Ann Arbor Is A Hillary (Ohio State vs. Michigan, 12:10PM Saturday, Novemmber 22, 2003

Bucknuts.com ^ | November 18, 2003 | Steve Helwagen

[E Rocc]

Game Data: Ohio State at Michigan By Steve Helwagen Managing Editor Date: Nov 18, 2003

Click this free link for all of the pertinent game data, the depth charts, a complete breakdown and one man's opinion on how Saturday's regular season finale at Michigan (noon, ABC national telecast) will go.

OSU-Michigan Game Data

* Date, Time: Sat., Nov. 22, 12:10 p.m. (Eastern)

* Location: Michigan Stadium (capacity, 107,501); Ann Arbor, Mich.

* TV: ABC (national coverage; commentators, Keith Jackson, Dan Fouts, Todd Harris)

* 2003 Records, Rankings: OSU, 10-1, 6-1 Big Ten, fourth in AP poll; Michigan, 9-2, 6-1 Big Ten, fifth in AP poll.

* Coaches: OSU, Jim Tressel (third year at OSU, 31-6; 18th year overall, 166-63-2; vs. Michigan, 2-0); Michigan, Lloyd Carr (ninth year at Michigan, 95-25; vs. OSU, 5-3).

* Series History: Michigan leads series, 56-37-6, including 29-17-4 in Ann Arbor.

* Michigan Schedule: Aug. 30, Central Michigan, W 45-7; Sept. 6, Houston, W 50-3; Sept. 13, Notre Dame, W 38-0; Sept. 20, at Oregon, L 31-27; Sept. 27, Indiana, W 31-17; Oct. 4, at Iowa, L 30-27; Oct. 10, Minnesota, W 38-35; Oct. 18, Illinois, W 56-14; Oct. 25, Purdue, W 31-3; Nov. 1, at Michigan State, W 27-20; Nov. 15, at Northwestern, W 41-10; Nov. 22, Ohio State.

* Michigan Key Players: QB John Navarre (222 of 378 passing, 2,782 yards, 21 TDs, 8 INTs), RB Chris Perry (284 carries, 1,435 yards, 15 TDs; 37 catches, 311 yards, 2 TDs), WR Braylon Edwards (68 catches, 901 yards, 12 TDs), WR Jason Avant (42 catches, 706 yards, 2 TDs), WR Steve Breaston (27 catches, 360 yards, 3 TDs), OLB Pierre Woods (56 tackles, 10 TFLs, 5 sacks), ILB Lawrence Reid (69 tackles, 6 TFLs), ILB Carl Diggs (48 tackles, 7 TFLs), S Marlin Jackson (42 tackles, 2 INTs), S Ernest Shazor (48 tackles, 7 TFLs).

* Michigan Fast Facts: Location: Ann Arbor, Mich.; Enrollment, 36,787; Nickname, Wolverines; Colors, Maize and Blue; Stadium, Michigan Stadium (surface, Field Turf; capacity, 107,501).

Depth Charts

Ohio State Offense

QB 16 Craig Krenzel (6-4, 225, Sr.)

15 Scott McMullen (6-3, 215, Sr.)

SE 12 Michael Jenkins (6-5, 215, Sr.)

82 Roy Hall (6-3, 228, R-Fr.)

LT 77 Rob Sims (6-4, 305, So.)

72 T.J. Downing (6-5, 300, R-Fr.)

LG 63 Adrien Clarke (6-5, 330, Sr.)

64 Adam Olds (6-4, 290, So.)

C 55 Nick Mangold (6-4, 280, So.)

76 Alex Stepanovich (6-4, 300, Sr.)

RG 76 Alex Stepanovich (6-4, 300, Sr.)

79 Bryce Bishop (6-3, 312, Sr.)

RT 71 Shane Olivea (6-5, 320, Sr.)

52 Mike Kne (6-4, 300, Jr.)

TE 88 Ben Hartsock (6-4, 264, Sr.)

80 Ryan Hamby (6-5, 240, So.)

FL 4 Santonio Holmes (5-11, 170, R-Fr.)

3 Bam Childress (5-10, 185, Jr.) or

7 Chris Gamble (6-2, 200, Jr.)

TB 30 Lydell Ross (6-1, 210, Jr.)

28 Maurice Hall (5-11, 200, Jr.)

FB 38 Branden Joe (6-0, 245, Jr.) or

43 Brandon Schnittker (6-1, 250, So.)

K 85 Mike Nugent (5-10, 170, Jr.)

Ohio State Defense

DE 75 Simon Fraser (6-6, 265, Jr.)

97 David Patterson (6-3, 285, Fr.)

DT 56 Darrion Scott (6-3, 280, Sr.)

94 Marcus Green (6-3, 290, So.)

DT 54 Tim Anderson (6-4, 289, Sr.)

90 Quinn Pitcock (6-3, 300, R-Fr.)

DE 93 Will Smith (6-4, 265, Sr.)

57 Mike Kudla (6-3, 275, So.)

WLB 47 A.J. Hawk (6-2, 230, So.)

41 Thomas Matthews (6-2, 210, Jr.)

MLB 46 Fred Pagac Jr. (6-1, 225, Sr.)

91 Jason Bond (6-3, 240, Sr.)

SLB 44 Robert Reynolds (6-3, 242, Sr.)

42 Bobby Carpenter (6-3, 240, So.)

CB 37 Dustin Fox (6-0, 190, Jr.)

26 Ashton Youboty (6-1, 195, Fr.)

CB 7 Chris Gamble (6-2, 200, Jr.)

13 Harlen Jacobs (6-1, 197, Jr.)

FS 21 Nate Salley (6-3, 205, So.)

6 Tyler Everett (6-1, 185, So.)

SS 4 Will Allen (6-2, 190, Sr.)

9 Donte Whitner (5-11, 185, Fr.)

P 21 B.J. Sander (6-3, 212, Sr.)

Michigan Offense

QB 16 John Navarre (6-6, 228, Sr.)

12 Matt Gutierrez (6-4, 219, So.)

TE 14 Andy Mignery (6-3, 256, Sr.)

88 Tim Massaquoi (6-4, 236, Jr.)

LT 79 Adam Stenavich (6-5, 310, Jr.)

76 Mike Kolodziej (6-7, 306, So.)

LG 75 David Baas (6-5, 323, Sr.)

62 Courtney Morgan (6-3, 300, Sr.)

C 57 Dave Pearson (6-3, 297, Sr.)

54 Mark Bihl (6-4, 299, So.)

RG 67 Matt Lentz (6-6, 304, Jr.)

65 Leo Henige (6-4, 334, Jr.)

RT 77 Tony Pape (6-6, 311, Sr.)

74 Demeterius Solomon (6-6, 297, Sr.)

WR 8 Jason Avant (6-1, 203, So.)

17 Carl Tabb (6-2, 192, So.) or

9 Tyrece Butler (6-3, 210, Sr.)

WR 1 Braylon Edwards (6-3, 210, Jr.)

15 Steve Breaston (6-1, 177, So.)

FB 32 Kevin Dudley (6-1, 234, Sr.)

35 Brian Thompson (6-2, 235, So.)

TB 23 Chris Perry (6-1, 218, Sr.)

41 Tim Bracken (5-9, 208, Sr.)

K 38 Garrett Rivas (5-9, 204, Fr.)

Michigan Defense

LE 13 Larry Stevens (6-3, 257, Sr.)

56 LaMarr Woodley (6-2, 263, Fr.)

DT 90 Norman Heuer (6-5, 288, Sr.)

96 Larry Harrison (6-3, 304, So.)

DT 60 Grant Bowman (6-1, 288, Sr.)

78 Gabe Watson (6-4, 337, So.)

RE 94 Pat Massey (6-8, 274, Jr.)

50 Jeremy Van Alstyne (6-4, 255, So.)

OLB 99 Pierre Woods (6-5, 232, Jr.)

58 Roy Manning (6-2, 240, Sr.)

ILB 42 Lawrence Reid (6-1, 219, Jr.)

37 Zach Kaufman (6-1, 232, Sr.)

ILB 43 Carl Diggs (6-1, 242, Sr.)

36 Scott McClintock (6-2, 245, Jr.)

CB 21 Jeremy LeSueur (6-1, 200, Sr.)

29 Leon Hall (5-11, 183, Fr.)

S 3 Marlin Jackson (6-1, 194, Jr.)

19 Willis Barringer (6-0, 196, So.)

S 25 Ernest Shazor (6-4, 217, Jr.)

22 Jon Shaw (6-0, 193, Sr.)

CB 30 Markus Curry (5-11, 181, Jr.)

4 Darnell Hood (5-11, 189, So.)

P 39 Adam Finley (6-4, 209, Sr.)

Breaking It Down

* When Ohio State Has The Ball: OSU goes from playing the nation’s No. 8-ranked defense in Purdue to No. 7 with Michigan. But the Buckeyes have enjoyed much more success moving the ball in the last four games. Nobody will confuse this offense with the 1998 Buckeyes, but there is enough hope to believe that OSU can accomplish a few things here. UM is ranked a modest 35th nationally in rushing defense (126.7 yards per game). Something tells me Lydell Ross is going to get about 25 carries and make a pretty solid run at the 100-yard mark.

The flip side is that UM does a fine job against the pass, ranking fifth nationally at just 152.3 yards per game. OSU’s hit-or-miss passing game must come through. Would you believe OSU averages just 15 completions a game? That’s not many. Naturally, completing balls to the other team is not an option here, either, for usually steady Craig Krenzel, who has thrown just four picks in his last six games.

Moreover, Ohio State must finish drives when it gets into Michigan territory. Settling for field goals or, worse yet, pooch punts will not get it done in The Big House.

* When Michigan Has The Ball: This should be an incredible match-up. Let’s start with the run game. Chris Perry is the nation’s third-ranked rusher at 130.5 yards per game. He will be in against the nation’s No. 1-ranked run defense with OSU’s unit, which allows an average of 50.6 yards per game. Something has to give. It seems likely that Perry, who has logged as many as 50 carries in a game, will get his fair share of business. But UM has also shown a propensity to just give up on the running game if it finds no success early.

Then, once OSU has stoned Perry and made it clear he isn’t going to pick up a bunch of first downs on the ground, UM figures to put the ball in QB John Navarre’s hands. Sometimes, Navarre comes through and wins the game for the Wolverines. However, his track record is also littered with losses – two of them to Ohio State, to be exact – where his turnovers (both interceptions and fumbles) have helped decide the game. No question, Navarre is a better player today than he was either of the last two times he faced OSU. He has a handful of good-to-great receivers (Braylon Edwards, Jason Avant and Steve Breaston) to throw to and will also dump the ball to Perry. Navarre’s TD-to-INT ratio is a modest 21-8 this season.

The $64,000 question is what John Navarre will show up on Saturday. Hmmm.

* How It Will Go: We knew a year ago that this year’s edition of The Game would be special. The 100th edition of this great rivalry says it all. Then, you add in the fact that it is an “either/or” game (i.e., the winner gets a Big Ten title and the loser gets nothing). Plus, OSU is going for its third straight win over UM for the first time since 1960-63. And, there are also national championship game ramifications for OSU as well.

But if you get caught up in what it means, you miss the REAL story: This will be two great college football teams going toe to toe for 60 minutes (maybe more). I come back to three truths – at least in my mind: Ohio State has the better defense, Ohio State has the better kicker and Ohio State has the better punter. Like last week’s game with Purdue, I see a low scoring game predicated on defense and field position. That is OSU’s kind of game, it says right here.

I see Ohio State earning an 11th win, cementing its first outright Big Ten championship since 1984 and moving one step closer to defending its national championship, defeating Michigan 13-10.

-- Steve Helwagen

[E Rocc]

Good takes on the Evil Blue Team for the 100th time on Saturday. Good is going for its third straight win.

-Eric

[E Rocc]

[NeoCaveman]

So, how many touchdowns by OSU's defense this week?

Beat Blue.

[Bikers4Bush]

WHORE!

[Dan from Michigan]

Time for us here to recover against Penn State.

Iowa vs Wisconsin - We beat Iowa so I hope they beat Wisconsin who beat us.

Go Indiana over Purdue - helps us.

If OSU wins, they go to BCS bowl, another one opens up, and maybe State can still go to a good bowl.

[E Rocc]

WHORE!

The word I used was nastier. >:)

-Eric

[anniegetyourgun]

Thank you for your lovely posting. I am counting the hours until the game.

GO BUCKS!

[anniegetyourgun]

BTW, this should be in breaking news.

[smith288]

Nice image


;)

[anniegetyourgun]

And the future looks academically bright too!

[anncoulteriscool]

Thanks for the post....my prediction is....if Buckeyes force 3 turnovers they will win.

[E Rocc]

BTW, this should be in breaking news.

Not "religion"? >:)

-Eric

[xp38]

Ohio...........red Bush state

Michigan.....blue Gore state

[smith288]

[Bikers4Bush]

The legend and lore that is Woody Hayes.

It's too good not to be true ...

Here's the story: Ohio State coach Woody Hayes hated Michigan so much that he refused to spend a dime in the state ... even when his car ran out of gas, a few miles away from the Ohio border. Hayes, legend has it, pushed his car into Buckeye territory to prevent a Michigan gas station from profiting from his misfortune.

Wouldn't he have just poisoned the food?
In the 1970s, when Archie Griffin starred for the Buckeyes, distrust between Hayes and Schembechler ran deep. Griffin recalled, for example, that Hayes once accused Schembechler of hiring very pretty waitresses to serve the Buckeyes breakfast the morning of the big game. Obviously, that distraction could cost Ohio State the game. Hayes sent the waitresses packing. "They were all nice-looking ladies," Griffin said. "That's for sure."

[Dan from Michigan]

@#$^@ you for that one. At least my county(unlike Ann Arbor's - Washtenaw) is red.

[xp38]

Don't shoot the messenger. I was just noting the colours of the teams matched that map from the election. Actually if I had my way I'd make blue the republican colour and red the dim one. I'm neutral in this fight and if I was betting I would go with the Wolverines because of home field. It should be a great game. Are you going to it?

[Dan from Michigan]

I'm a Spartan, not a Wolverine. I don't have tickets to it, but I plan on watching.

Although the big game here is Penn St vs Michigan State. It determines if we go to a decent bowl, or the "Cherry Bowl".

[E Rocc]

Here's the story: Ohio State coach Woody Hayes hated Michigan so much that he refused to spend a dime in the state ... even when his car ran out of gas, a few miles away from the Ohio border. Hayes, legend has it, pushed his car into Buckeye territory to prevent a Michigan gas station from profiting from his misfortune.

The "legit" version of this story is that the assistant coach who was driving warned Woody that they were running low on gas, and Woody said they would push the car to Ohio if neccesary.

It's a matter of record that Woody would not say the "M word", instead speaking of "that team up north".

Destroy those (m.f.)ers
Beat down those damn (c.s.) ers
To Hell with Michigan, those scumbags from Up North.

-Eric

[E Rocc]

At least my county(unlike Ann Arbor's - Washtenaw) is red.

Actually, Washtenaw County was about as "blue" as a M******* jersey, thanks to Ann Arbor. Like the title says......

-Eric