Third Down Efficiency- A big statistic for me is how well your defense can get stop the other team on third down. Ohio State stops their opponents 70% of the time. Michigan stops their opponents 74% of the time. As you can see, this is a very close margin.
Scoring Defense- Ohio State ranks 1st in scoring defense, giving up 7.6 points per game. Michigan ranks 7th, giving up 13 points per game. Now, if you take a closer look at some of the points OSU has given up, you will be amazed. The touchdown Texas got was after one of the worst roughing-the-passer calls of all time. The 3 points Indiana got were after OSU fumbled the ball on their own 20. Indiana went 3 and out, then kicked a field goal. The 7 that Sparty scored came against the 2006 OSU recruiting class with 2 minutes to go in the 4th quarter. Basically, Ohio State's first string unit hadn't given up a single point in 3 games before Illinois. Ohio State has given up 545 yards---in those 3 games. That's a shutdown defense folks. Just to point something out, UM gave up a combined 635 yards to MSU and Minnesota alone...Basically, UM gave up 90 more yards to 2 of those 3 than against all of them combined).
Rushing Defense- Ohio State is 18th in rushing defense, giving up 92 yards per game. Michigan ranks 1st in rushing defense, giving up only 30 yards per game. But, those numbers for OSU are mainly because of the slow start for this unit at the beginning of the season. Michigan started the season on all cylinders and has been all year, OSU has not. OSU just gave up 47 rushing yards to Minnesota, that same Minnesota team that ran for over 100 yards against Michigan earlier in the year. The average yards OSU has given up drops about 4 spots in the rankings every week. By the time the Michigan game comes around, we will be in the top 12.
Passing Defense- Ohio State ranks 5th nationally against in pass efficiency defense. Michigan ranks 16th. These numbers are skewed because of both team's ability to shut down the run and force the other team to pass; and, both teams getting comfortable leads, making the other team one-dimensional. With the emergence of Antonio Smith as a playmaker and shutdown corner, OSU's secondary is scary good. There is so much depth in the secondary that it is disgusting. Michigan, aside from the incredible Leon Hall (by the own admittance of the UM faithful), is not set in the secondary position.
Michigan State passed for 120 more yards against UM than against OSU.
Penn State passed for 100 more yards against UM than against OSU.
Minnesota passed for 80 more yards against UM than against OSU.
The Michigan secondary lacks the depth and the overall talent that the OSU secondary unit has.
Now, everybody gives Michigan credit for their incredible D-Line and pressure on the quarterback. UM has 35 sacks this year, ranking 6th in the nation. Guess how many OSU has? 30. OSU is right behind them, coming in at 13th. Both of these teams can get to the quarterback.
