Michigan alum here.  Thank you again for the opportunity to post.

Congrats on OSU thus far.  Your team isn't just winning games.  They're demoralizing programs, which is what great teams do when they outmatch lesser foes.  Be ready for a small hiccup somewhere.  Maybe Northwestern?  Happens usually once a season, and no one is immune.  But me (and most national media pundits) seem to be looking at the top team in the country.  A wrecking crew.

Michigan's schedule early on was silly, but now we're starting to see some grit after decent games at Iowa and Indiana.  I thought Maryland was a better win, but their loss to Purdue yesterday is head scratching.  We get Penn State this weekend which should give OSU faithful some insight on whether "The Game" will be competitive.  I believe it will be.  I also believe Harbaugh hasn't brought out all his toys yet, some of which we'll see Saturday.  Look for more jet sweeps and misdirection type plays against Penn State.  This seems to be his method second half of the season.  We're also seeing a more confident defensive line/edge rush which should cause problems for teams.  That's also encouraging.  JJ is going to need to mature faster than he has.  He's still missing wide open 2nd/3rd options in his progressions and is consistently overthrowing the deep ball.  He'll need that if Michigan has any hope of being effective against the Buckeyes.

If Michigan gets past PSU (big if), it "should" be smooth sailing all the way to Columbus.  I'm imagining "The Game" with two 11-0 teams facing off, with all the implications.  In that scenario, there would also be an argument for a 1-loss loser still making it to the playoffs, having only dropped a single game to another Top-4 team.  But that leads us into SEC bias stuff, and I'm kinda tired of that BS, true though it may be.  Win and you're in.

I guess the entire point of this post is that we're officially in the second half of the season -- both programs unblemished.  And this rivalry lives.  Like many Buckeye fans, I root for my rival to lose every game.  But the idea of 11-0 versus 11-0 is too good to pass up.  And I plan on being at the Shoe if that's the case, as I was in 2018 when we were boat raced out of town (see profile pic).

God, I love this rivalry.