"The Game" 2023
This promises to be one of the most contentious and bloody versions of this rivalry game we've seen in a while.
When Bo Schembechler took over for Michigan in 1969 the Wolverines were coming off a 50-14 drubbing at the hands of Ohio State which concluded with legendary Buckeye coach Woody Hayes going for two “because I couldn’t go for three.”
All year long Bo agitated and fired up his players for the big game. For 365 days they were lathering up for revenge. Star tight end Joe Mandich said afterwards he was crying in the tunnel BEFORE the game. That’s how high their emotions were running going into that game. The anticipation and emotional release was so great he could barely stand to feel it. Michigan whipped the Buckeyes 24-12 and ruined the season for what Woody Hayes would later regard as his strongest team in Columbus.
What followed was something many have called “the 10 year war.” Just 10 consecutive blood feud battles between the two programs in which neither was able to win an AP or Coaches Poll National Championship due in large part to the teams splitting those 10 games with five Michigan wins, four Ohio State wins, and one tie. Either team repeatedly played spoiler for the other.
Michigan won the last one 14-3 and Woody Hayes punched a Clemson player in the ensuing bowl game and that was the end of the Hayes era and the 10-year war.
Football historians may disagree, but I suspect that was the last time this rivalry was felt as intensely as it is this season. After a humiliating stretch in the 21st century for Michigan in which Ohio State was 17-2 from 2001-2019 there was a one-year respite in 2020 due to COVID, and now a two-year stretch in which the Wolverines have embarrassed the Buckeyes 42-27 and 45-23 in back-to-back seasons. It looked like Michigan football was just pushing up daisies and would never really compete with Ohio State and suddenly, they’re ascendant and dominating their hated rivals…who hate it more than many of you could fathom.
On top of all that, this season has seen Michigan taking fire from all sides over the sign-stealing scandal which has culminated in head man Jim Harbaugh facing a suspension for this game while two (and counting) Michigan assistants have been fired for their role in the illegal scheme. Naturally Michigan fans believe Ohio State is behind this all and I’m inclined to believe them. The nature of this rivalry is such that you should be willing to believe anything.
At the very least, Buckeyes have been eager to pour water on this grease fire. Urban Meyer (one of college football’s greatest villains) and was out there this week suggesting Harbaugh could be suspended for the entirety of 2024-25. Is there any truth to it? Why would he know that? Who knows? But it’s a fun grenade to toss into Ann Arbor the week of the matchup.
2023 is Ohio State’s big chance for revenge and you’d better believe they want it with every fiber of their being. Michigan desperately wants the the win as well out of a sense of great aggrievement over the scandal and due to their own chances at a National Championship season.
So both teams are going in ready to bleed and die to get the win. Who will secure it?
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