How Michigan Can Contain Ohio State Stars Joey Bosa and JT Barrett

Believe it or not, Michigan's defense has stood up to some of the best in the Big Ten.

However, on Saturday, it'll face the best against Ohio State at The Shoe in Columbus.

On one hand, a win—accompanied by a few style points—could push the 10-1 and No. 6-ranked Buckeyes closer to the top four and into the national title hunt.

On the other, a victory would make the 5-6 Wolverines even on the year, eligible for the postseason and slightly more confident heading into 2015.

As expected, Urban Meyer's guys are heavy favorites over Brady Hoke's Team 135ers. Odds Shark indicates the Buckeyes are favored by 21 points.

Those numbers are probably right.

If the Wolverines are to have any chance of reversing their ill fortunes in waiting, Greg Mattison's defense has to play at its highest level of the year. All of that starts by containing Heisman Trophy contender J.T. Barrett.

Conversely, if the Wolverines are to have any shot of escaping alive, they'll have to put the brakes on Lombardi Award-worthy defensive end Joey Bosa.

Mobile in Red

Rushing yards (B1G rank)	Passing yards	Pass efficiency
849 (8)	2,658 (2)	171.4 (1)

Hannah Foslien/Getty Images

Barrett is a redshirt freshman who's leading the league's No. 1-ranked scoring offense (44 PPG) and No. 2-ranked total offense (511 YPG) into "The Game," one of the most competitive environments in all of sport. 

Think about that for a second. It takes a special kind of veteran to survive those moments. But the youngster is beyond his years, and his ability to manufacture points and lead drives has to make coordinator Tom Herman and Ed Warriner's job pretty easy.

That, in turn, makes Mattison's job more difficult.

"Barrett is an outstanding quarterback," Mattison said of the 6'2", 225-pounder. "He's very, very talented. He can throw the football. He can run it. He runs that offense very, very well.

We've played against some great quarterbacks, so our guys will be ready. We know what we have to do and we're looking forward to the challenge of doing it."

Considering the circumstances, Mattison's defense has actually limited most quarterbacks. Other than Rutgers' Gary Nova, who threw for 404 yards, there hasn't been one who has really exploited Michigan. The successful ones just continuously pick at the holes, taking what's given on a drive-by-drive basis.

That's how Michigan State's Connor Cook did it—bits here, followed by occasional chunks there—and the same worked this past weekend for Maryland's C.J. Brown.

Barrett can do that, and then some. He's arguably the best quarterback Michigan will have faced this fall.

As always, capping long throws downfield will be important. Keeping Barrett's arm at bay is crucial, but Michigan must start by watching his feet—if Barrett's boxed in, the chances of forcing him into mistakes increases.

"I always look at the next challenge as being the biggest challenge," Mattison said. "This is the next one, so yes it is the biggest challenge. It's the next one—whoever you're playing next, that's the way we look at it and we're excited about it."

Joey Boss-a

Sacks (B1G rank)	Tackles for loss	Forced fumbles
11.5 (1)	13 (1)	3 (2)

Jay LaPrete/Associated Press

According to 247Sports, Bosa was the No. 4-ranked strong-side defensive end recruit in 2013. Now a 6'6", 278-pound sophomore, the Buckeyes star has "Sunday" written all over him.

Auburn wanted Bosa. So did Alabama and Florida, among several others.

"I recruited him. I've seen him as a youngster. He's an outstanding football player," Mattison said. "He's like some of our guys. He's a good football player. He's young and does some really good things. You know, it's fun watching him."

How much fun? When asked to elaborate, Mattison rattled off a tongue-twisting homage to the juggernaut of coach Larry Johnson, Luke Fickell and Chris Ash's defense.

"He just plays hard. He plays like...he plays like I expect...he plays like defensive linemen...um, that...play...

I think Willie Henry plays like him. I think Chris Wormley plays like him. I think guys that do a good a good job and do what they're supposed to do, that's how they play. They play hard, they do their technique, they run to the football.

And that's what he does. That's what he's coached to do, and you can see him do that. He plays excited."

So to clarify, Mattison essentially said that Bosa was a force of nature who's capable of snapping the Wolverines' offensive line into pieces. OK, so he didn't exactly say that. But he respects Bosa's ability and likely fears for the safety of Devin Gardner.

That one was a reach, too.

But you get the hint. Bosa is a badass. That's why Mattison recruited him. If Michigan's O-line does one thing—just one thing—on Saturday, it must limit Bosa. That's the mission: Forget about everyone else and focus on No. 97.

He'll move around, playing high in some packages and low in others, but he'll be there. Classic tactics such as running plays away from Bosa's side will only work for so long. He covers a lot of ground and can't be dodged forever.

Now is the time for Wolverines offensive line coach Darrell Funk to have a heart-to-heart with his front five. It's the season finale, it's versus Ohio State—it's gut-check time for Funk's O-line.

Follow Bleacher Report's Michigan Wolverines football writer Adam Biggers on Twitter @AdamBiggers81.

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes and references to were obtained firsthand by the writer.