"The Game" 2022

Ohio State and Michigan square off in a #2 vs #3 battle which could be a semi-final for both the Big 10 Championship and the CFB playoffs.

When Jim Harbaugh arrived at Michigan it was believed he’d make the “The Game” a real rivalry again. The 21st century iterations of this rivalry began in 2001, the first year of the Jim Tressel era at Ohio State. The Buckeyes won 26-20 and have completely dominated ever since.

From 2011 to 2021 Ohio State was 17-3 in this contest. To give an idea of how lopsided that is, Michigan still leads the historic rivalry 59-51-6.

Harbaugh joined the party in 2015 and took a whipping in his first try 42-13 but played the Buckeyes to a 30-27 OT loss in 2016 and a 31-20 defeat in 2017 when Dwayne Haskins came in to save the day for Ohio State.

Then Ryan Day also joined the chat and the Buckeyes blew away the Wolverines 62-39 and 56-37. They were creating distance again and we all wondered if Harbaugh and Michigan really had the right “stuff” to keep this up.

Amongst their many needs to make “The Game” competitive again was an adjustment to handle the Buckeyes’ adaptation from being a power-option spread team to a pro-spread squad perennially loaded with NFL wide receivers. Harbaugh responded by hiring Mike Macdonald from Baltimore, who brought in a quarters scheme which had been despised by previous Wolverine defensive coordinator Don “Dr. Blitz” Brown.

What happened next was one of the most cathartic victories in Michigan football history, on par with Bo Schembechler’s big win in 1969. On a snow-covered field in Ann Arbor, Michigan’s 2-4-5 quarters defense and renewed power run game absolutely bullied Ohio State in a 42-27 drubbing.

As I noted during the game while channeling Richard Adams…

Special asst to the special asst to the HC @Ian_A_Boyd

As his receiver took the reverse to the goal line under the falling snow, Harbaugh was impelled by a frenzy of tension and energy. He did not feel the cold. The storm was his own. The storm would defeat Ohio State.

The adjustment to be made is now on the Ohio State side. Michigan lost Macdonald to the Ravens’ DC vacancy but replaced him with another Baltimore assistant turned college coach in Jesse Minter and have maintained the same system. On offense they upgraded at a few spots but have really focused on zeroing back in on being a power run team.

Jim Harbaugh's power

Ohio State needed to rebuild their defense, which got abused in the now in Ann Arbor and made a mockery of the Buckeye tradition of linebacker play. They hired Jim Knowles from Oklahoma State to install his hybrid 4-2-5 and have given up only 16.9 points per game. They also needed to grow their passing game, which was arguably shut down by Michigan in 2021 aside from a few contested catches brought down by since departed NFL wideouts Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson.

With a year to prepare, Michigan knows they can beat this team but Ohio State has been feeling the tension and anxiety of needing to get better and tougher to avoid another unthinkable loss to their hated rival. As Darrel K Royal once said, “only angry people win football games.”

Michigan finally got angry enough to win in 2021. Has 3rd base Ryan Day and his team mustered enough hatred since then to resume their top place in this rivalry? How about to cover the 7.5 point spread they’re giving?