Wolverines and Buckeyes

• This will be the 119th meeting between Michigan and Ohio State.

• The Wolverines have a 60-52-6 advantage in the all-time series.

•  The Buckeyes are the most common opponent for the Wolverines, trailed closely by Michigan State (116 games).

• U-M ended an eight-game losing streak against OSU with wins in the last two meetings: 42-27 in 2021 and 45-23 in 2022.

Series vs. OSU: Michigan leads 60-52-6
Series Streak: Michigan won 2
Last Meeting: 2022 (#3 U-M 45, #2 OSU 23)
Last Michigan Win: 2022

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‘The Game’

• The Game was selected as the greatest rivalry in all of sports by ESPN.com in 1999.

• The Game ranks tied for the 14th most played rivalries in FBS (Division I-A) history.

• The two programs played every year from 1918 through 2019 (102 years), a streak that ranked eighth in Division I-A for the longest uninter­rupted series; the 2020 game was canceled due to COVID issues within the Michigan program.

• The overall series dates back to 1897, when the Wolverines claimed a 34-0 victory over the Buckeyes in Ann Arbor.

• The Game was moved to the final Saturday of the Big Ten season in 1935; since that time, the matchup has had the potential for a major impact on the Big Ten standings 49 times.

• There have been 24 occasions where the two schools decided the Big Ten champion between themselves based on the outcome on that Saturday; for 10 years (1972-81 ), the outcome decided which of the two teams would represent the Big Ten in the Rose Bowl.

• Since the Ohio State dedication game in 1922, more than nine million fans have attended the annual game played between the two schools, with 72 of those 100 games being sellouts.

• Since 1922, more people have attended this game than any other gridiron match-up in the country game was set to air on FOX but was cancelled due to COVID issues within the Michigan team.

• Since 1967 every game in the series has been televised, including 36 national television appearances.

• This is the sixth time that FOX will broadcast The Game.

• ABC televised the greatest rivalry in sport for 30 consecutive years (1987-2016), with all but the 1995 game being a national television broadcast; the 2005 game was a split national broadcast on ABC and ESPN.

• The first game ever televised between the two programs was a 21-0 win by the Wolverines in Ann Arbor during the 1947 national championship.

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Game Notes Nuggets

• Last weekend’s victory marked the 1,000th win for the Michigan Football program. U-M is the first team at any level of football to achieve 1,000 wins.

• Michigan is 11-0 for the second season in a row for the first time since 1901-02. It is just the 10th season in program history with at least 11 wins (1901, 1902, 1903, 1905, 1971, 1986, 1997, 2006, 2021, 2022).

• The Wolverines have been victorious in 23 straight Big Ten games dating to 2021, the longest streak in program history and the third-longest in Big Ten history.

• The Big Ten Conference does not recognize the 2021 or 2022 Big Ten championship games as conference matchups, so U-M is at 21 straight Big Ten wins by the league’s record book. That figure surpassed the previous record, a mark held by Gary Moeller’s 1990-92 teams (19).

• Michigan has been victorious in 27 consecutive regular-season games, the third-longest stretch in Big Ten history. Only the 1901-03 Michigan teams, which won 28 straight regular season games, have won more in program history.

• Michigan has won 21 consecutive games at Michigan Stadium dating back to 2021, the program’s best streak since 1969-73 under Bo Schembechler (28 games) and tied for the third-longest stretch in U-M Football history.

• In quarterback J.J. McCarthy‘s 24 career starts, U-M is 23-1 for a win rate of 95.8 percent, the best mark by a starting quarterback in at least the last 10 seasons (minimum 20 starts). That mark ranks above those of Trevor Lawrence (34-2; 94.4), Tua Tagovailoa (22-2, 91.7) and Trevone Boykin (22-2, 91.7).

• Wolverines have been named semifinalists for the following awards: Maxwell Award (Blake Corum, J.J. McCarthy), Davey O’Brien Award (McCarthy), Chuck Bednarik Award (Kris Jenkins), John Mackey Award (AJ Barner), Lott IMPACT Trophy (Junior Colson), Lombardi Award, Outland Trophy (Zak Zinter), Wuerffel Trophy, Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year (Corum), Patrick Mannelly Award (William Wagner), Joe Moore Award (Offensive Line); Zinter is also a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy as an NFF Scholar-Athlete and McCarthy is a finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award.

• The Wolverines are averaging a scoring margin of +29.3 across their 11 wins this season, the best figure in the country one of two rates +25 points per game (Oregon, +25.4). Only six other teams have an average margin of +20 points per game, including Ohio State (+24.0).

• Michigan is one of four teams to rank in the top 12 in both scoring offense (11th, 38.2 points per game) and scoring defense (first, 9.0 points per game allowed). Georgia (fifth, defense; fifth, offense), Oregon (t-10, defense; second, offense) and Florida State (12th, defense; seventh, offense) are the other three.

• U-M’s 0.604 points per play on offense is the best rate in the Big Ten (next: Ohio State, 0.499) and fifth overall (LSU, USC, Oregon, Washington). The Wolverine defense allows 0.155 points per play against, the second-lowest rate in the nation. U-M’s rate of 0.5 punts per score is tied as the fifth-lowest rate nationally and leads the Big Ten (LSU, Georgia, Oregon 0.3; Liberty, 0.4).

• Yards per point is a metric that describes how much of the field the offense must travel to score, on average. U-M’s offense ranks No. 1 at 10.4 yards per point, while the defense forces opponents to travel 26.2 yards per point (No. 1 nationally). That margin (+15.7) is the largest in college football and one of only two margins in double-digits (Ohio State, 14.2).

• Ten (10) players have made their first starts as Wolverines this season, including four on offense (AJ Barner, LaDarius Henderson,Myles Hinton, Drake Nugent) and six on defense (Rayshaun Benny, Kenneth Grant, Keshaun Harris, Quinten Johnson, Keon Sabb, Josh Wallace).

• Michigan holds top-10 PFF grades and ranks in 10 of 13 major team categories Full list: overall team, No. 1 (96.0), offense, No. 6 (92.3), receiving, No. 1 (88.1), run-blocking, No. 3 (77.5), defense, No. 1 (95.2), run defense, No. 5 (92.1), tackling, No. 1 (92.3), pass rush, No. 4 (90.2), pass coverage, tied-No. 3 (92.3), and special team, No. 9 (86.8).

• In that span, the offense has registered 226 drives in which the quarterback starts and finishes the possession (excludes kneel-downs, ends of halves). The Wolverines have points on 134 of those drives (59.3 percent) with 101 touchdowns (44.7 percent of all drives) and 33 field goals.

• Through 10 games in 2023, McCarthy has completed 173-of-237 pass attempts for a completion percentage of 73.8, second-best in the country (Bo Nix, Oregon, 77.9). His completion rate is paired with an average depth of target (ADOT) of 10.5 yards downfield, whereas Nix’s is 7.1.

• In the red zone, the Wolverines have 39 touchdowns in 45 scoring conversions (out of 52 opportunities). McCarthy has nearly as many red-zone touchdowns (nine) as incompletions (13) and 19 of Corum’s 20 rushing scores have come from the 10-yard line or closer.

• U-M has at least three offensive touchdowns in every game this year. Third down has been another key for the offense, converting 52.0 percent of attempts (No. 4 nationally).

• McCarthy has been particularly effective on third down, completing 37-of-51 pass attempts (72.5 percent) for 588 yards with a 195.27 passer rating. In situations of 3rd-and-7-plus yards, McCarthy is 25-of-33 (75.8 percent) for 418 yards with 23 first downs or touchdowns (four).

• This season, his 12.0 yards per attempt on play-action is fourth in the nation (minimum 50 attempts). He is 46-of-56 (82.1 percent) on play-action concepts with five touchdowns to one interception.

• Among players with at least 20 career touchdown passes, McCarthy has the best touchdown-to-interception ratio in Michigan history (45:10 / 4.5:1), over Drew Henson (3.43:1), Cade McNamara, and Shea Patterson (3.0:1).

• McCarthy is the program’s career leader in yards per play (8.11) and ranks fifth in career touchdown percentage as a passer (7.28).

• McCarthy (5,570 career pass yards) passed head coach Jim Harbaugh (5,449 yards) last weekend for eighth on the program’s all-time passing list. Shea Patterson (5,661 yards) ranks seventh on the list.

• He also sits tied for sixth in all-time touchdown passes (45) with Shea Patterson. Rick Leach (48) and Denard Robinson (49) are fifth and fourth on the list, respectively.

• With 18 passing scores this season, McCarthy ranks fourth in the Big Ten. He also ranks fifth in the nation in pass efficiency (178.3) and in yards per attempt (9.85) while ranking second in completion percentage (73.8). He is ESPN’s No. 2 quarterback in total QBR (90.6) and PFF’s No. 5-graded quarterback (91.3).

• McCarthy is averaging 227.2 yards of total offense per game in 2023 despite only 14 fourth-quarter pass attempts on the season.

• Corum (3,380 yards) is now eighth on U-M’s all-time rushing list after passing Rob Lytle (3,317 yards). Chris Perry ranks seventh all-time with 3,696 career yards rushing.

• Corum tied Hassan Haskins’ (2021) single-season rushing touchdown record with his 19th and 20th ground scores of the year against Maryland.

• Corum (51 career rushing touchdowns) stands alone in second place on the career rushing scores list; only Anthony Thomas (55) has more.

• Donovan Edwards ranks eighth among running backs in all-time receptions (62), two shy of Gerald White for seventh. Edwards is fourth in receiving yards by a running back with 690, 120 shy of the career record held by Anthony Thomas (810).

• Corum is the national leader in rushing touchdowns (20) while wide receiver Roman Wilson is tied for 11th in receiving touchdowns (10), ranking second in the Big Ten. Corum also leads the nation in total points scored (120).

• Wilson’s 10 receiving touchdowns are the most by a Wolverine pass catcher in the Harbaugh era (previously, Jehu Chesson, nine, 2015). They are also the most by a Michigan wideout since Mario Manningham had 12 in 2007 and the most through nine games since Desmond Howard’s Heisman Trophy-winning season in 1991 (18 through nine games).

• For his career, Wilson is up to 18 receiving touchdowns (plus two rushing), tied with Amani Toomer (18) for eighth-most all-time. Tai Streets (19) and Derrick Alexander (22) are next on the list.

• Twenty-four (24) of Cornelius Johnson’s 31 offensive touches have produced a touchdown or first down.

• Three Wolverine pass catchers are among the Big Ten’s leaders in yards per route run (minimum 22 targets): Wilson (3.14) ranks 15th in the country and second in the conference, Colston Loveland (2.47) ranks 64th among all pass catchers and fourth among tight ends nationally, fifth in the league among all pass catchers.

• Loveland has at least one catch in every game this year with 32 catches for 462 yards and four receiving touchdowns, ranking second on the team in catches and touchdowns and third in yards (Johnson). He has built on his freshman season totals (16 for 235, two touchdowns) is up to six touchdowns for his career. One more will tie him with Luke Schoonmaker (seven) for the 10th-most in a career by a U-M tight end and make him one of eight U-M tight ends with at least five in a season.

• Wilson (13 receiving), Loveland (nine receiving), Johnson (eight receiving, one rushing), and Semaj Morgan (three receiving, one rushing, four returns) have combined for 39 explosive plays (20-plus yards). Six Wolverines have six or more explosive plays overall.

• Michigan’s offensive line has allowed only 13 sacks on the season (1.18 per game), the 15th-fewest nationally and first in the Big Ten. With that unit as the engine, U-M permits the fifth-fewest negative plays per game (3.45) of any team in the country.

• The Wolverine defense ranks among the nation’s best in fourth down conversion rate against (36.0, 17th), third down conversion rate against (30.3, 14th), rushing defense (90.0 yards per game, eighth), passes intercepted (14, sixth), pass efficiency defense (97.95, third), pass yards allowed per game (144.8, second), red zone defense (66.7, second), and leads the nation in the following categories: total defense (234.8 yards per game), first downs allowed (12.4 per game), defensive touchdowns (tied; five), and scoring defense (9.0 points per game).

• The Wolverines have scored five defensive touchdowns, tied for the national high mark (Arkansas, Washington State). Four have come via interception returns and one via a fumble return.

• U-M has allowed 99 points across 11 games for an NCAA-leading 9.0 points allowed per game, the lowest average scoring against through 11 weeks since 1997 (8.91).

• The defense has held opponents to one series (four plays) or fewer on 47.4 percent (55-of-116) possessions against with 42 three-and-outs/turnovers on downs, and 13 turnovers or safeties forced in the first four plays of drives. U-M has at least one three-and-out forced in 21-of-22 half this season.

• On the season, U-M has allowed 136 first downs, an average of 12.4 per game which is the lowest rate nationally and the only mark under 14.0. On average, teams reach a first down by passing 6.4 times per game, the lowest rate in the country and the only mark below 7.0.

• Opponents average 1.5 red zone trips per game against the Wolverines, the fewest in the country and the only rate below 2.0 in the nation.

• Six of the 11 touchdowns U-M has allowed this year have been on explosive plays: a 20-yard rush by UNLV, a 69-yard pass by Rutgers, a 74-yard rush by Nebraska, a 35-yard pass by Minnesota, a 44-yard pass by Indiana, and a 24-yard pass by Purdue. Penn State was the first team to run a play from inside the 10-yard line against U-M this season, and all three of Maryland’s scores were one-yard runs to bust the trend.

• The Wolverines have four interceptions returned for touchdowns this season (Mike Sainristil, Will Johnson, Keon Sabb), tied for the program record set in 1998 and matched in 2018. On the season, U-M has allowed five passing touchdowns to 14 interceptions, and the Wolverines average 22.9 yards per interception return.

• Sainristil is tied for the all-time lead in career interceptions returned for a touchdown with his two this season, as well as the single-season mark. His 158 return yards are ninth. Reaching 175 return yards would take him to fifth.

• In total, Michigan has forced 19 turnovers (14 interceptions, five fumble recoveries) and forced two safeties, while having lost six turnovers themselves. The defense had at least one interception-for in seven straight games (Bowling Green-Purdue) and has one in 9-of-11 overall.

• U-M excels in the second half defensively. Opponents have accumulated 27 total first downs in 11 third quarters played. Maryland is the only team to eclipse 75 yards of offense in the quarter and four teams have been held under 15 yards of total offense.

• PFF gives Michigan front-seven defenders nine of the top 45 grades for run defense in the Big Ten:  Josaiah Stewart (fifth), Jenkins (t-12th), Michael Barrett (t-12th), Mason Graham (14th), Cam Goode (19th) TJ Guy (29th), Derrick Moore (36th), Braiden McGregor (44th).

• The 13.6 completions per game U-M’s pass defense is permitting are tied for the second-fewest in the country (UMass, 13.5).

• The FBS-leading 4.0 points per half that U-M is allowing across second halves so far this season is the lowest rate nationally.

• Twenty-four (24) different players have at least a share of a tackle for loss on the season. Thirteen (13) different players have recorded at least a share of a sack so far this season, led by Jaylen Harrell (5.5 each).

• Stewart and Harrell rank seventh and 15th in the country, respectively in pass-rush win rate (21.6 percent, 19.9) and rank two-seven in the Big Ten. Graham (39th; 10th, 16.9), Moore (42nd; 11th, 16.7), and McGregor (12th Big Ten, 15.3) give U-M five of the league’s top 12 pass rushers.

• Punter Tommy Doman is averaging 4.35 seconds of hangtime per attempt, the second-best average of any punter in the country (minimum one punt per game), and the best in the Big Ten. He has two games this month with two punts inside the 10-yard line.

• The Wolverines are also among the best kickoff return defense units in the country, allowing 14.25 yards per return attempt (fourth, NCAA). Doman has delivered 53 touchbacks on 74 kickoffs this season (71.6 percent).

COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS