Friday Discussion: Would Michigan Football beating Ohio State be more stunning than last year?

After three years of domination in The Game, Michigan entered the 2024 iteration as a 20.5-point underdog to Ohio State. The Wolverines went on to win outright, 13-10, in a game I certainly will never forget. It was arguably the most stunning upset in the rivalry’s history.

The 2025 Wolverines are again underdogs, but not by nearly as much (roughly 10 points depending on where you look). However, this is a significantly younger team with no gifts from the football gods holding down the interior of the defensive line. Would an upset this season be just as, if not more, stunning than 2024?

Let’s discuss.

If we take a trip down memory lane, we can examine the 2024 Wolverines in all their glory. Michigan entered The Game at 6-5, having just clinched bowl eligibility in a blowout win over Northwestern. Michigan had virtually no passing game whatsoever, with Davis Warren having just 1,199 yards, seven touchdowns and nine picks. Kalel Mullings nearly had a 1,000-yard season (948), while Colston Loveland led the team in receiving yards (582) due to a weak wide receiver room.

However, the defensive line was excellent all season long. Defensive tackles Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant anchored the unit and wound up as first-round draft picks. Josaiah Stewart also had 8.5 sacks before heading off to the NFL. Finally, Dominic Zvada went 26-of-27 on his field goals, including 7-of-7 from 50 yards or farther.

All in all, 2024 Wolverines had an excellent defense, very good special teams and an atrocious offense.

Fast forward to 2025, and these Wolverines are significantly improved on the offensive side of the ball. The Bryce Underwood/Andrew Marsh connection is leaps and bounds better than anything Michigan had last season. In the running game, both Jordan Marshall and Justice Haynes would be trending to rush for well above what Mullings did if they both were healthy. In the aggregate, Michigan has rushed for 400 more yards by now than they did in all of 2024, including the bowl game.

Defensively, Michigan has taken a small step back. While Wink Martindale’s defense hasn’t been bad, the defensive line has struggled to generate organic pressure. The secondary has also been a point of moderate concern. While only Oklahoma and USC have abused this secondary, it will be interesting to see how much success Ohio State has against them.

Special teams has been an abject disaster. Zvada is a woeful 12-of-19, with four of his misses being from less than 40 yards. The punt return unit has been even more of a disaster, as Semaj Morgan has routinely made mistakes.

To summarize Michigan’s year-over-year changes, the offense is significantly better, the defense is slightly worse, and special teams are significantly worse. However, those offensive gains make the team as a whole much, much stronger than the 2024 team.

The laughable upset last season was perpetrated by Michigan’s defensive line. While the 2024 Wolverines didn’t have many advantages on paper, the one advantage they did have was their defensive line as opposed to Ohio State’s offensive line. That advantage proved to be fatal for the Buckeyes.

In 2025, there again don’t appear to be many advantages on paper. The Buckeye defense is nasty and currently the No. 1 defense in all of college football. They again have skill position players galore. While their run game isn’t as strong as last year, Michigan’s defensive line doesn’t seem to be as up to the task either.

I’m not saying the 2025 Wolverines are worse than last year, but there is no one clear advantage this year’s team has on Ohio State, which makes me concerned.

Can Michigan pull off the upset again this year? If so, will you be shocked? Would you be more shocked this year than you were last year? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Beat Ohio.