Saturday at high noon No. 10 Ohio State (9-2) will host Michigan (3-8) in Ohio Stadium. Last year Ohio State won 14-3 in Ann Arbor. The Buckeyes have won four straight and six out of the past seven games in the series.

The Maize and Blue (or is it black and blue) come into The Game as a 20.5-point underdog. The Wolverines are heavy underdogs due to injuries and their poor play this season. Steven Threet, Sam McGuffie and Brandon Minor are questionable for the game.

Threet has started eight games this season at quarterback and running backs McGuffie and Minor have combined for 952 yards and 11 touchdowns. If Michigan is without this trio it could be a long day for the Wolverines.

Defensive lineman Brandon Graham and linebacker Obi Ezeh anchor Michigan’s defense.

Graham leads the Wolverines with nine sacks and 18 tackles for loss. More importantly he plays aggressive and with a chip on his shoulder. Coming into this game, Ezeh has recorded a team high 96 tackles.

Ezeh and Graham will be key components if Michigan will be able to keep Beanie Wells from duplicating his 222-yard and two-touchdown performance of 2007.

By winning this game Rich Rodriguez, Michigan’s head coach, will prevent him from becoming the second Michigan head coach to lose his first game against Ohio State.

The View
Finally Ohio State is in a position to exact revenge on Michigan for the Cooper era. Understand that 7-1 and five straight wins will never erase 2-10-1 or spoiling the three undefeated seasons of 1993, 1995 and 1996.

Cooper’s record will never go away; and to quote Martha Stewart, “that’s a good thing.” Knowledge of your past, victories and defeats, should always be motivating factors for Ohio State in The Game.

Michigan is trying to salvage a season that has seen the Wolverines lose more games than any other team in the school’s storied history. Michigan will play hard, but Ohio State has too much talent and heart. The Buckeyes also have Beanie Wells, Terrelle Pryor, a stellar defense and Jim Tressel to lead the team to victory in the 105th game against Michigan.

Ohio State 27, Michigan 13


Tressel Notes
Ohio State has outscored Michigan 179-148 with Jim Tressel as coach.
Tressel has the best record (6-1) to start a career against Michigan.
The average score against Michigan has been 26-21 in those seven games.
During the four game winning streak the Buckeyes are outscoring the Wolverines 118-84.
With a win on Saturday Tressel will become the first Ohio State coach to win five straight against UM.
30-21 is the average score during the current four-game winning streak against Michigan.
It has been over 1,800 days since Michigan defeated Ohio State.
Michigan has never defeated Ohio State in Ohio Stadium since Tressel has been head coach.
It has been over 2,500 days since Michigan defeated Ohio State in Columbus.


Random Notes
Michigan
The Good
The Wolverines are second in the nation and lead the Big Ten averaging 41.4 in net punting.
Punter Zoltan Mesko is leads the Big Ten and is tenth in the nation averaging 44.1 yards a punt.

The Bad
Michigan is ranked 106th in the country and tenth in the Big Ten in passing offense.
The Wolverines are last in the Big Ten and 105th in the nation in total offense.
With a minus-nine turnover margin Michigan ranks 105th in the country and last in the Big Ten.
The Wolverines rank 110th in the nation and last in the Big Ten in passing efficiency.


Ohio State
The Good
Ohio State is 7th in the nation with a plus-14 turnover margin.
The defense is second in the Big Ten and 7th the nation holding opponents to 13.6 points per game.
The Buckeyes are 13th in the country and second in the Big Ten in pass and total defense.
Ohio State is second in the Big Ten and 11th in the nation averaging 38.5 in net punting.
Averaging 11.3 yards a punt return the Buckeyes continue to lead the Big Ten.
Terrelle Pryor leads the Big Ten in passing efficiency.

The Bad
Ohio State is last in the Big Ten and 107th in the nation in averaging 144.8 yards of passing offense a game.
Averaging 19.2 yards a kickoff return Ohio State is ranked 104th in the country.
The Buckeyes are 91st in the nation and last in the Big Ten averaging 4.9 tackles for loss a game.


Players
Quarterback
Michigan- Steven Threet 102/200 (.510), 1,105 yards, 9 TD, 7 INT
Michigan- Nick Sheridan 55/113 (.487), 526 yards, 2 TD, 5 INT

Ohio State- Terrelle Pryor 90/139 (.647), 1,125 yards, 10 TD, 3 INT


Rushing
Michigan- Sam McGuffie 486 yards, 4.1 ypc, 3 TD
Michigan- Brandon Minor 466 yards, 5.2 ypc, 8 TD

Ohio State- Beanie Wells 957 yards, 5.4 ypc, 7 TD
Ohio State- Terrelle Pryor 560 yards, 4.8 ypc, 6 TD


Receiving
Michigan- Greg Mathews 409 yards, 35 rec., 11.7 ypr, 2 TD
Michigan- Martavious Odoms 406 yards, 44 rec., 9.2 ypr, 0 TD

Ohio State- Brian Hartline 408 yards, 19 rec., 21.5 ypr, 2 TD
Ohio State- Brian Robiskie 365 yards, 35 rec., 10.4 ypr, 7 TD


Defense
Michigan- Brandon Graham leads the team with ten sacks and 20 tackles for loss.

Ohio State- James Laurinaitis leads the team with 109 tackles.

Team Stats
Michigan
Rushing- 147.9
Passing- 154.8
Total- 302.7
PF- 22.2
PA- 28.4

Ohio State
Rushing- 176.2
Passing- 154.4
Total- 330.6
PF- 26.6
PA- 13