Life in Simulation: Ohio State vs. Michigan

College football has once again returned to the virtual world in EA Sports College Football 26, allowing fans of all 134 FBS schools to take control of their favorite team. For Buckeye Nation, that means getting to dominate with one of the best rosters in the game.

The game also allows us to get a glimpse at what the season could look like, at least if the computers had their say. Each week, Land-Grant Holy Land will simulate Ohio State’s real-life matchup to see what our AI overlords think will happen.

Here are the results of our Week 14 sim:

Ohio State 20 – Michigan 17

This week’s simulation produced a real banger.

It was Michigan opening up the scoring early in this one, with Dominic Zvada hitting a 31-yard field goal to get the Wolverines on the board first. It wasn’t too long after that Ohio State answered, with Jeremiah Smith finding the end zone from a yard out to give the Buckeyes a 7-3 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The home team quickly battled back, as Bryce Underwood hit Andrew Marsh on an 18-yard touchdown to put TTUN back in front to begin the second frame. Ohio State tied things up with a 28-yard field goal midway through the quarter, but a 2-yard touchdown catch by Donovan McCulley had Michigan up 17-10 at halftime.

The third quarter was a defensive battle, with the Buckeyes scoring the only points of the period on a 44-yard field goal by Jayden Fielding. Trailing 17-13 entering the final 15 minutes of play, the bad memories of the past four years began to creep in…

This time, however, it was not to be, as Brandon Inniss found himself wide open and streaking down the sideline for an incredible 80-yard touchdown with seven minutes to go to put Ohio State on top 20-17. The Wolverines tried to at least get into field goal range, but their drive stalled around midfield, and an attempt to go for it on 4th-and-2 came up short.

The Buckeyes were able to salt away the remainder of the clock, and in dramatic fashion Ryan Day finally got his revenge on Michigan in a 20-17 victory in the Big House.

Overall, Ohio State out-gained Michigan 392-306, and neither team turned the ball over. Both sides were pretty bad on third down, with the Wolverines converting on 4-of-15 tries and the Buckeyes 6-of-18. While the game doesn’t provide sack-adjusted yardage in the run game, neither team rushed for more than 80 yards in the contest.

Key Contributors

• Julian Sayin: 28-of-39 passing for 336 yards, 2 TD

• Bo Jackson: 12 carries for 42 yards

• Max Klare: 6 catches for 90 yards

• Brandon Inniss: 5 catches for 119 yards, 1 TD

• Jeremiah Smith: 5 catches for 40 yards

• Kenyatta Jackson Jr: 8 tackles, 4 TFL, 2 sacks

• Arvell Reese: 8 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 sack

• Eddrick Houston: 7 tackles, 3 TFL

• Lorenzo Styles: 4 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 PBU

• Davison Igbinosun: 4 tackles, 2 PBU

• Bryce Underwood: 16-of-30 passing for 232 yards, 2 TD

• Jordan Marshall: 17 carries for 48 yards

• Donovan McCulley: 4 catches for 62 yards, 1 TD

• Marlin Klein: 4 catches for 55 yards

• Andrew Marsh: 1 catch for 18 yards, TD

• Jaishawn Barham: 10 tackles

• TJ Metcalf: 9 tackles, 2 TFL

• Derrick Moore: 7 tackles, 3 TFL, 2 sacks

• Zeke Berry: 6 tackles, 1 TFL

Check back to see how Ohio State actually performed on the field compared to the simulation, and see how they fare in either the Big Ten Championship against Indiana or their first round CFP game, depending on Saturday’s outcome.