COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State will play at least 10 five-star recruits against Michigan on Saturday, and three of them will have the football in their hands constantly: freshman running back TreVeyon Henderson, sophomore receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba and junior receiver Garrett Wilson. (The other OSU five-stars who should play are offensive linemen Nicholas Petit-Frere and Paris Johnson Jr.; defensive ends Zach Harrison, J.T. Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer; defensive tackle Taron Vincent; and return man Emeka Egbuka.)
They are explosion in action, touching the ball a combined 301 times for 3,476 yards through 11 games. Michigan will counter with a physical run game led by Hassan Haskins, a three-star senior who has carried the Wolverines game-control rushing attack in the second half of the season.
In the first five games of the year, Haskins averaged 16 carries for 74 yards. In the last six games, he has averaged 23 carries for 116 yards. But as Michigan State found out against the Buckeyes last week, when Kenneth Walker III was held to 25 rushing yards on six carries, an opponent needs an explosive element to the offense to test the Buckeyes as well. It can’t only be physical.
That’s where the closest thing to a five-star recruit among the Michigan skill players comes in, and the Wolverines spent last week getting freshman Donovan Edwards ready.
In the first 10 games of the season, Edwards touched the ball 26 times on offense for 155 yards. In last Saturday’s 59-18 blowout of Maryland, Edwards touched it 13 times while gaining 178 yards. And 10 of those were receptions for 170 yards. Some were checkdowns, screens or swing passes. But there were also wheel routes on the edge and targeted routes in the middle of the field. As Ohio State’s slot receiver, Smith-Njigba features quickness and cutting ability in the middle of the field that allows him to turn short throws into big plays. Edwards has the best chance to offer the same for the Michigan offense while working the gaps in Ohio State’s zone defense or while matched with Ohio State’s linebackers.
“He’s destined for great things,” Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said after Edwards’ breakout last week.
Could the destiny start now? Freshmen stepping up in The Game isn’t new. Three years ago, Ohio State receiver Chris Olave emerged late in his freshman season vs. Michigan.
“I just kept my head down, kept working. I knew the opportunity was going to come and I wanted to jump on that,” Olave said. “As any freshman, you want to get on the field and make some plays for your team, and for me it happened in that game. … It definitely changed the way my career was going. It boosted my confidence a little bit having that game. That specific game was huge for me.”
In the first 11 games of 2018, Olave had five catches. Against Michigan, he caught two touchdown passes and blocked a punt, and the next week against Northwestern, he grabbed five passes for 79 yards. It was the start of something big, but he had to wait for it and work toward it his entire first season. Edwards is an Ohio State-type talent maybe in a similar spot.
The five-star recruits on Michigan’s roster, according to the 247sports.com composite rating, are junior defensive lineman Chris Hinton, junior defensive back Daxton Hill and freshman quarterback J.J. McCarthy. Hinton and Hill both start, and Hill could throw a wrench into the OSU passing game as a back-seven playmaker. McCarthy should have a role behind Cade McNamara.
But it’s Edwards who has the best chance to swing things. He was the No. 42 overall recruit in the Class of 2021 according to 247sports, just missing a five-star rating. He was recruited by the Buckeyes before they chose Henderson and Evan Pryor as their 2021 running backs.
“He’s a good player. We recruited him,” Day said. “He has a good skill set. Chris had that freshman year, and the next year, Garrett really came on at the end and that was a big game for him (three catches for 118 yards vs. Michigan.) I use those two examples all the time for young freshmen. Sometimes it takes that full year to get your feet on the ground.
“Certainly Donovan is a good player and we have a lot of respect for him.”
Edwards played more last week in part because Michigan’s other veteran running back, Blake Corum, was still out with an injury. Harbaugh said this week he’s not sure if Corum will play vs. the Buckeyes or not.
So Michigan will have to run it tough with Haskins and maybe with Corum. But if the Wolverines want to attempt to match any part of Ohio State’s explosive offense, they may have to lean on the late-season emergence of a dynamic freshman.
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