Going into The Game last Saturday in Ohio Stadium, many expected the vaunted Michigan defense to show up as the most prepared and competent unit on the field that day. Despite the fact that they'd be facing a top-5 offense, the Wolverines appeared to be historically great after holding opponents to the lowest output of any FBS defense in the past seven years.
But whether it was due to Ryan Day's familiarity with Brown going back to their days in the northeast - Day played and coached against him every year while at the University of New Hampshire before the two eventually worked together on Steve Addazio's staff at Boston College - or simply because Urban Meyer's staff truly takes a 365-days-a-year approach to prepare for this rivalry game, the Buckeye offense had a clear plan to expose the talent advantage they held at a handful of positions and beat Brown at his own game.