Mark Ingram details why Michigan is built to battle Ohio State again

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- If you watch most of the national media this week, next to no one is giving Michigan football much of a shot to win The Game against Ohio State. But, as many top football minds have often said, styles make fights, and if the Wolverines are who many think, then they'll give a fight to the Buckeyes.

One of the primary thoughts of pundits this week has been that OSU just needs to throw all over Michigan. But it doesn't exactly work out that way, or at least not so easily. The maize and blue are still built to beat Ohio State. And the run game is crucial, says former Heisman Trophy winner and Fox Big Noon Kickoff analyst Mark Ingram.

WolverinesWire met up with Ingram on Friday to preview The Game, and he had some insight into the matchups, how Michigan can win the game, and some thoughts that deviate from what's been out in the ecosphere. You can watch the interview below, or read the transcript beneath that.

When I check in with the national media, no one's really giving Michigan a chance in this game. What are what are your overall thoughts, and how does Michigan win this game?

I mean, it was the same thing last year, right? Nobody really thought Michigan had a shot, but they kind of do a good job of getting Ohio State to play their style of football. Running the football, controlling the clock, staying ahead of the chains, physicality at the line of scrimmage, offensively and defensively. I think that'll be key -- situational football, as far as winning the turnover battle, when you get into the red zone, touchdowns, not field goals, all those kind of things. Making sure you get a couple turnovers, like had a couple costly interceptions that they forced last year and all that kind of helped them come away with that 13-10 victory last season.

So I think that same formula -- obviously, Bryce Underwood will have to have his best game of the year, but I think him utilizing his legs with Jordan Marshall and just controlling the clock, that opened up the pass game, Andrew Marsh, and some players on the outside, so I think just playing their brand of football. They've done a good job the last four years of kind of forcing Ohio State to, you know, get in a phone booth and kind of get in that dogfight, and I think the recipe is the same again this year.

Speaking of Jordan Marshall, obviously, he took over from Justice Haynes. What has he done that's caught your eye so far?

I think just his overall ability, just in the run game. Everyone kind of thought that the run game would take a big hit when Justice Haynes got hurt and obviously he's a really great player in his own right, but Jordan Marshall has just done a great job being able to run inside, being able to run outside, being able to break tackles, just being able to kind of shoulder the load for this offense and that's why Michigan is in the position where they're at right now, where if they possibly win this game, I think that puts them into the playoff conversation. So just a great job by him, especially when you have a young quarterback who's trying to grow and learn and get his feet acclimated in his first year. He's done a great job of being able to be an asset for this offense, an asset for this team.

One of the things that people have talked about, and they talk about it every year, is the team that runs the football better in this game tends to win, going back to 2000. Do you think that that still probably holds true? Obviously, Ohio State wants to throw more than it wants to run.

I think it's the mindset that comes with being able to win a run game battle. If you win the run game battle, you're the most physical, you're the tougher team, you're imposing your will on the other team. So, do I think Ohio State, what they like to do, yes, they're fine, but at the end of the day, you have to be physical at the line of scrimmage in this game.

This game is about physicality, toughness, imposing your will, and you've seen that over history, the team that does that usually wins this game. So yes, Ohio State could play their style of football, they could throw the football, they could get it to Tate, they can get it to Smith, they can get it to their tight end, they can spread the ball out, get in space. But at the end of the day, they will have to be physical at the line of scrimmage because there's gonna be a time we have to be able to run the ball, there's gonna be a time where your line has to be able to protect Julian Sayin. So in my mind, in this game, you have to be the most physical team, you have to be the tougher team, and that's what that says. Usually, if you win the run game battle, you're the most physically tougher team.

The Ohio State defense, like when you look at what Michigan has done in the run game, even with Bryson Kuzdzal last week, how confident or not confident are you that Michigan will be able to do what it wants to do at least to some degree in the run game against this Ohio State front?

This defensive front is special. You've got guys on the D-line, you've got guys on every level who are great players and great leaders as well. So you got Curry on the D-line, then you got Styles, you got Reese at the linebackers, you got Downs in the secondary. So this is going to be a tough matchup for Michigan for sure, especially with Matt Patricia, all the different looks that he cooks up.

But Michigan, man, this, in Ann Arbor, they're not scared of Ohio State. They run the ball well. I think you add the ability of Underwood to be able to run as well, whether that's in the drop back passing game, scrambling, a few design runs, staying ahead of the change. I think if they stay ahead of the chains, they stay at third and manageable, and they keep moving the change that keeps that offense on the sideline, and that plays into what Michigan likes to do. They like to run the football, they like to play the football, a low-scoring football game, and they have the ability to do it. But it's gonna be a tough challenge, but we thought the same thing last year and they were able to do it, so this year it's at home with a quarterback who can throw the ball and an offense who is probably better than it was, definitely better than it was a year ago. So I'm looking forward to seeing it.

Everyone talks about the Bryce Underwood and the Michigan offense against Matt Patricia. No one seems to be talking about Julian Sayin against Wink Martindale. What are your thoughts on that matchup?

Wink was my de-coordinator when I was at the Ravens, and he's always gonna cook up some different fronts, some different packages, some different pressures, and I think it'll be paramount for them to make Julian Sayin uncomfortable, get to him, affect him, obviously stop their run game, which they've struggled a little bit. Bo Jackson has had a couple great games back-to-back, but Wink is a great D-coordinator, and they have some great players on their defense as well, so I think it'll be paramount for them to get pressure on Julian Sayin and make him uncomfortable. And I know Wink's gonna cook up different looks to give him some problems.

This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Mark Ingram explains how Michigan can beat Ohio State in The Game