Michigan at Ohio State: What to know about 120th edition of The Game

Where: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

TV/Radio: Fox/1410

Series history: Michigan leads 61-52-6. The Wolverines have won three in a row after losing eight in a row and 15 out of 16. Michigan won the dedication game at Ohio Stadium in 1922 and leads the series 25-24-2 in games played there. The series is tied 28-28-2 for all games played in Columbus.

Last meeting: Kyle McCord completed 18 of 30 passes for 271 yards but threw two crucial interceptions to fuel Michigan’s 30-24 win last season. Northmont grad Rod Moore’s last-minute interception clinched the win for the Wolverines after Will Johnson picked off McCord in the first quarter to set up Michigan’s first touchdown.

Coaches: Ohio State’s Ryan Day is 66-9 overall and 46-4 in the Big Ten in six seasons, all at Ohio State. He is 1-3 against Michigan. Sherrone Moore is 7-5 in his first season as permanent head coach of the Wolverines.

Ohio State notes: Three of Day’s four Big Ten losses are to Michigan… Ohio State leads the nation in total defense, scoring defense and red zone touchdown percentage… Ohio State has forced at least one turnover in five consecutive games this season but lost the turnover battle 5-1 in the last three seasons against the Wolverines… Ohio State has two players from Michigan: punter Hadi Jawad (Detroit) and offensive lineman Gabe VanSickle (Coopersville)…Senior linebacker Joey Velazquez, a Columbus native, is a transfer for Michigan.

Michigan notes: The Wolverines have outscored Ohio State 72-31 in the second half in the last three games and out-rushed the Buckeyes 705-314… Michigan is fourth in the nation in rush defense, 23rd in total defense and 36th in scoring defense… The Wolverines rank 128th out of 134 teams in total offense and 107th in scoring offense… The last full-time Michigan coach to win his debut against Ohio State was Lloyd Carr in 1995, although Moore was the acting coach last season when the Wolverines topped the Buckeyes with Jim Harbaugh serving a Big Ten suspension… Eight current Wolverines are from Ohio, including Northmont grad Rod Moore, a senior safety who missed the season with a knee injury… Michigan defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale is a Trotwood-Madison graduate… The Wolverines are 3-0 in their trophy rivalry games, beating Minnesota for the Little Brown Jug, Michigan State for the Paul Bunyan Trophy and Northwestern for the George Jewett Trophy.

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

Quoted: Moore on serving as head coach against the Buckeyes last season: “I actually had to make decisions throughout the game whether timeouts, all those things, but really the rivalry piece is the rivalry piece, and it’s intense. It’s fun. It’s what you want to do, so the strategy last year was pretty aggressive, and that’s what we did. So we’ll continue internally and have those decisions as a group.”

Prediction: Ohio State 24, Michigan 13

Next week: The Buckeyes will play Oregon in the Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis next Saturday night if they win (or if they lose and Indiana and Penn State both also lose). Michigan’s regular season is complete.