COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo are Michigan’s best chance of making Saturday’s Ohio State vs. Michigan football game competitive.
The Wolverines’ defensive ends have a combined 77 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 19 sacks, six pass breakups and seven forced fumbles. They’re game-changers like in a way the Buckeyes haven’t seen this season, mainly because there are two of them. But that doesn’t mean they haven’t spent the last 11 weeks getting prepared to face them.
“They’re talented. They’re fast, they’re athletic, they’re strong,” offensive tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere said. “They’re everything you’d imagine a great defensive end to be. They’re a great challenge for us this week. It’s a great opportunity.
“We’ve had a really good stretch of games here in November, and October as well, where we’ve had some amazing pass-rushers to go up against as a team and amazing defenses that we’ve had to go up against as a team that has been touted as probably some of the best defenses in the country.”
Ohio State is one of just two Power Five schools with both of its starting tackles posting a Pro Football Focus Grade that’s ranked top 30 in the country. The other is Oregon State.
Petit-Frere checks in at No. 28 with an 82.6 grade, while Dawand Jones is at No. 9 with an 88.5 grade. They’ve combined to allow just three sacks, two QB hits, 22 QB hurries and 27 pressures in 1,316 snaps. They’ve achieved those numbers while going up against some quality edge rushers.
The two have seen Minnesota’s Boye Mafe, Penn State’s Arnold Ebiketie, Purdue’s George Karlaftis and Michigan State’s Jacub Panasiuk. That group is responsible for six pressures, and five of them are Ebiketie’s. The only challenge they didn’t get was Kayvon Thibodeaux, a top upcoming NFL draft pick who was out with a foot sprain when OSU lost to Oregon.
Jones and Petit-Frere are battled-tested, but Michigan presents a new challenge because it has two guys to worry about. That means both tackles will have a challenge on every snap instead of taking turns seeing the biggest threat on the field. The Buckeyes reshuffled their offensive line in the offseason to maximize protection for a young starting quarterback. The result is that C.J. Stroud has only been sacked nine times this season in 365 dropbacks.
It’s why Stroud’s been able to complete 71.1% of his throws, and the passing game has been so explosive this season. He hasn’t been looking over his shoulder for opponents trying to take his head off.
Hutchinson and Ojabo’s combined efforts increase the chances of Stroud having to do that on Saturday. Having to gameplan for two people means execution must be crisper and quicker. That’s a challenge that falls on everybody. Petit-Frere and Jones must keep those two in check and not get beat off the ball while Stroud continues seeing the field at a high level and efficiently diagnosing defenses. And the wide receivers have to beat their man and create separation.
That hasn’t been a problem for most of the season. But in a game like this, it becomes even more of an emphasis.
“As a receiver, you’re not racing the DB. You’re racing the D-Line,” OSU receiver Chris Olave said. “When the other team has great pass-rushers like Team Up North does, we’ve gotta believe in our O-Line and speed things up and try to get some yards after the catch. We believe in our O-Line, and we’ll compete on Saturday.”
Ohio State hasn’t had a problem keeping Stroud clean this season, and he’s repaid those efforts with 3,468 yards and 36 touchdowns.
Hutchinson and Ojabo must make Stroud uncomfortable if it hopes to compete, let alone win on Saturday. It’s up to the people around Stroud to keep that from happening.
“A big challenge for our tackles and for our whole offense,” OSU coach Ryan Day said. “These guys do a great job off the edge and upfront too. The two inside guys are very powerful. They do a great job in coverage, so it’s gonna be a big challenge for our guys in protection, for C.J. and everybody. But it’s also gonna be on the receivers to make sure they’re getting open with separation. It’s everybody across the board.”
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