit the Wolverines in late November.

“So this is a team that can do that and can turn it on, but I am sure everybody in Columbus would rather they just go ahead and beat Michigan, end that little streak where it stands, and go ahead into the Big Ten Championship game. What do they have to do be good enough to beat Michigan at the end of the year?” Staples asked to PicKell.

“That’s a tremendous question — It really does feel like there has to be this evolution of an offense to be able to put pressure on a Michigan to score points,” PicKell answered. “Because it feels like Michigan’s taking that next step offensively or they’re in the process of doing that with the way that JJ McCarthy is trending so far this year.”

Health is important, but it’s also no secret that the Buckeyes have taken a step back offensively compared to their past firepower.

For the past six seasons, the Buckeyes have boasted the Big Ten’s highest-scoring offense, averaging over 40 points a game in each of those years. But their current 33.7 points per game ranks third in the conference, which would not be enough points to beat Michigan in their last four games as they’ve displayed offensive dominance to pair with their elite defense.

“So I do think there will be a game at some point in time for Ohio State if they want to beat Michigan or if they want to win a national title even I think they have to be potent offensively to the point where they can put the pressure on you to score points,” PicKell said.

Ohio State and Michigan’s rivalry game always comes with high stakes and a lot of attention, but if the two teams remain undefeated and the Buckeyes are healthier and more evolved on offense, the matchup could have all the makings of an instant classic.