Michigan Monday vs. NW up at the Ozone

Ohio blog "The Ozone" has their weekly "Michigan Monday" up early this week, due to the Ohio bye week. LINK:  http://theozone.net/football/2012/Wisconsin/michiganmonday.html

Here are some quotes, and then a few bullet points. As always, this is a long column, and  you can't cut and paste the whole thing. Go and read it yourself if you're dying for more analysis.

The point of Michigan Monday is to keep an eye on the Wolverines and then later extrapolate how their season of performances relates to how they will do against Ohio State.

After seeing the way the Wildcats ran the ball, and the way they had open receivers running around, it's hard to think the same shouldn't also happen for the Buckeyes when the Wolverines come to town.

The Wildcats' mostly moved the ball through hard work and patience. Ohio State has that same type of patience, and they have a much better power running game.

Last week, I asked how Michigan would defend Ohio State. . . .  the budding brilliance of the Buckeye offense is that they can allow a defense to dictate what they do and be perfectly happy with that. 

If a defense is intent on stopping the running game, then the offense attacks the edges and seams, forcing the defense to open up the middle. When the defense then spreads out, they leave their belly exposed for Carlos Hyde, who is quite happy to gash it.

I expect the Wolverine defense to play at their absolute best against the Buckeyes, but I'm not sure how well they will be able to contain the Ohio State running game. However, as we have already seen, just because a team can run on Michigan doesn't mean they can beat them.

Basically, I believe that if Michigan is going to win in Columbus, they will need to make sure that quarterback Braxton Miller has a poor day throwing the ball, which is something that he doesn't always need help to do.

• Gardner looks comfortable, and "his scrambling was fantastic."
• After seeing two seasons of jump balls favoring the Wolverines, it isn't just luck, but is something Borges must be coaching.
• Apart from one big run a game, Toussaint still isn't doing much.
• Michigan doesn't defend the option pitch well.
• Making Michigan play defense in space is a great way to attack them, if you have the talent. NW did. So does Ohio.
• Kovacs can be beaten with above average throws.
• Jake Ryan looks mortal when he has to react instead of attack.
• Michigan needed the speed of Ross more than the experience of Morgan.
• There were quite a few cutback lanes for QB Colter, as there should be for Braxton Miller.

Closing thoughts:  there are a number of ways for Ohio to attack Michigan's defense. However, this fact won't help Ohio if Miller has a subpar game. Miller has to be able to pass in order to keep the running game going. Michigan has shown repeated ability to win games they probably shouldn't have won. Ohio has the same skill. Oh, and Michigan doesn't have anything to fear against Iowa.