Great offensive line play can take an opposing team’s soul. Especially in the blistering cold of late November.
It’s the feeling of helplessness. Of losing the very foundations and nature of football, the line of scrimmage. There’s something innately devastating for a defensive line getting knocked back play after play by the front five opposed to them.
Ohio State’s offensive line, purported as the biggest weakness that Michigan might exploit in The Game, took the soul of the Wolverines on Saturday. They took it by winning the second-half rushing battle 110 yards to -8. They took it by winning the time of possession battle 40 minutes to 20 minutes.