Time: Noon ET Kick-off
Location: Michigan Stadium - "The Big House" (Ann Arbor, MI)
Constructed: 1927 (Renovated in 2008)
Seating Capacity: 106,201 (Originally 72,000)
Playing Surface: FieldTurf

Events: '1954 Tribute Uniforms', Mirror Lake, Blood Drive, Tissue and Organ Donor Drive

Broadcast Information:
TV: ABC (national): Sean McDonough (Play-by-Play) and Matt Millen (analyst) in the booth and Holly Rowe on the sidelines.

Radio: WBNS (FM 97.1 The Fan). Paul Keels will call the play-by-play with former Buckeye Jim Lachey in the booth and Marty Bannister on the sidelines. The game can also be heard on Sirius satellite radio Channel 122.

The Game. Every season boils down to it. In 2009, for Michigan, the entire season rides on it. If success can be measured in record and rivalry games, then Michigan fans have not had much to cheer about all season on either count. It started off well enough, with the Wolverines pulling off a improbable come-from-behind win in the final minute over equally maligned Notre Dame and then pushing their record to 4-0 and netting them a top 25 ranking in several polls. They were 1-0 in the conference after a controversial win over Indiana after a shootout at the Big House and were thinking in terms of contending for a conference title. However, Indiana and Michigan now find themselves tied in the conference standings...at the bottom with a 1-6 record. Their only win since September was over a 3-6 FCS weakling, Delaware State. Other than their wins over unimpressive 6-4 Notre Dame and 4-7 Indiana, Michigan's FBS highlights are relegated to 2 wins over weather vane Michigan schools from the MAC West, one of which is 0-10 and the other of which is 5-6. They cannot finish .500 or even close to it in the conference, and the only way they can even be eligible for a bowl game or dodge the conference cellar with Indiana for a second straight year is to beat Ohio State on Saturday. By all accounts, it has been another miserable season for the Wolverines. Until now. The Wolverines have one singular chance to keep the second year of the Rich Rodriguez era from being an unmitigated disaster by Michigan standards, or quite frankly by any standards. And that is to take out the Buckeyes on Saturday, at home, at high noon, at the epicenter of rivalry week. One game season. Perhaps never in the history of Michigan football has this sentence carried more literal meaning than it has the past 2 years.

And then there is embattled coach Rich Rodriguez. Since Fielding Yost took over in 1901 and until Lloyd Carr retired in 2007, there had been only 10 head coaches at Michigan. Nine of those had winning records and a winning percentage of at least .600 in their first season. Only Bump Elliot (4-5) had a losing record in year one. Until Rodriguez. Of the coaches who made it to year 3, their records in year 2 were: 11-0 (Yost), 8-0-1 (Kipke), 6-2 (Crisler), 6-2-1 (Oosterbaan), 5-4 (Elliott), 9-1 (Bo), 10-2 (Moeller), and 8-4 (Carr). All therefore had winning records. Until Rodriguez...or will he not even make it to year 3? Make no mistake about it, Rodriguez will be under tremendous pressure to get the program turned around quickly and decisively next year, if he even has that chance. A win over the Buckeyes could give him something significant to build on for 2010 and might just save his job. A crushing home defeat would make this year a virtual waste and almost certainly expedite his exodus. So the coach has just as much, if not more, riding on this game as the players do.

Michigan's offense has shown significant improvement from a year ago, including stretches of highly effective play, combined with some spells of mediocrity and only sporadic signs of poor play that plagued the team for most of 2008. As the defense has been so weak, it has been up to the offense to try and carry the Wolverines, and though they've been competitive in most conference games, they have been unable to win any of their previous 6. In total yardage, they are averaging 391.4 yards per game, ranked 56th nationally. They have attained a reasonable balance, as their rushing attack averages 195.8 yards per game, which ranks an impressive 21st nationally. The passing game is averaging only 210.6 yards a game, however, ranking only 87th. Michigan is also scoring 31.3 points per contest, up 10 from their average entering last season's game and ranking 27th nationally. Michigan's total of 219 first downs is good for 33rd nationally, and their 38.5% conversion percentage on third downs ranks a respectable 55th. What has killed Michigan is their turnover margin, which is an abysmal -0.73, which ties them for 102nd nationally (Ohio State ranks 7th nationally at +1.09). They have given the ball away at far too many critical times, including 11 interceptions thrown and 12 fumbles lost. It will be interesting to see what kind of gameplan the Wolverines have for the Buckeyes, and how well they are able to execute that, but the bottom line is if they can't hang on to the football, it doesn't matter how much better the offense is than last year, it's still going to be a long Saturday for the Wolverines.

Quarterbacks
QB #5 Tate Forcier (6-1, 188, FR, Scripps Ranch HS, San Diego, CA)
QB #16 Denard Robinson (6-0, 185, FR, Deerfield Beach HS, Deerfield Beach, FL)

Tate Forcier entered the season with a cool brashness that endeared him to Michigan fans aching for a playmaker to run the offense. For the most part, he's been solid, though he has made his share of freshman mistakes as well. He started off the year by making an immediate impact, throwing for 179 yards and 3 TDs against Western Michigan in the opener. He followed that with his magical drive to beat the Irish in week 2, throwing for 240 yards and 2 TDs and rushing for 70 yards and a score in the game. After a quiet game against Eastern Michigan (68 yards passing), he threw for 184 yards and 2 TDs and ran for another as the Wolverines beat Indiana, pushing their record to 4-0. In the loss to Michigan State in the 5th game, he overcame a slow start to lead the team to 2 late scores to push the game into OT. He threw for 223 yards and 2 TDs in the game and still looked like a very solid Big Ten QB. In the Iowa game, however, he was highly ineffective to the point of being benched at the end, throwing for only 94 yards on 8 of 19 passing with an INT. After a light week of work against Delaware State, he took the field against Penn State and was again unable to move the offense, completing only 13 of 30 for 140 yards and an INT. He bounced back to throw for 257 against Illinois and for 212 yards and a TD (with a TD rushing) against Purdue, but the Wolverines still lost both games. Last week against Wisconsin, he completed a very high percentage (20/26) for 188 yards and 2 TDs, but he also rushed for -16 yards and threw a pick as the Wolverines dropped their 4th in a row and their 6th straight conference game. Forcier has been slowed by injuries, but he has persevered to still play reasonably well and he appears to have a good deal of upside if he continues to develop and stays healthy. Though he's a threat to gain big yards on a critical scramble, he's not overly effective running the ball, as he's topped the 40 yard mark only once this year on the ground. He takes quite a few sacks (24) and doesn't seem to throw deep much, both of which could be significant problems Saturday if he can't avoid the Buckeye rush or loosen the defense up with some effective shots downfield.

Fellow freshman Robinson is more of a running quarterback who has shown flashes of big play ability but has turned the ball over way, way too much to be considered a starting QB at this point. He hasn't thrown much, and when he has, it's been mostly ugly other than the Delaware State game (3/4, 85

Official School Bio - Rich Rodriguez

Assistant Coaches: Official School Bios
Calvin Magee - Associate Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator
Greg Robinson - Defensive Coordinator
Tony Dews - Wide Receivers
Greg Frey - Offensive Line
Tony Gibson - Assistant Head Coach/Secondary
Jay Hopson - Linebackers
Fred Jackson - Running Backs
Rod Smith - Quarterbacks
Bruce Tall - Defensive Line

Official School Bios - Strength and Conditioning Staff
Mike Barwis- Director of Strength and Conditioning
Chris Allen - Director of Skill Development / Associate Director of Strength and Conditioning
Parker Whiteman - Coordinator of Strength and Conditioning
Kentaro Tamura - Coordinator of Strength and Conditioning
Jim Plocki - Football Assistant Strength Coach / Ice Hockey Associate Director of Strength and Conditioning
Jesse Miller - Assistant Strength Coach
Dennis Murray - Assistant Strength Coach
Dan Mozes - Part-Time Assistant Strength Coach
Cassandra Baier - Assistant Strength Coach

Starters Returning: 15 (Offense 9, Defense 5, Special Teams 1)

Notable Returners: RB Brandon Minor, WR Greg Matthews, WR Martavious Odoms, WR Darryl Stonum, TE Kevin Koger, OT Mark Ortmann, OG Steven Schilling, OC David Molk, RG David Moosman, DE Brandon Graham, LB Obi Ezeh, LB Jonas Mouton, LB Stevie Brown, CB Donavan Warren, P Zoltan Mesko

Starters Lost: 9 (Offense 2, Defense 6, Special Teams 1)

Notable Losses: DE Tim Jamison, DT Will Johnson, DT Terrance Taylor, CB Morgan Trent, S Brandon Harrison, PK K.C. Lopata

Incoming Recruits:

2010 Verbals

Scout.com - #19 class - 1-5*, 4-4*, 13-3*, 2-2*, 0-N/R - 3.20* average
Rivals.com - #17 class - 0-5*, 4-4*, 15-3*, 0-2*, 1-N/R - 3.11* average

Courtney Avery CB 5-9 164 Lexington, OH - 3*/3*
Drew Dileo WR 5-10 175 Baton Rouge, LA - 3*/3*
Tony Drake RB 5-8 160 Dallas, TX - 3*/3*
Devin Gardner QB 6-4 201 Inkster, MI - 5*/4*
Will Hagerup P 6-4 210 Whitefish Bay, WI - 3*/3*
Stephen Hopkins RB 6-0 210 Flower Mound, TX - 3*/3*
Jeremy Jackson WR 6-3 190 Ann Arbor, MI - 3*/3*
Carvin Johnson S 6-0 185 Metairie, LA - 3*/N-R
Cornelius Jones QB 6-0 185 Spartanburg, SC - 2*/3*
Antonio Kinard DE 6-4 210 Youngstown, OH - 3*/3*
Ricardo Miller WR 6-2 205 Ann Arbor, MI - 4*/3*
Christian Pace OG 6-2 256 Avon Lake, OH - 3*/3*
Jordan Paskorz 6-4 223 Allison Park, PA - 3*/3*
Jerald Robinson WR 6-0 175 Canton, OH - 4*/4*
Marvin Robinson S 6-1 204 Eagle Lake, FL - 4*/4*
Terrance Talbott CB 5-9.5 172 Huiber Heights, OH - 3*/3*
Terry Talbott DT 6-3 265 Huber Heights, OH - 3*/3*
Austin White RB 6-0 190 Livonia, MI - 4*/3*
Kenny Wilkens DE 6-3 230 Washington, PA - 3*/4*
DJ Williamson WR 6-2 175 Warren, OH - 2*/3*

2009 Recruiting Class

Scout.com - #14 class - 2-5*, 7-4*, 11-3*, 2-2* - 3.41* average
Rivals.com - #8 class - 1-5*, 12-4*, 7-3*, 2-2* - 3.55* average

Isaiah Bell DB 6-0 209 Youngstown, OH - 3*/3*
Will Campbell DT 6-5 330 Detroit, MI - 5*/5*
Vladimir Emilien S 6-0 190 Plantation, FL - 3*/4*
Tate Forcier QB 6-0 184 San Diego, CA - 4*/4*
Jeremy Gallon ATH 5-8 165 Apopka, FL - 3*/4*
Brendan Gibbons K 6-0 202 West Palm Beach, FL - 3*/2*
Cameron Gordon WR 6-3 210 Inkster, MI - 3*/3*
Thomas Gordon ATH 5-10 199 Detroit, MI - 2*/3*
Brandin Hawthorne LB 6-0 181 Pahokee, FL - 3*/3*
Mike Jones DB 6-2 200 Orlando, FL - 3*/3*
Teric Jones RB 5-8 186 Detroit, MI - 3*/3*
Anthony LaLota DE 6-6 260 Princeton, NJ - 4*/4*
Taylor Lewan OT 6-6.5 270 Scottsdale, AZ - 4*/4*
Denard Robinson QB 6-0 185 Deerfield Beach, FL - 4*/4*
Craig Roh DE 6-5 230