Three players to watch in the Michigan vs. Ohio State game

Michigan (now 9-2) returns home following the 45-20 win over Maryland to take on the 11-0 Ohio State Buckeyes. It will be Michigan's biggest test of the year, by far, playing against the undefeated Ohio State Buckeyes. Unlike their other two games against ranked teams however; this one will be at home. So far their only losses have come on the road against ranked teams, at Oklahoma, and at USC. If these three key players for Michigan can play well, Michigan will have a good shot at the upset on Saturday. Lets dive into the three players to watch in the Michigan vs. Ohio State game below.

Player #1: Bryce Underwood

No surprises here, Bryce Underwood is the #1 player to watch for me in this game. Last week he played possibly his best game in a Michigan uniform. He completed 16/23 passes for 215 yards with 2 TD's and 0 INT's. He was efficient, made good decisions, and threw the ball well to every level of the field. Ohio State's defense so far this year is 6th nationally in pass efficiency defense. They have good cornerbacks and of course star safety Caleb Downs back there to lead the secondary. Bryce Underwood will need to play even better than he did last week, and most importantly to take care of the football, for Michigan to have a good chance to win this game.

Player #2: Jordan Marshall

I expect Jordan Marshall to be able to give it a go in this game despite missing the last contest against Maryland. Needless to say, Michigan didn't really need their young star tailback as former walk-on Bryson Kuzdzal picked up the slack, running for 100 yards on 20 carries and 3 rushing TD's. If Jordan Marshall is back for this game as expected, he'll need to grind out those tough yards on this good Ohio State defense all game long. It's something he excels at fortunately for Michigan, and he'll need to do it for a full four quarters this week for Michigan to win.

Ohio State is currently 2nd nationally in rushing defense, allowing just 80 yards per game on average, and only 2.67 yards per carry. They haven't faced a rushing attack near as good as Michigan's though, so if Jordan Marshall can have a big game in this one that would go a long ways to help keep this offense on the field and sustain some drives against the salty Ohio State defense.

Player #3: Derrick Moore

The other crucial part of this game for Michigan in my opinion is making Ohio State's star quarterback Julian Sayin feel uncomfortable. They'll need Derrick Moore to come up big, like he has so far this year. So far this year Derrick Moore is 2nd in the Big Ten with 9.5 sacks, and only 1 behind the Big Ten leader Anthony Smith of Minnesota at 10.5. Derrick Moore has also excelled as of late, picking up 7 sacks in his last 5 games. They need that level of performance once again from the senior who's expected to go in the top 3 rounds of the NFL Draft next spring.

Julian Sayin has a great feel for the game and can move well in the pocket to buy additional time and that's why it'll be up to Derrick Moore and the rest of Michigan's defensive line to keep pressure on him throughout the game. They need to make sure he never gets comfortable back there and maybe even force a turnover or two if the Wolverines want to pull off the upset.

Player #1: Bryce Underwood

Player #2: Jordan Marshall

Player #3: Derrick Moore

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