ANN ARBOR, Mich. – It’s rivalry week for the No. 18-ranked Michigan Wolverines, as they’ll host the No. 1-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes inside the Big House.
“The Game” will take place on Saturday (Nov. 29) at high noon as both teams have something to play for in the 2025 season.
Recommended Videos
For Michigan, sitting at 9-2, a victory would give them a chance to squeak into the College Football Playoff and play for the Big Ten Championship in Indianapolis.
With a loss, the Wolverines will be preparing for a New Year’s 6 bowl game.
The Buckeyes, on the other hand, will be playing to clinch their spot in the Big Ten Championship, remain undefeated on the season, and snap their losing streak against Michigan.
Since 2021, Michigan has won four consecutive games against the Buckeyes, including the monumental upset during the 2024 season, when they went into Columbus and took down what many were calling the greatest college football team of all time, in a 13-10 victory.
Michigan went into the matchup without an ounce of offense with a walk-on quarterback, without the NCAA College Football 24 cover athlete, a top 15 NFL draft pick at tight end, and a CFP MVP at cornerback, and still won.
This season, Michigan will have six freshmen playing in The Game on offense for the first time, including true freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood, who comically told future Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame forward Lebron James that ‘It’s over for Ohio State,’ getting a chuckle out of the Buckeyes fan during the offseason.
Head coach Sherrone Moore spoke about Underwood and how they’re preparing him for the upcoming battle inside Michigan Stadium.
“He’s well educated on the rivalry. He knows everything about it. He’s seen it from afar, and we’ve talked about this game for a very long time,” said Moore. “It’ll be about going through the routine and just doing the things that he’s done to this point to get them prepared for the game.”
Moore called on fans to create an unprecedented atmosphere at Michigan Stadium for the upcoming rivalry game.
“We want it to be the loudest, most rabid, craziest, energetic environment that we’ve had in Michigan Stadium ever,” Moore said. “That’s what we want it to be.”
Moore emphasized the importance of fan energy peaking on game day.
“I don’t know what the decimals have been or what they could be, but we needed them to reach peak on Saturday.”
Moore outlined the keys to winning Saturday’s rivalry game.
“One, you’ve got to win the line of scrimmage. Always got to do that,” Moore said.
Moore stressed the importance of blocking out distractions.
“You can’t let outside variation, outside things, outside noise control the preparation and the progress of what we’re doing and the process of what we’re doing,” Moore said.
Moore acknowledged the many distractions on game day, including ESPN College GameDay and the Big Noon Kickoff, but emphasized the importance of focus.
“At the end of the day, we’ve got to channel our focus on our preparation. And that’s how you win, you know, prepare the way we prepared for those last three games,” Moore said.