Ohio State-Michigan matchup inside the numbers

With Ohio State’s weird, wild, and wacky 52-51 overtime victory over Maryland on Saturday afternoon, the calendar has officially flipped to the most important seven days of every Buckeye’s year, “Beat M*ch*g*n Week.”

Now, the No. 10 Buckeyes (10-1, 7-1) put their entire focus on their rivals from that state up north for a noon ET contest on Saturday, Nov. 24. The winner of the 2018 edition of The Game will represent the Big Ten East in the B1G Championship Game against No. 22 Northwestern on Dec. 1.

While you are likely still recovering from the bonkers Maryland win, get your Rivalry Week started by going inside the OSU and TTUN numbers. We’ll go further in depth with the stats — both advanced and traditional — throughout the week, but this should get you started.

Despite Ohio State’s recent dominance in the rivalry, the teams are remarkably close historically.

You knew it just by watching the two teams play this season, but each has a definite side of the ball that they thrive on.

Following a game against the Terrapins in which the Ohio State defense allowed 535 yards, the OSU defenders will be in for quite the challenge with Shea Patterson and Jim Harbaugh’s offense, even if that unit doesn’t compare to their stellar defense.

Conversely, TTUN’s defensive coordinator Don Brown has put together one of the most impressive units in all of college football. Dwayne Haskins and the Buckeye offense will need to have their best game of the season to win the Big Ten East.