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Robert Smith says Ohio State needs to ‘clean it up defensively’ in order to make it competitive vs. Michigan

Kevin Cunningham

By Kevin Cunningham

Published:

The regular season is done.

Well, it’s basically done. Just one game remains. And it’s the only game that matters.

Michigan.

On Saturday, No. 10 Ohio State will host No. 4 Michigan for the right to go to the Big Ten Championship and play No. 22 Northwestern. The Wildcats already clinched a week ago, but thanks to both the Buckeyes and Wolverines doing well in the regular season, it comes down to the greatest rivalry in sports to determine who will advance.

Michigan, of course, has the better chance of making the College Football Playoff once it is all said and done thanks to where it sits in the rankings. Ohio State, however, has a chance to get multiple impressive victories still, which would boost the Buckeyes in the rankings.

Ohio State is coming off a 52-51 overtime win over Maryland, where certainly the offense looked good — but the defense did not. Ahead of the clash with Michigan, FOX Sports college football analyst Robert Smith gave a clear message to the Buckeyes:

Smith didn’t just they that the Buckeyes need to clean it up defensively. He said they need to clean it up defensively just in order to compete with Michigan. If Ohio State doesn’t do that, would the game not even be close?

We’ll find out at noon on Saturday at Ohio Stadium.

Kevin Cunningham

Kevin covers Big Ten football for Saturday Tradition.