In the last six or seven decades several Ohio high school football stars have gotten away from Ohio State and have gone on to become stars at the college level for Michigan.

My top five among those who have crossed the border are:

1. Charles Woodson. (Fremont). Woodson became the first defensive player to win the Heisman Trophy in 1997 and went on to play 18 seasons in the NFL.

2. Desmond Howard (Cleveland). Howard, a receiver who also got some carries in the Wolverines’ run game and returned kicks, won the 1991 Heisman Trophy and went on to play 11 seasons in the NFL. He was the MVP in Super Bowl XXXI.

3. Dan Dierdorf (Canton). Dierdorf, an offensive tackle, was an All-American in 1970. He was All-Pro five seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals.

4. Rob Lytle (Fremont). Lytle, a running back, led the Big Ten with 1,402 yards rushing in 1976, was two yards short of 1,000 yards in 1975 and ran for 802 yards in 1974.

5. Elvis Grbac (Cleveland). Grbac, a quarterback, passed for 5,859 yards and 64 touchdowns for Michigan from 1989 to 1992 and passed for 16,724 yards and 99 touchdowns in eight NFL seasons. Some people say he wanted to go to Ohio State but changed his mind when Earle Bruce was fired.

While seeing players get away upsets OSU fans, another kind of getting away has distressed them even more the last four years.

Ohio State’s dominance of its rivalry with Michigan, which hit its peak with 15 wins in 16 seasons from 2004 to 2019, has gotten away from the Buckeyes.

In the last four years, Ohio State has gone into the Michigan game with records of 10-1, 11-0, 11-0 and 10-1 and lost four times in a row.

Last year’s 13-10 loss to a 6-5 Michigan team by OSU’s eventual national championship team was the biggest shocker in those four straight losses.

So what does Ohio State have to do Saturday in Ann Arbor to keep Michigan’s streak from growing to five years in a row?

It starts with defense. Ohio State leads the nation in scoring defense (7.6 points a game) and total defense (206.6).

If OSU can frustrate Michigan’s offense, the pressure might be increased on the Wolverines. Also, remember how defensive coordinator Matt Patricia cooked up some new disguised coverages for Texas and its quarterback Arch Manning? He might have some surprises for Michigan and its freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood.

Just as important is having wide receivers Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate healthy. Michigan will be the best defense Ohio State has faced since Texas in its season opener. OSU can’t afford to get only four catches from its wide receivers, like it did against Rutgers last week when Smith and Tate were held out because of unspecified injuries.

Starting fast and finishing drives with touchdowns especially in the first half also could be big. Ohio State was behind or tied at halftime three of the last four years against Michigan and it scored only one touchdown in the first half three of those four years.

Finally, avoiding turnovers could play a big role. Ohio State’s quarterback Julian Sayin is a redshirt freshman and its top running back Bo Jackson is a freshman.

They’ve been outstanding all season. But it’s almost certainly the biggest game of their football careers. There could be a few extra nerves.

The prediction: Ohio State 21, Michigan 14.