Known simply as “The Game”. Ohio State versus Michigan stands as the most notorious rivalry in College Football. Fortunately, so well renowned it requires no irritating, corporate sponsored rivalry game branding. Even outside of the football world, “The Game” is one of the most heated rivalries in all of sports. Two of the most storied programs in the history of college football, Michigan and Ohio State are juggernauts of the sport, each sharing an exclusive legacy and claiming an exhaustive list of accolades.
| Team | Ohio State | Michigan |
| National titles | 7 | 11 |
| Heisman Trophies | 7 | 3 |
| Bowl appearances | 41 | 39 |
| BCS bowl appearances | 8 | 4 |
| Rose Bowl appearances | 14 | 20 |
| All-Americans | 130 | 126 |
| Big Ten titles | 35 | 42 |
| All-time program record | 830–309–53 | 884–307–36 |
| All-time win percentage | .719 | .735 |
The rivalry truly became a household name during a period referred to as the “Ten Years War” from 1969 to 1978, when former Ohio State assistant coach Bo Schembechler assumed the reigns of the University of Michigan program. During these ten years, the teams faced off in epic battles annually, four of which featured both the Michigan and Ohio State programs ranked in the AP top 5. The intense hatred between the teams went so far that famed Ohio State head coach Woody Hayes would only refer to Michigan as “that team from up north” lest he suffer the indignity of uttering the word Michigan. Hayes would further cement his fiery legend (he was eventually fired for punching an opposing player during the Gator Bowl), and epitomize the fierceness of the rivalry, when he refused to pull over and buy gas in the state of Michigan when running on an empty tank.
On his refusal, he was purported to have said “”No, god damn it! We do NOT pull in and fill up. And I’ll tell you exactly why we don’t. It’s because I don’t buy one goddamn drop of gas in the state of Michigan! We’ll coast and PUSH this goddamn car to the Ohio line before I give this state a nickel of my money!”
Perhaps the word rivalry is insufficient.
Somewhere, Ol’ Woody is smiling, as Ohio State has dominated the series of late, carrying a six game win streak over their foes from the North, the longest streak in the history of this matchup for the Buckeyes. While all of these losses in the past six years have stung for Michigan fans, perhaps the most crushing was the 2006 game. Heading into one of the biggest regular season games ever played, Ohio State and Michigan were ranked #1 and #2 respectively. In a contest for the ages, Ohio State eeked out a 42-39 victory on that day which vaulted them into the National Championship Game. The Michigan program hasn’t quite been the same since.
The past few years especially, have witnessed a considerable decline in the Michigan program under the watch of head coach Rich Rodriguez, and rumors are swirling in Ann Arbor. The Ohio State program on the other hand, has been dominant during the Jim Tressel sweater vest era, reeling off six straight Big Ten titles, three national championship appearances (one title), and a handful of BCS Bowl Games. Regardless of their current records, this is a game circled on both team calendars every year, and the outcome defines your success as a Buckeye or Wolverine football player.
In fact, Ohio State players find themselves even further incentivized to beat Michigan with a shining gold reward. Only upon a victory over the Wolverines, each member of the Ohio State squad is awarded a Golden Charm. This gold charm, a miniature pair of football pants, is a time honored tradition that dates back to 1934 and widely treasured among Buckeye Football players. Evidently, however, the pants are not so revered among all football players as Terrell Pryor was recently sanctioned by the NCAA for hawking his 2008 gold pants, and you can find your own pair on Ebay occasionally.
The in stadium atmosphere for the Michigan game in Columbus is commensurate with the level of pageantry surrounding the contest: simply enormous.Ohio Stadium, known colloquially as The Horseshoe, is a cavernous facility boasting the third largest capacity in College Football.Built in 1922, the stadium features an impressive classical Roman rotunda at the North Entrance, and the imposing “Shoe” would house 105,491 rabid fans on this particular day.
Naturally, I entered the game nearly an hour before kickoff to absorb all of the extra hoopla that surrounds the contest. The Ohio State band, also referred to by fans as The Best Damn Band in the Land or TBDBITL, is considered one of the preeminent bands in College Football, though I have always chuckled immaturely at their uniforms which look like a cross between the French Resistance and the Knights of Columbus. Their capstone pre-game tradition is the infamous dotting of the “i” in the script Ohio performed prior to all home games (unfortunately my endzone seats did not offer a good vantage point to capture the script Ohio). The signature “i” dotting is dapperly performed by a select senior sousaphone player each year, and is one of the most revered traditions in College Football band performance.
For the contest, I had the pleasure of being seated in the student section, which was jammed packed full of boisterous and well inebriated undergrads.I have long maintained that student sections are the best seats in the house and the lifeblood of true stadium spirit.Many of these scholars were seniors enjoying their final game as students in Ohio Stadium and they pre-gamed accordingly.Rowdy would be an understatement for this section, and stadium police visited the area on more than a handful of highly entertaining occasions. Despite the cold, the entire contest was filled with a thunderous chorus of continuous singing, cheering and the expected Big 10 bouts of vulgarity.
My personal favorite student song tradition was a nearly game long unrelenting refrain of the famous Ohio song “We Don’t Give a Damn for the Whole State of Michigan”. The lyrics below are elegantly succinct.
“We don’t give a damn for the whole state of Michigan
The whole state of Michigan
The whole state of Michigan
We don’t give a damn for the whole state of Michigan
‘Cause we’re from Ohio!
We’re from Ohio – O! H!
We’re from Ohio – I! O!
Ohhh we don’t give a damn for the whole state of Michigan
The whole state of Michigan
The whole state of Michigan
We don’t give a damn for the whole state of Michigan
‘Cause we’re from Ohio!”
To get a feel for the tune you can listen to it here:
On this particular day, Ohio State fans had plenty to sing about.Despite taking the field in agitating solid drab Nike “Pro Combat” uniforms, an outfit which shunned the infamous Buckeye sticker laden helmets of their normal garb, the plain clad Buckeyes saw little struggle from “that team from the North”.It’s hideous game attire hijinks like this that make me wish Nike would limit their uniform buffoonery to the Oregon Ducks and NBA.
After a slow first quarter without any scoring, shortly after the opening whistle of the second frame the Buckeyes began their domination of the contest, in what ultimately proved a rather lopsided affair. Terrell Pryor naturally led the charge for the Buckeyes, throwing for a pair of touchdowns on the day, though still leaving him well short of the Heisman chase. Pryor was offset on the ground with running back Dan Herron, who exploded for 175 yards, including one spectacular 89 yard run that would have been a touchdown were it not for a holding penalty. Penalties were quite popular with the Buckeyes, as they repeatedly flashed an “O” symbol with their hands that drew the ire of overzealous referees. The mere handful of Michigan fans scattered throughout the stadium had little to cheer about, as fleet footed quarterback Denard Robinson spent half the game injured on the bench, and struggled when he did play. In the end, Ohio State cruised to a yawning 37-7 victory, and had already shut themselves down by the fourth quarter.
In the end, the Ohio State vs Michigan game was the perfect capstone to my three day, three team, rivalry weekend odyssey. A trip to this game can be found on every college football fans checklist, and I was pleased to have crossed it off my burgeoning scroll. You simply won’t find a bigger atmosphere anywhere in the sport, nor a more intense rivalry, It’s a contest that truly lives up to its legendary billing.
Thanks to my friend and colleague Janelle for helping me find a ticket to this game. It was truly a remarkable experience, and I hope your Wolverines fare better in the future (though not against the Irish of course).
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