Staff Picks: score predictions for Buckeyes rivalry clash with Michigan
COLUMBUS — Ohio State is hosting Michigan for the first time since 2018 Saturday, and the Buckeyes are looking for revenge.
Michigan leads the all-time series, 59-51-6, but has won only two games against the Buckeyes in its last 17 tries. Ohio State’s eight-game win streak — its longest in the series — was snapped last year in Ann Arbor when a College Football Playoff-bound Michigan squad got the monkey off Jim Harbaugh’s back with a 42-27 victory.
The third quarter proved to be the difference, as the Wolverines turned a one-point halftime lead into a two-score advantage. Ohio State shot itself in the foot with 10 penalties and couldn’t stop a persistent Michigan rushing attack that produced 297 yards. Hassan Haskins tied a school record with five rushing touchdowns, and Blake Corum added 87 yards on the ground with just six carries. Meanwhile, Aidan Hutchinson sacked Buckeyes quarterback C.J. Stroud three times. Stroud put up fine numbers, completing 34-of-49 passes for 394 yards and two touchdowns, but the Buckeyes couldn’t keep pace in the snow with an overpowering Wolverines run game.
The game went down as Harbaugh’s first win over Ohio State in his seven years as head coach. It also went down as Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day’s first Big Ten defeat. Afterward, Harbaugh clapped back at Day with his infamous “third base” comments. Since the loss to Michigan in 2021, Ohio State has rattled off 12 straight wins, dating back to last year’s Rose Bowl victory over Utah.
Ohio State and Michigan are No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, in the AP Poll and the CFP rankings. But they’re No. 1 and No. 2 in a bunch of Big Ten statistical categories.
The Wolverines have a running back in Corum who is a Heisman Trophy candidate. The Buckeyes have a quarterback in Stroud who is a Heisman Trophy candidate.
Michigan is second nationally in scoring defense. Ohio State is first nationally in scoring offense.
It’s a matchup that’s generated arguably the most hype in the series since “The Game of the Century” in 2006.
That’s the rundown. Here’s what the Lettermen Row staff thinks will happen in Ohio Stadium.
Score predictions for Ohio State vs. Michigan
Spencer Holbrook: Ohio State wins 38-27
Tim May: Buckeyes win 34-21
Andy Backstrom: Buckeyes win 27-23
Matt Parker: Ohio State wins 37-26
