3 keys to victory: No. 15 Michigan Football vs No. 1 Ohio State

The best game of the college football season and the best rivalry in sports is here, as No. 15 Michigan hosts No. 1 Ohio State in The Game. With a ticket to the College Football Playoff hanging in the balance, the Wolverines will have to play their best game of the season to upset the Buckeyes.

Here’s what Michigan needs to do to win The Game for the fifth year in a row.

Coming off a 45-20 beatdown of Maryland, Michigan’s offense is playing its best football at the perfect time.

“I think we’re really peaking at the right time, balance is the key to the game,” Sherrone Moore said on his weekly radio appearance earlier this week.

Balance is, of course, important to offensive success. That said, Michigan has relied on the run game in all of these wins in the last four years, and if it ain’t broke, why fix it?

That Ohio State defense is scary good, with a front seven littered with NFL talent. The Buckeyes allow just 78.6 rushing yards per game, third in the country behind just Texas Tech and Oklahoma. Michigan has to break through that tough defense, with Jordan Marshall suiting up and the Michigan offensive line playing really well right now.

If Michigan controls the clock and picks up first downs over and over again on the ground, it can wear down this Ohio State defense. In conjunction with that, pounding the rock may bait Ryan Day into trying to out-physical Michigan, which is a strategy that hasn’t worked for Ohio State recently.

If reading Andy Bailey’s weekly film breakdowns isn’t a part of your routine, you need to make time for it. This week, he broke down Michigan’s success on third down, and he had a stat in there I can’t get out of my head. Statistically, Michigan is the best third-down offense in all of college football during the month of November.

Michigan has to continue to thrive on third down, especially against an Ohio State defense perfectly capable of forcing Michigan into a lot of third-and-longs. As Andy broke down in more eloquent detail, Chip Lindsey got creative on third down, which has played a factor in Michigan’s success there.

I would think Lindsey has some tricks up his sleeve he’s been saving all season long. I want to see the Michigan offense take some chances — a few deep shots to Andrew Marsh on third downs could be provide some daggers.

Ohio State has possibly the best one-two punch at receiver in the country in Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate, who both may not be 100 percent healthy. But Ohio State can’t utilize its greatest strength if quarterback Julian Sayin is overwhelmed by the blitz.

Sayin has made a legit case for the Heisman, and he’ll be playing with an offensive line that has only given up six sacks a;; season, tied with Navy for third in the country. But he’s leading the road team in the biggest rivalry in sports, and in the loudest Big House atmosphere of the season, let’s make life complicated as hell for him.

We can’t see death by a thousand crossing routes like we did under Don Brown, so Wink Martindale needs to open up the NFL bag and throw some complicated pressures at Sayin. If Michigan can get pressure with just four guys and Derrick Moore and Rayshaun Benny can rent a small condo in the backfield, even better.

I don’t think the Wolverines can win this game if they don’t sack Sayin at least a few times. If Ohio State has time for long routes from Smith and Tate to develop, Ohio State could win by three touchdowns.

What else does Michigan need to do to pull off this upset? Let us know in the comments.