The Rivalry Issue

2A — Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Rivalry Issue

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Dear Coach Day, Here at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, our mission is to pursue a healthier, more equitable world for all, Buckeyes and Wolverines alike.

In that compassionate spirit, we wanted to take this opportunity to share a little helpful information about our school and Ann Arbor that you can use as you prepare to lead the Buckeyes for the first time in Michigan Stadium.

G oing for it on 4th down? Be aware that in Ann Arbor, a yard is always a yard. Our science is exact, evidence-based and peerreviewed for accuracy.

O ur students and faculty care deeply about the environment and its impacts on human health. A noisy environment like the Big House, for example, can raise stress levels for our opponents.

OSHA-compliant hearing protection is always recommended.

B 1G data and statistics are some of our specialties up north.

A stat we always keep in mind is 58-50-6.

L eaders and Best don’t vacate, but we sure do vaccinate.

Even rivals should get flu shots. We’re happy to provide.

U rban health, along with aging, cancer prevention, climate change, healthcare policy, and violence prevention are just a few of the critical areas of our research. We care deeply about ensuring everyone’s health. And yes, fellow Wolverines...that includes Urban’s health!

E ating healthy can add years to your life. Our Nutritional Sciences department has done the research. So this year, skip the buckeyes (they can be poisonous, you know), and consider a healthier, less deadly, option like popped maize.

So as you make your way here for The Game, the greatest rivalry in sports, the nationally-televised event that could make or break your career at “the” Ohio State University, we hope you’ll consider at least a few of these tips: Have a pleasant, brief stay in the Mitten, and remember — we’ve stomped plenty of viral, public menaces before.

Best wishes,

That School Up North’s School of Public Health

publichealth.umich.edu | @umichsph

Rivalry Issue

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Tuesday, November 26, 2019 — 3A

A LETTER FROM UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

PRESIDENT MARK SCHLISSEL

Wolverines, it’s rivalry week. For the 116th time, the University of Michigan Wolverines will take on the Ohio State Buckeyes in football on Saturday.

So much of what makes our historic rivalry great can be expressed in the simplest of terms. It’s “The Game.” The Big House and the Horseshoe.

Bo and Woody. The Daily and The Lantern. These are words that carry more than a century of meaning, and they express the sentiments of hundreds of thousands of members of our communities around this time every November.

The word I most want to emphasize this week is “excellence.”

I’m confident that many of our fans will argue over which team is better (OSU has won 7 in a row -- OUCH!), or who has the advantage over the course of our rivalry’s 122 years (Michigan leads the series 58-51 with 6 ties).

But I hope we can agree that we are all very fortunate to be part of two excellent universities with exemplary football teams that for generations have proudly represented us in Michigan, Ohio and beyond.

I will always remember Devin Gardner’s show of sportsmanship in the 2014 game, during my first year as president. After OSU quarterback J.T. Barrett injured his ankle, Gardner knelt next to him to offer support and encouragement. That’s just one of many examples of true excellence and sportsmanship we’ve seen on the field over the decades.

My good friend, OSU President Michael V. Drake, includes excellence in his vision for the university, placing the word alongside access and affordability. Like U-M’s Go Blue Guarantee, the Buckeye Opportunity Program is ensuring that students from

families with lower incomes can attend a top university. These programs are wins for both of our states’ residents.

We’re winning together in research excellence as well.

Our partnerships include collaborations to help Great Lakes communities deal with the effects of climate change, alleviate poverty, and advance lightweight materials manufacturing. We’ve shared national attention and success with important efforts such as the American Talent Initiative and the Big Ten Voting Challenge.

This Saturday, I’ll be joining you in Maize and Blue and cheering on our Wolverine student-athletes. But as we agonize over every yard gained or lost, I hope we can all take the time to celebrate our two great public research universities, whose legacies of excellence are measured in centuries.

Go Blue!

FILE PHOTO/Daily

A World Away: How Josh Metellus made it from North Miami to Michigan ETHAN SEARS

Managing Sports Editor

Josh Metellus doesn’t know the name of the teacher who changed his life.

He just knows he got called into the office one day and had to write a paper.

His mom just remembers a letter stuffed into Josh’s book bag. He came home and she read it, thinking the program it described was cool. She also had to write an essay.

“That was so crazy,” Jennifer Metellus said. “I wish I could find the letter, but I don’t remember.”

Josh, at the time, was approaching 6th grade at Gulfstream Academy of Hallandale Beach. That would soon change.

He had always been an active learner.

One day in elementary school, his teacher held a mock courtroom and Josh played the lawyer. His mom, in the classroom on volunteer duty, watched. “Man, he just killed it,” she said. In his essay, Josh talked about how he wanted to be a lawyer. He also talked about his upbringing.

“It was kind of hard, looking up to people,” Metellus told The Daily. “Because a lot of people in my area to look up to weren’t doing the right things. It wasn’t in the right direction that I wanted to be.”

Metellus said those words sitting in a leather chair on a balcony at Schembechler Hall, overlooking the Towsley Museum. A senior safety for Michigan, Metellus will step out onto the field for his final home game on Saturday against Ohio State, an alternate captain for the Wolverines.

He will do so a world away from that upbringing, yet he will be surrounded by much of the same support system that got him out.

But it all starts with that teacher. With that paper and with a program designed to get Metellus to college on scholarship for academics. Designed to let him chase a dream of being a lawyer. It ended up putting him in a position to play football in college and, likely, professionally.

If that teacher hadn’t stepped in, Metellus might have ended up in the same place as a lot of the friends he cut out. The ones he tries to now avoid, who separated naturally because he had a goal and they didn’t, who fell victim to the trappings of a neighborhood that doesn’t let people leave without a strong will and a lot of luck.

He might have found football anyway, or he might have become a lawyer. It’s impossible to know.

A few weeks ago, Metellus sank into that leather chair and thought.

“A lot of people from my area,” he said, “don’t make it out the area.” *** Broadly speaking, Metellus hails from Miami. The specifics are where it gets dicey.

His bio on Michigan’s athletics website lists his home as Pembroke Pines, where he attended Charles W. Flanagan High School. He says he’s from North Miami Beach, but estimates he moved about six times before coming to Michigan. All of those, he said, ended back in North Miami, as they were unable to make rent elsewhere.

Metellus described his home as a quadruple duplex. He’d walk onto the street and see project apartments next door. If he went out the back way, there was a basketball court and a YMCA. The pool was never filled.

Nearby sat Washington Park. “And Washington Park at that time was like, really hood,” Jennifer Metellus said. “And a lot of gangs and drugs around there.”

She made sure to do everything she could to keep her kids away from that.

Their block was relatively isolated from crime. Still, she said, they could hear gunshots sometimes. Still, there was the time she dropped Josh off at football practice and went to the store, then returned to see practice was stopped, the field was cleared, a helicopter was landing and a boy from around the neighborhood was being stretchered into it. He had been shot.

“I freaked out,” she said. “I ran, tried to give them — I was like, ’Oh my god, what happened?’ … That was bad.”

So, when that teacher nominated Metellus for Take Stock in Children, a mentorship program that offered a scholarship to any Florida college, she jumped at the chance.

The program had academic requirements and set Metellus up with a mentor he met with weekly. He wasn’t with the first assigned mentor for long, and doesn’t remember much of him. The second was named Miss Rubin. She came Wednesdays and, like Metellus, held a competitive streak.

When they first met, she brought a board game and that competitive edge came out in both of them. So she started to do it every time, bringing different games each week. “It was little kid stuff, but it was competitive,” Metellus said. “I like to win.”

And, as they competed, they started to talk. “(We) learned a lot about each other without even noticing it,” Metellus said. “So then there became times, like sometimes, she’ll come twice a week and one time we’ll just talk and then the next time we just focus on playing. So then we just got close through that.”

Take Stock in Children also let Metellus get into a better middle school and high school. Had he gone to the nearest high school to home, Metellus said he would have ended up at North Miami Senior High School. He didn’t go to high school expecting football to be anything more than a good way to stay occupied. It is mere coincidence that North Miami’s program is a perpetual bottom-feeder and that Flanagan, generally a middle-of-thepack school, had just hired Devin Bush Sr. as its coach when Metellus decided to go there.

Bush Sr. is a native of inner-city Miami, the same environment in which Metellus grew up. He’s also, it turns out, a pretty good football coach, taking Flanagan to a state title in 2015 with a defense built around his son, current Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Devin Bush Jr., Michigan senior linebacker Devin Gil and Metellus. He designed his program to do everything it could to keep kids away from bad influences.

“You don’t have to keep it in mind,” Bush Sr. said, “because that’s who you are.”

When Bush Sr., a former NFL safety, first saw Metellus, he noticed his athletic gifts. When he first got moved up to varsity, Metellus played running back. His freshman year, he recalled, he got on the field for one play. During the offseason, he switched to safety.

“Once I see him and I put him out there and I’ll watch him play and perform,” Bush Sr. said. “And I watch the skill set that he has, I know if he could play in college or not. So once I got (Metellus) to play, I knew right away that he was a college player.”

When Metellus was 15, in his first year with real playing time, Bush Sr. would have him go in front of the team and draw up opposing defenses; getting in front of the room forced him to project his voice with confidence. Maybe that’s why Metellus’ mom would come into his bedroom to check on him at midnight or 1 a.m. — after the 40-minute drive home from practice and after all his homework — to find him watching film and taking notes.

“When you want to play the sport, and you’re from the inner-wwcity Miami, it’s not that daunting,” Bush Sr. said. “That’s what — that’s the part of you. It’s a rough culture. It trains you to be tough.”

It’s easy to think Bush Sr., like most other coaches, is dealing in cliches when he talks about developing men as much as players and teaching life lessons with football. Unlike other coaches, though, his life gives him the foundation for that to be more than a facade of platitudes.

Even now, working as an analyst for Michigan, Bush Sr. pulls the world through the lens of those experiences. He could — and did — build in activities to keep his players busy all year. He tried to put them in situations to think critically and problem-solve, like throwing Metellus on the white board in front of everyone. He also knows the role that sheer good or bad luck can play more than most.

He strays off topic from Metellus and tells a story to illustrate the point. He was standing next to his best friend one day.

A guy pulled up, took out a gun and fired, hitting his friend.

“Could’ve shot me as well. Could have just unloaded on both of us,” Bush Sr. said.

“Hit him, shot him, got scared and shot me when he shot him and ran but he could have easily just …”

His voice trails off.

“I’m standing right next to him.”

Metellus, in the end, was one of the lucky ones. *** Around the time Metellus’ recruitment started to get serious, he and his mom had a conversation with Miss Rubin. They explained that Metellus may get a football scholarship, and came to the conclusion that he should take himself out of Take Stock, so that scholarship could go to someone else.

It was the logical thing to do, but it meant Metellus wouldn’t see Rubin anymore. They still text on occasion, but he estimated the last time he saw her was 11th grade. “That was a big influence in my life, and it helped me get here,” Metellus said.

At around the same time, ahead of his senior year, Metellus moved again. This time, it was without the rest of his family.

For most of that year, he stayed with Gil and his family. It was closer to Flanagan, cut out a lot of driving from his mother’s schedule and made more space in the house.

“Just helping, that’s the main reason,” Gil said. “His mom needed help and we were — he knew that we were close throughout high school. That freshman, sophomore, junior year. So we kind of like came up with an idea like, ‘You might as well just come stay with me.’ ” It was something resembling a fulltime arrangement, though Metellus went back home when he wanted, and his family would visit on the weekend to barbecue. He, Gil and Bush Jr. were all getting recruited and, eventually, put their heads together and decided it might be fun to go to the same college.

Now, on occasion, he and Bush Sr. will be watching film or eating and a memory will surface. Since they first met, when Metellus was 14, Bush Sr. has talked about how blessed Metellus is, how his talent gives him the ability to do something different. Those are the moments when it hits home.

Metellus is as far from his upbringing as could be, but his mother still works as a loan manager at the same credit union as always. Some of his siblings are still young. When he was making a decision on whether to go pro a year ago, his mom told him to stay and get a degree. She had handled the situation for 21 years, she told him, and could do it for one more. In the spring, when Metellus signs an NFL contract, that could all end.

“Every chance we got, we tried to move out,” Metellus said. “Even though we knew we didn’t have the money, we’d try to move but would end up right back because we couldn’t stay. But every chance we got, she tried to get us out of there.”

The next time, most likely, the move will be for good.

Rivalry Issue

4A — Tuesday, November 26, 2019

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Michigan wins if...

MAX MARCOVITCH Managing Sports Editor

They’ve done just enough, haven’t they?

Just when all looked depleted, when the only source of intrigue for the Ohio State game was going to be the margin of defeat, Michigan lifted a moribund season from its alreadyconstructed grave. In the process, it instilled just a kernel of that pesky, pesky thing called hope.

To be clear, the odds of an upset Saturday against the Buckeyes remain quite slim. They’re the No. 2 team in the nation, with one of the most prolific offenses of the last decade, for a reason. The Wolverines can be good — like, really good — and still lose by double-digits.

But there’s a path, however narrow, to Michigan winning The Game for just the second time in 16 years. A path to flip narratives and alter the rivalry.

That path begins with eliminating mistakes entirely. It sounds redundant and lazy: Play with no mistakes, and you’ll win. But you likely know the mistakes to which I’m referring.

People remember the 2016 game for one infamous (or famous, depending upon your perspective) spot, but the play before was a crucial defensive lapse. The Michigan defense let Curtis Samuel from its grasp, turning a would-be massive loss into a fourthand-manageable situation. Only then did JT Barrett’s quarterback draw

come into play.

In 2017, Josh Metellus dropped an easy interception up 14-0 in the second quarter. Ohio State subsequently scored 14 unanswered points, eventually pulling away for a 31-20 win. In 2018, tight end Zach Gentry dropped three passes, including a would-be touchdown that would’ve given his team a 10-7 lead, forcing them to settle for a field goal.

These are memorable snapshots of a larger point: When you’re playing a more talented team, one self-inflicted wound can be a death knell. This defense, Metellus in particular, harps on the word “execution� to a tedious degree, and in some ways it’s an empty cliche. But it’s also synonymous with the attention to detail required to stay in this game. Michigan cannot afford to lose the turnover battle, commit senseless penalties, make special teams errors — anything of the kind.

It must play a perfect game.

Michigan’s defense isn’t going to shut down Ohio State; it can’t give up 62 points again, either. If the Wolverines are going to win this game, they’ll have to win it in the 30s or 40s. Doing so requires an offense that can keep pace — take a blow on one possession, then turn around and deliver it on the next.

That was the biggest visceral difference last year. One offense moved down the field in chunks, using its athleticism to strain the defense. The other plodded down

the field, unable to meet fire with fire. Michigan’s first two drives each exceeded 10 plays and churned five minutes of clock, despite amassing fewer than 55 yards. Each ended in field goals. Ohio State, meanwhile, had three touchdown drives in fewer than four minutes each. Suddenly, it was 21-6.

This Michigan offense has a firepower last year’s didn’t — and a quarterback absolutely dealing lately.

Michigan’s averaged over 40 points and nearly 440 yards per game over the last six weeks. Senior quarterback Shea Patterson has elevated to a new level in that span, turning in back-

to-back 350-plus-yard, four-plustouchdown games. Michigan is only going to win this one if its offense rises to that threshold, matching Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields and his group throughout.

The ingredients are there.

But even if all goes according to plan — if the Wolverines play a crisp, mistake-free game beginning to end — they could still lose. That’s how good the Buckeyes are.

Which is why Michigan could sure use something weird. Something from the football gods to indicate that the unceasing destruction that has spanned the last two decades is a

thing of the past. Something like ‌ 1 to 3 inches of snow tentatively in the forecast for the weekend.

Any factor that would ostensibly negate a factor other than “which team is better� provides a benefit.

Can Michigan play its cleanest game of the Harbaugh era? Can this offense truly keep pace with the best offense in the country? Can the Wolverines rely on divine intervention in the form of an opportune snowstorm?

Will that quiver of hope nagging at your psyche right now blossom into jubilation mere days from now?

The odds sure are better than they were a month ago.

NATALIE STEPHENS/Daily

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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Rivalry Issue

Tuesday, November 26, 2019 — 5A

OSU game offers chance to make offensive rebirth matter THEO MACKIE Daily Sports Editor

As Saturday afternoon faded into night, nobody in the Michigan locker room wanted to talk about Indiana.

The Wolverines were just minutes removed from beating the Hoosiers, 39-14, for their fourth-straight win by 25 or more, but nobody cared. Beating Indiana — something Michigan has done 24 straight times — does not define a season. It doesn’t erase the pain of a season that slipped away last November in Columbus, or the pain of Big Ten title hopes that vanished last month in State College.

For four weeks, the Wolverines could dominate, but they couldn’t rewrite their legacies. Saturday afternoon, they can do that.

“There’s no bigger stage in college football than Ohio StateMichigan,” said senior left guard Ben Bredeson. “That’s why we all come to the respective schools, to play championship football and with that, play each other, be a part of the greatest rivalry in college football.”

A month ago, the thought that Michigan could win this game — against the nation’s No. 2 team, top scoring offense and top total defense — would have been laughable. The big debate back then was whether the Wolverines were going to win seven games or eight, bound for some consolation bowl.

Since then, the conversation has

RUCHITA IYER/Daily

been flipped on its head. That’s not to say Michigan is expected to win — the Wolverines are still 9.5-point underdogs. But they enter Saturday with a pulse, able to espouse their confidence and not fill the room with laughter.

For that, they have their offense to thank, with 166 points over the last four games. Michigan has scored at least 38 points in all four, a stretch that included a top-10 team, an in-state rival and 7-3 Indiana.

Back when Michigan was in free fall, that same offense was seen as the culprit, floundering and confused.

“As a whole group, we don’t have an

identity yet,” said senior tight end Nick Eubanks after the Wolverines’ 35-14 loss to Wisconsin in September, summing up what lay in plain sight.

Now, Eubanks compares Michigan’s offense to a plane barreling down the runway, ready for takeoff.

“Just standing behind our quarterback, Shea Patterson (made this happen), in terms of him leading us,” Eubanks said Monday. “He found his groove and being us, as a team, encouraging him, having faith in him.

Just being there for him, when times were bad for him. And that’s one thing that he followed through with us, and

look where we’re at now.”

Patterson’s play, with 750 yards and nine touchdowns in the last two weeks, has been a catalyst, to be sure.

But the explanations are numerous.

Josh Gattis getting comfortable as a play-caller. The receiver corps hitting its stride. Hassan Haskins turning into a lead back.

It’s all contributed to what Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh called “an improving team” Monday afternoon.

“Ascending team,” Harbaugh continued. “Playing really good football. Could name a number of the position groups that I think are

playing outstanding.”

Minutes later, Bredeson echoed his coach’s sentiments.

“There was a learning curve in there at the beginning of the season, trying to transition from practice speed to game speed,” Bredeson said. “But like we see now, once we finally figured out the decision making and the reaction by everybody in game-like situations, this offense is rolling.”

It builds up to the team’s current mentality, a quiet but justified confidence that it can hang with the Buckeyes. It builds up to this game because this is the game that can make the Wolverines’ offensive rebirth matter, regardless of vanquished national championship aspirations.

“Any time that you beat Ohio State or they beat us, it’s considered a good season at the respective schools,” Bredeson said.

Lose on Saturday and the last four games will be forgotten to history, a neat find deep in Michigan’s Sports Reference pages someday. Win and the program’s entire status is redefined with its best season since … 2011? 2004? 1997? Bueller?

That’s the burden that the Wolverines’ offense is tasked with Saturday — and they know it.

“Obviously there’s other games on the schedule,” Bredeson said.

“But we all know which one’s the most important.”

Rivalry Issue

6A — Tuesday, November 26, 2019

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

In Toledo, a community watches on for Shea Patterson THEO MACKIE Daily Sports Editor

ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily

Shea Patterson didn’t recognize Johnny Martin at first.

After all, it’d been 13 years since Patterson last saw him, out on the youth football fields of west Toledo as a nine-year-old. Patterson’s seen dozens of faces like Martin’s over this past decade — coaches who pop into his life for a year or two and then disappear forever.

Martin hasn’t seen a kid like Patterson since.

“We knew right away when he was that age, he was going to be really good,” Martin said this week. “He was the best player that we’d ever coached there.”

For Martin, Patterson has been a constant presence since they last parted. Busy coaching high school football, he hasn’t made it to a game at Michigan Stadium, but he’s followed his career closely — first on social media, then on shoddy high school football streams, now on national TV every Saturday.

So when a mutual friend offered him the chance to be on the field at one of Michigan’s practices last spring, Martin jumped at the opportunity.

That’s where he was when he stopped Patterson coming off the field, giving the quarterback an opportunity to recognize him. When that took a second, Martin jogged his memory and the two caught up, rehashing the 13 years since they last spoke.

But back in Toledo, the pride in Patterson doesn’t end with Martin.

It spreads to nearly everyone who interacted with Patterson back then, in one way or another.

Rob Schwartz — an assistant coach on Martin’s team when Patterson played for them — is one of them.

He and Martin are still friends, so naturally, they watch Patterson together when they get the chance.

And when they do, they make sure to tell everyone within earshot that they coached him way back when.

Andy Grombacher is another, but he’s unique within this niche community. He’s still friends with the Pattersons — a relationship that began before he ever coached Shea.

“I was coaching my son in a flag football league, just to spend time with my kids and help other kids try to get the fundamentals of football,” Grombacher said. “And then all of a sudden, we run into this team that we’re playing against, and I see this kid doing things you don’t normally see a six-year-old do — things you don’t normally see a 10-year-old do.”

Grombacher reached out to Shea’s parents, hoping to get him on his own team and quickly developed a friendship with them. His son, Andrew, became best friends with Shea, playing football together until the Pattersons moved away when Shea was in sixth grade.

All these years later, Grombacher still talks to Shea’s dad, Sean, just about every day, offering whatever advice he can.

Even when the Pattersons moved south, Grombacher would fly down to take in the occasional game, whether Shea was in high school or, later, at Ole Miss. So despite not being a Michigan fan, Ann Arbor was his ideal landing spot for Shea. Now, it’s just 40 minutes up the road to go to games — a trip he’s made four times this year.

Throughout his life, Grombacher has been caught in the middle of the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry, surrounded by both sides but a fan of neither. In his words, he’s always been the guy at the watch party who just

wanted “to stir up some trouble.”

But when he makes one last trip up to Michigan Stadium on Saturday, he’ll be wearing the same outfit he did last year — all maize and blue.

“Wouldn’t miss that one,” Grombacher said. “… Last one in that journey. And I think back and it’s funny because … I can still envision that stinking flag football game when Shea Patterson was six years old.”

Kevin Branyon is one of those who are normally on the other side of this rivalry. He coached Shea in baseball and football as a kid and was good friends with Sean, a lifelong Michigan fan. Back then, he chided Sean about the rivalry, even if it was all in good fun.

Now, he’s on the other end of that trash talk, mocking his Notre Damefan coworkers after Shea and the Wolverines thrashed the Fighting Irish last month.

“I’m a Shea Patterson fan,” Branyon said, not ready to fully shift his allegiances. “So let me put it this way, if Michigan upsets the Buckeyes this year, I’ll be happier than hell that Shea’s playing quarterback for the Wolverines.”

On Saturday, Branyon will be home, his pride swelling up as he watches Patterson from afar like most of those who remember his days in Toledo.

And then there’s the few who will make the journey up US-23, donning their maize and blue for Patterson’s final game at Michigan Stadium.

Grombacher already knows he’ll be among them. Martin hasn’t decided yet.

“If the weather’s gonna be halfway decent, then I’m going to be there,” Martin said. “That would be my first time seeing him play in person.”

The first time since he was nine years old.

SHEA PATTERSON’S U-M CAREER Dec. 9, 2017 - Patterson visits Michigan, attending a basketball game against UCLA with Jim Harbaugh and two Ole Miss teammates, Deontay Anderson and Van Jefferson. The Maize Rage holds up poster boards reading “Ole Mich” and “#WeWantSHEA.”

Sept. 1, 2018 - In his first game at Michigan, Patterson fumbles on the final drive, halting the Wolverines’ frantic comeback attempt against Notre Dame in a 24-17 loss.

Shuffling through questions about a disjointed offense, one thing became clear: Patterson could not save this program by his presence alone.

Sept. 29, 2018 - After a slow start that saw the Wolverines down, 17-0, to Northwestern, Patterson guided a methodical comeback. His go-ahead touchdown drive evoked a visceral turning of the page.

In the short-term, Michigan had kept its goals alive.

In the long-term, it discovered the mentality of its quarterback. “Something about Shea is special,” said Chase Winovich after the game. “People can see it. Being on the team with him, you can feel it.”

Oct. 20, 2018 - Patterson throws for 212 yards and the go-ahead touchdown — a 79-yard pass to Donovan Peoples-Jones — in East Lansing as Michigan beats Michigan State, 21-7, the peak of a 10-game winning streak the Wolverines would take into Columbus.

“Just the ultimate respect for him and the way he plays and who he is and how he competes,” Harbaugh said.

“Competes like a maniac. Love it.”

ALEC COHEN/Daily

Nov. 28, 2018 - Entering with a chance to secure a spot in the Big Ten Championship game, Patterson and No. 4 Michigan are stampeded by No. 6 Ohio State, 62-39, ending the Wolverines’ College Football Playoff hopes.

Patterson leaves the game late with a knee contusion and afterwards, blames himself for offensive issues.

Dec. 21, 2018 - Patterson announces he will return for his senior season despite originally planning to leave after a year. He calls the loss at Ohio State a motivating factor in coming back, and says in a tweet announcing the decision, “we are coming for everything next season.”

Sept. 21, 2019 - Playing with an oblique injury, Patterson completes less than half of his passes and throws an interception as Michigan is embarrassed by Wisconsin, 35-14. Instead of the statement Patterson was looking for before the game, it turned into the low point of the season, as the offense sputtered and couldn’t compete against the Badgers.

Nov. 23, 2019 - With a 366-yard, five-touchdown performance against Indiana, Patterson becomes the first Michigan quarterback to ever throw for four or more touchdowns in consecutive games. Going into Ohio State, he’s thrown for 750 yards and nine touchdowns in his last two games, over which the offense has played like many expected it to before the season started. “We’re riding him,” Harbaugh said after the game. Against the Buckeyes, they’ll need to keep doing so.

Rivalry Issue

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Tuesday, November 26, 2019 — 7A

Harbaugh’s finest hour ARIA GERSON

Daily Sports Editor

Nearly two months ago in the Crisler Center media room, Jim Harbaugh reflected on a game full of punts, missed field goals, more punts and 10 points for his offense against Iowa by saying: “I really do think they’re hitting their stride.”

Two weeks later, staring down a 14-point deficit at halftime against Penn State, the coach channeled Winston Churchill as he told ESPN sideline reporter Maria Taylor, “This will be our finest hour.”

At the time, the two statements were a further indictment of Harbaugh’s hype. Everyone could see the ridicule coming. This was this year’s “Revenge Tour,” a premature catchphrase that, come season’s end, would be exposed as a fraud.

But a funny thing happened after Harbaugh’s history reference. The Wolverines scored a touchdown, then another — and looked good doing it.

They drove down the field again, even made it to fourth-and-goal before Shea Patterson’s pass hit Ronnie Bell’s hands. Year Five is far too late for moral victories, yes, but Michigan was that close, in a way it rarely had been in those sorts of games.

In the coming stretch, the Wolverines beat Notre Dame, Maryland, Michigan State and Indiana by a combined score of 166-45. Michigan gashed the Irish on the ground, running for 303

yards. Then, against the Spartans, Patterson had a career day, throwing for 384 yards and four touchdowns — a performance he matched last week against the Hoosiers, when junior wideout Nico Collins hauled in three scores for a career high.

“Speed in space” was once nothing more than offensive coordinator Josh Gattis’ trendy hashtag, a promise that didn’t show up on the field. Now, it’s an actual product.

The fumbles are gone. So are the mental mistakes. Now, the Wolverines are finding holes and exploiting them.

Ask anyone, and they’ll say that halftime in Happy Valley was when things shifted.

Michigan was left for dead, as much as a program whose floor is a decent bowl game can be. Now, it seems, something special has started to rise from the ashes.

“I think the team has been an improving football team,” Harbaugh said Saturday. “Give the coaches a lot of credit, players a lot of credit, been working extremely hard. We practice hard, we meet hard and were very focused. It means a lot to them and we’ve recently improved. “ ... (They’re) dedicated, the guys that are on this ball team. I really like them. I really like being around them.

This team is in practice sessions and meetings, every day, everywhere we go, I enjoy this team. I couldn’t be more excited for our guys, the way they’re

playing.”

It’s too late for the College Football Playoff. It’s too late for the Big Ten Championship. Rose Bowl hopes are hanging by a thread.

But this Saturday, Harbaugh has the opportunity to do what few thought possible just two months ago. Beat the Buckeyes. Go to a New Year’s Six bowl. Show the world that his earlier statements were more than just talk.

team that has nothing, really, to lose.

Now, this is a team that has you believing it will bring its best on Saturday, no matter the final result.

“We were all in the locker room, no one was talking about this game,” said sophomore defensive end Aidan Hutchinson after the win over the Hoosiers. “We’re all ready for next week. … We don’t see (Ohio State) as unbeatable. Every team can be beat, and we’re just gonna go out there and do our job.”

The thing about the Winston Churchill speech Harbaugh called back to that night in State College is that, back in 1940, many didn’t see how the Allies could win the war. France was in trouble. The United Kingdom was under attack. The United States hadn’t yet entered. And yet, the UK had been in this situation before.

During World War II, Churchill explained, people asked how the Allies would win. The Allies didn’t know, either, until suddenly they did.

Churchill used that story as his rallying cry, giving morale to a country that was almost out of it. “If the British Empire (lasts) a thousand years,” he said, “men will still say, ‘This was our finest hour.’ ” Everyone knows what happened next.

So maybe, Harbaugh knew something we didn’t. Maybe he, like Churchill, was desperate, trying to

But this Saturday, Harbaugh has the opportunity to do what few thought possible just two months ago.

Only the most eternal optimists think he’ll actually pull it off, actually beat an Ohio State team that’s been ranked in the top five all year. The Buckeyes have barely any flaws, and the Wolverines have lost the past seven meetings — some against far weaker Ohio State teams.

But squint, and you can maybe, sort of see it. A modernized offense under Gattis. A Don Brown defense rounding into form. Some adjustments from last year’s disaster. A team that knows this game is the one thing left to play for. A

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calm everyone down and offer a reason for confidence where there seemed to be none. Either way, there’s no denying this was one hell of a coaching job.

Some of the time, teams are what they are after the first half of the season. But Michigan doesn’t simply look better because it played a bunch of bad teams. It’s legitimately playing better as the season goes on, the kind of improvement rarely seen in big-time college football.

Harbaugh beat the odds and took a team that had little left to play for, one that couldn’t get out of its own way, and transformed it into a unit that could seemingly play with anyone. Optimism has seeped back into the fanbase, and that says a lot in and of itself.

The last step is the most difficult.

But to do what Harbaugh has done this year isn’t easy, and if there was one thing he’s proved, it was this: Don’t write the Wolverines off yet.

In all likelihood, this isn’t the year. “Finest hour” will be relegated to its spot in the history of haughty Harbaugh declarations. The gravity of this coaching job will soon be forgotten, lost among another sad ending.

But, well, there’s a chance, and sometimes, that’s a dangerous thing.

If Michigan beats Ohio State on Saturday, people will look back on it and say, “This was Harbaugh’s finest hour.”

And the fact that we’re at this point, after everything, speaks louder than the proclamation itself.

Rivalry Issue

8A — Tuesday, November 26, 2019

OFFENSE

TEAM BREAKDOWN

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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

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DEFENSE

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QB 2 RB 25 WR 4 WR 8 LT 75 LG 74 C 51 RG 50 RT 73 TE 82 WR 9

SHEA PATTERSON HASSAN HASKINS NICO COLLINS RONNIE BELL JON RUNYAN BEN BREDESON CESAR RUIZ MICHAEL ONWENU JALEN MAYFIELD NICK EUBANKS DONOVAN PEOPLES-JONES

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43-to-12 TD-to-INT ratio as U-M QB 5.3 average yards per carry in 2019 165 yards and 3 TDs against IU Leads team with 37 receptions in 2019 Named first-team All-Big Ten in 2018 Set to be 4-year starter in The Game 2018 third team, All-Big Ten honoree Midseason All-American by PFF & ESPN Has started all 11 games this season Career-high 3 TD receptions in 2019 2,025 all-purpose yards in 3-year career

223 North Main Street Ann Arbor, Michigan

734-665-5340

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CB LE DT RE CB LB V LB LB S S

1 19 2 97 24 6 7 44 29 20 14

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AMBRY THOMAS KWITY PAYE CARLO KEMP AIDAN HUTCHINSON LAVERT HILL JOSH UCHE KHALEKE HUDSON CAM McGRONE JORDAN GLASGOW BRAD HAWKINS JOSH METELLUS

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Five turnovers forced in 2019 11 tackles for loss this year 59 career tackles 2018 Team ROTY (Defense) Three interceptions in 2019 Leads team with 7.5 sacks 212 career tackles in 4 years Career-high 12 tackles against ND Butkus Award semifinalist 53 total tackles in 2019 Career 5 INTs in 4 seasons

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Rivalry Issue

Tuesday, November 26, 2019 — 9A

Don Brown’s

chance at glory ALEC COHEN/Daily

MAX MARCOVITCH Managing Sports Editor

Don Brown had stewed. He’d theorized.

He’d mourned, and he’d ref lected.

The insulation of an entire offseason had given him perspective. Months after the 62-39 beatdown to Ohio State in a game billed as this program’s turning point, Brown opened up.

“The most disappointing experience I’ve ever been through in my entire life,” Brown said on Mar. 27. “The whole thing.”

The tale of Don Brown’s tenure at Michigan depends upon whether it’s told in broad strokes or small blots.

Those broad strokes, to be clear, are important. In Brown’s four years, his defense has never ranked worse than third in total yardage allowed. He’s well on his way to manning yet another top-five defense. He’s done it his way — “solve your problems with aggression,” he espouses to anyone and everyone. His way works. Against most anybody on most any day.

But those aforementioned blots have proven frequent enough to be defining, and are in some ways symbolic of the larger outlook of this program.

No single moment in his Michigan tenure embodies that conf lict better than the 2018 Ohio State game, a 62-39 beatdown in a game the Wolverines were favored, with a win securing a spot in the Big Ten title game and a potential College Football Playoff berth. It was the first time Michigan had allowed 60-plus points since it allowed 65 points to Illinois in 2011, during the dregs of the Rich Rodriguez era.

Last year’s defensive struggles could not simply be deduced to a talent gap, though the Buckeyes’ outside speed gave Michigan fits all afternoon. There were schematic issues, too. Ohio State came out attacking the Wolverines’ aggressive man coverage. Its first drive consisted of three mesh routes in four pass attempts, all of which were complete for big gains, including the first touchdown to receiver Chris Olave.

The logic was simple: Ohio State thought their receivers were faster than Michigan’s defensive backs. Once Michigan was forced to adjust, the Buckeyes countered that. All afternoon, Brown and his team had no salve.

“We seen a lot of man coverage, lot of one-high,” said then-Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins after the game. “So we knew that we could get a

lot of one-on-one matchups and crossing routes on them, and made some plays when it mattered the most.

“I was licking my chops. I see the onehigh covers and that’s a quarterback’s dream. The biggest responsibility for me all week was to be able to pick up blitzes and protection because we saw a lot of different fronts and exotic looks. I spent hours in the film room just trying to figure out how we can pick the blitzes up.”

Brown is brash and loud, sure, but he’s also candid. He legitimately broods over, and eventually vocalizes, his failures.

He’s also a 64-year old defensive coordinator with 42 years of college football experience and a track record of remarkable success. And so, in some ways, he can be caricatured as stubborn.

He admitted as such.

“It’s not the concept,” Brown said, when asked about the origins of those struggles. “What it is sometimes is, ‘My guys are better than their guys, and I’m just gonna shove it.’ Well, sometimes you’ve gotta do a bit of a better job.”

Which is why, fair or otherwise, Saturday’s matchup between No. 2 Ohio State and No. 10 Michigan will once again be a referendum on Brown. It would be unrealistic to expect the Wolverines to completely negate the highest-scoring offense in the nation.

What is realistic, though, is the expectation of adjustment. There are hints Brown has already laid the groundwork with his defense for those tweaks.

“We have been playing a lot more zone,” said cornerbacks coach Mike Zordich on Oct. 30. “I think it’s helped in a lot of aspects, especially in the passing game, cause they’re not expecting it.”

Simply playing zone, of course, is not some magic elixir set to f lummox one of the most dynamic offenses in recent college football history. Giving quarterback Justin Fields time to sit back and pick apart a zone defense might spell the end of hair atop Brown’s head. But the symbolism of the move, for a coach who has dictated his ethos on a manfirst, man-second, man-third, shove-itdown-your-throat mentality matters.

That doesn’t mean he’s going to change his aggressive inclination. It does appear to mean he’s not set on his defense slamming its collective head against a brick wall, somehow expecting it to finally crack.

“We’ve mixed in and been doing

some things coverage-wise, but at the same time we’re still maintaining our aggressive nature,” Brown said on Oct. 9, “which I’m going to say this again so we’re all clear: The day someone tells me that, ‘Geez, you’ve got to tone down that aggressiveness,’ I’m out. I’m done.

I’m just not going to do it.”

There is a world in which none of this matters, in which the Buckeyes’ offense is simply too dynamic, regardless of scheme. This is a potentially

transcendent football team, one certainly capable of winning a national title.

There’s also a world in which Saturday is Brown’s denouement, in which he is the catalyst for the most important Michigan win of the last decade. In one week, he could paint a masterpiece over the blots currently dotting the canvas.

As Brown said in his own words, less than a month after last year’s game: “The buck stops with me.”

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11/19/19 5:59 PM

Rivalry Issue Keys to The Game

10A — Tuesday, November 26, 2019

ARIA GERSON

Daily Sports Editor

For much of the season, it seemed this year’s iteration of The Game would be a one-sided affair. Michigan was eliminated from College Football Playoff contention halfway through the season with a loss to Penn State. Meanwhile, No. 2 Ohio State steamrolled everyone in its path and has already clinched a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game. On paper, this doesn’t seem like a game that will be close, but the 10th-ranked Wolverines have been playing their best football of the season on both sides of the ball, and with the game in Ann Arbor this year, there is at least a bit of intrigue.

The Daily breaks down how Michigan matches up with the Buckeyes in all facets of the game: Quarterback Shea Patterson played his two best games with the Wolverines in the past two weeks, throwing for a combined 750 yards and nine touchdowns with only one interception against Michigan State and Indiana. On the season, he’s completed 60 percent of his passes with 21 touchdowns to five interceptions, and has also rushed for five scores.

But everything Patterson can do, Justin Fields can do better. The Georgia transfer would have a strong argument to win the Heisman Trophy if not for LSU’s Joe Burrow. He’s completed 69 percent of his passes and has 319 rushing yards on 76 attempts, including nine rushing touchdowns. If that weren’t enough, he’s been picked off just once all season.

If Fields has a weakness, it’s that he’s taken 21 sacks this year — one more than Patterson. He also fumbled three times in last Saturday’s game against

#10

Penn State, losing two. While Patterson also had fumble-itis early in the season, those issues seem to be largely resolved.

Patterson likely won’t outplay Fields on Saturday, so Michigan’s best hope is to capitalize on Fields’ few mistakes.

The Wolverines do have a frightening pass rush that seems well equipped to bring pressure on Fields — and one that has forced and recovered many a fumble this year — but Michigan will have to take advantage when the opportunities come.

Running game The Wolverines have largely gone with a run game by committee this year, using freshman Zach Charbonnet and redshirt freshman Hassan Haskins.

Charbonnet has rushed for 635 yards and 11 touchdowns — a program record for a true freshman — and Haskins has 483 yards and three touchdowns.

This look has provided mixed results for Michigan. The Wolverines ran all over Illinois and Notre Dame, but have also had less than 150 rushing yards in seven of 11 games this year. Yet some of that is schematic — Michigan has opted to focus more on the passing game in recent contests, and only went full-in on the run game against the Irish due to rain. Charbonnet was limited in a few midseason games due to injury, and Haskins didn’t emerge as a weapon until the contest against the Illini. Both are clearly talented and play behind an offensive line that can open up holes.

But the Buckeyes are fifth in the country in total rushing defense and fourth in yards per rush allowed, meaning the Wolverines’ running game may struggle. Against Penn State and Michigan State, two teams with similarly good rushing defenses, Michigan ran for just 224 yards combined.

Meanwhile, Ohio State is fourth in the country in both total rushing offense and yards per rush, bringing a formidable rushing attack the likes of which the Wolverines have not yet seen.

The Buckeyes have a bona fide star at running back in J.K. Dobbins, who has run for 1,446 yards and 15 touchdowns, while also catching 15 passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns. (For comparison, all of Michigan’s rushers have combined for 1,974 yards.)

Backup running back Master Teague is also a strong option, with 751 yards and four touchdowns in about half the carries of Dobbins.

Back in September, Wisconsin’s star back Jonathan Taylor gave the Wolverines problems, and Dobbins is playing at a similar level. Michigan’s rushing defense is good — ranking eighth in the country in yards per rush allowed and 13th in total rushing defense — but it will need to find another level to stop Ohio State.

Receiving game The Wolverines have two of the most purely talented receivers in the country in juniors Donovan PeoplesJones and Nico Collins. The two were under-utilized early in the season, but the Indiana game showed what they can truly do, with Collins hauling in three touchdowns and Peoples-Jones another.

Collins also leads Michigan in receiving yards with 649, receiving touchdowns with seven and yards per reception (among players with at least five catches) with 20.94. Collins is also one of the top receivers in the country at drawing pass interference, getting a flag on over 15 percent of his targets, according to Pro Football Focus.

The Wolverines also have enviable receiver depth. Sophomore Ronnie

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Bell, a speedy slot receiver, is second on the team with 627 yards despite being limited in two games due to injury, and is adept at getting open and finding yards after the catch. Redshirt sophomore Tarik Black has been relatively quiet after missing most of his first two seasons due to injury, but is undeniably talented. True freshmen Giles Jackson, Cornelius Johnson and Mike Sainristil have shown flashes of promise.

At tight end, the Wolverines also split time between seniors Nick Eubanks and Sean McKeon. McKeon is a better blocker while Eubanks is a more prolific pass-catcher, but both have over 150 yards on the season.

The true test for the Wolverines on Saturday, though, will be how well they can utilize the weapons they have, as they have seemed at times to struggle getting the ball to their best receivers.

Still, this corps has the potential to make some noise against Ohio State if given the opportunity.

Interestingly, given the presence of Fields, the Buckeyes are just 49th in the country in passing yards per game — one spot ahead of Michigan. That’s partly schematic — Ohio State is seventh in the country in yards per attempt (the Wolverines are 24th) and 15th in yards per completion (Michigan is sixth).

The Buckeyes roll mostly with three receivers — Chris Olave, Binjimen Victor and K.J. Hill. The trio has combined for 1,586 yards and 23 touchdowns. That’s a similar yardage total to the Wolverines’ top three receivers, but with more touchdowns due to Ohio State having a more prolific offense overall.

For tight ends, the Buckeyes’ top two are Jeremy Ruckert and Luke Farrell, though neither is used much in the passing game. They rank just

seventh and ninth in receiving yards on their own team, respectively, behind Dobbins.

Both teams have formidable passing defenses as well. Ohio State is first in the country in fewest passing yards allowed, while Michigan is fourth.

The Buckeyes are tied for first with six passing touchdowns allowed; the Wolverines are fifth with nine.

But a good offense can beat a good defense, and here, the key for both teams will be putting their athletes in position to make plays. Michigan will want to take advantage of its ability to generate big plays by putting its receivers in space and airing it out downfield; that is the one offensive area the Wolverines have an advantage over Ohio State.

Special teams Michigan has rotated between sophomore Jake Moody and redshirt junior Quinn Nordin at kicker the whole year, with Nordin handling primary duties the last few games. Combined, the two are just 11-for-17 on field goals, with a long of 49 from Nordin, but perfect on extra points. Buckeyes kicker Blake Haubeil is 8-for-10 on field goals with a long of 55 and also perfect on extra points.

Punting-wise, these teams had punters that drew considerable attention last year in Will Hart and Drue Chrisman. Hart is at an average of 44.8 yards per punt this year while Chrisman is at 44 exactly. Ohio State and Michigan rank 39th and 44th, respectively, in net punting yards.

Neither team has any punt return touchdowns this year. The Buckeyes average 8.3 yards per punt return, while the Wolverines are at 8.03. On kick returns, Ohio State averages 21.7 yards per return, while Michigan averages 23.17 with a touchdown.

MICHIGAN VS. OHIO STATE MILES MACKLIN/Daily

PREDICTIONS FROM THE MICHIGAN DAILY FOOTBALL BEAT

Guest Picker

Theo Mackie

Max Marcovitch

Ethan Sears

Aria Gerson

Benjamin Katz

Ohio State 41 Michigan 24

Ohio State 38 Michigan 21

Ohio State 45 Michigan 28

Ohio State 42 Michigan 28

Michigan 34 Ohio State 30

Michigan’s offense is firing on all cylinders, but it’s going to need to be perfect to win this game. The Wolverines’ defense has been much improved of late, but it can’t afford a slow start like it’s had the last few weeks. Against Ohio State, that might be too much to ask.

The Wolverines won’t win this one in the 20s, and, even with the offense hitting its stride, it’s hard to see them keeping pace with the Buckeyes. Michigan keeps it close early, but the better team pulls away late.

The Wolverines’ defense doesn’t have enough to stop Justin Fields and the Buckeyes. Michigan’s offense can keep pace for a while, but Ohio State will pull away in the second half.

Michigan is playing its best football of the season, but it doesn’t have enough firepower to keep up with Ohio State, the No. 2 team in the country. The defense performs better than last year, but ultimately, this one isn’t that close.

Michigan football has molded into one of the hottest teams in the country. Ohio State is hotter. The Wolverines need a sign of good fortune and snow in the forecast is just that.

Michigan wins, fans storm the field and the “one win in the last 15 years” asterisk for The Game is erased.

#2

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Rivalry Issue

Tuesday, November 26, 2019 — 11A

From Regent Ron Weiser

Jim Harbaugh strode to the podium Monday afternoon. He tapped his fingers on the wood. He leaned forward, antsy.

These press conferences serve as exercises in obligation, none more so than before a big game. Above all, Harbaugh wants to leave. To go back to coaching, doing what he cares about in the week he cares about it most. Usually, there’s barely time to project anything but dismissiveness.

And yet on Monday, there was an undercurrent of confidence beneath all of that. Harbaugh dismissed questions about his understanding of the rivalry and about Woody Hayes. He acknowledged the game is big, but not bigger than a “state championship between two states.”

He has never, and will never, go into

MANAGING SPORTS EDITOR

ETHAN SEARS

schematics in front of a camera — and said as much on Monday. Then, after an answer tailed off, he added this: “Everything’s possible.

Everything’s possible for this one.

Everything we’ve done, everything could be done, anything could be changed, anything that could be added. Don’t mind your opponents knowing that. All things are possible.”

He didn’t need to say why.

With Saturday comes his fifth chance to beat Ohio State. He’s failed the first four times, twice costing the Wolverines a potential College Football Playoff berth, the weight of it growing with each disappointment. Those four games have formed an anvil bringing down an otherwise strong four years. And until he beats the Buckeyes, that won’t change.

Michigan comes into this game

playing its best football of the season, behind the best version of senior quarterback Shea Patterson it’s had in the two years he’s been here; with two NFL-caliber receivers hitting their strides; with a defense ranked fifth in SP+, that hasn’t given up more than 14 points in a game in over a month.

“I think right now we’re at our peak in terms of making a (runway) for a plane to take off,” said senior tight end Nick Eubanks.

That still might not be enough against an undefeated juggernaut in Ohio State. But the underlying fact that a very good football team can lose to a great one without it being the end of the world means little to the Wolverines, to media, to fans, to anyone who has any kind of relationship with Michigan

if it was fair to define the season by this game. And if anyone knows that best, it’s the man at the top of

the program.

“We’re very aware of the rivalry, having played in it, having coached in it,” Harbaugh said. “I grew up here. My dad was the coach. As I liken the Michigan State game to a state championship, this is even bigger.”

Harbaugh has always tried to define himself to his players as a man who will do anything for them. He keeps an opendoor policy and pulls strings for those who ask. That image is not ironclad or without exception — Harbaugh also demands a loyalty and competitive buy-in that not everybody has. But he happily keeps his end of the bargain.

In the locker room before his first game against Ohio State back in 2015, Harbaugh told his team that regardless of what happened in

We’re very aware of the rivalry, having played in it, having coached in it.

I grew up here. My dad was the coach. As I liken the Michigan State game to a state championship, this is even bigger. football. “Absolutely,” said senior guard Ben Bredeson, when asked

the game or how chippy it got, he’d have their backs. “That right there was a moment for me where I was like, ‘This is definitely the type of guy that I’m gonna go to battle for,’ ” Allen Gant, a senior on that team, recalled this summer.

As Harbaugh stood at the podium Monday, exuding a confidence that seemed impossible after losses at Wisconsin and Penn State, it seemed like he couldn’t wait for Saturday. This year, as much as any other, has brought with it the pressure cooker of coaching a program like Michigan.

After that Wisconsin game — when the Wolverines were embarrassed, 35-14, leading Harbaugh to say he was out-coached — students painted The Rock demanding his firing. Two weeks later, he was roundly ridiculed for saying the offense was hitting its stride after a 10-3 win over Iowa.

Two weeks later, when Ronnie Bell dropped a potential game-tying touchdown in the dying seconds at Penn State, all he could do was run up to Patterson and say there was still a chance at getting the ball back. And when the chances of that expired, he faced the same slew of questions about his shortcomings that have accompanied every loss for the last five years.

On Monday, it was all forgotten.

On Monday, he was only looking forward. And with a win Saturday, he would end all the angst, all the lingering questions about what he cannot do and why he cannot do it.

“We’re excited to play,” Harbaugh said. “We’re confident.

And looking forward to today’s preparation and looking forward to the game, looking forward to playing it at home.

“Looking forward to every possible thing about it.”

JIM HARBAUGH PREPARES FOR FIFTH MATCHUP AGAINST BUCKEYES

“ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE” SAME GAME, NEW DAY

RYAN DAY MAKES FIRST FORAY INTO ANN ARBOR AS HEAD COACH GRIFFIN STROM SPORTS EDITOR

Ryan Day wasn’t born in scarlet and gray.

The Manchester, New Hampshire-born ball coach had no midwestern roots, no first coaching job in Columbus, no predestined return and no sworn allegiance against any teams up north.

But after accepting a job opening from his old boss to rejoin the college ranks, Day received a crash course education.

“It started when I first got here. My son R.J. went to the bus stop on the first day, and there’s a kid wearing a blue shirt on, and they start getting into it,” Day told Urban Meyer in August.

“The first day of school, and I’m like ‘OK, we’re in it now.’”

Day’s in it now more than ever, as he and Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh assume the figurative roles of Ryan Jr. and his navy blue adversary on the biggest stage in college football for the first time.

Day has exceeded all expectations to this point, leading a team that looks as impenetrable as any that Meyer fielded, but history’s shown the grade for a Buckeye coach takes a drastic curve based on the outcome of one week in the season.

That’s a lesson Day learned from his predecessors.

“I think the thing I learned from Urban right from the minute I got there was you gotta work The Game every day,” Day said. “And the way to honor the rivalry and respect the rivalry is to work it every day, and we do.”

The first time he worked The Game, Day was in a similar situation –– heavily favored in the Big House: the largest stadium in the country, packed with the opposing fans of one of sport’s most bitter rivalries.

Then-co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, Day’s passing attack was a weak spot early. J.T. Barrett had minus-1 yards down 14-0 after the opening quarter and finished 3-for-8 before leaving with an

injury down six in the third quarter.

The run game and an efficient performance from Dwayne Haskins in relief led the Buckeyes back for a 31-20 win, and Day’s crossing route-heavy offensive game plan the following year sliced the No. 1 Wolverine defense to the tune of a 62-39 upset win.

As a head coach, though, Day faces a heightened sense of ownership over the Buckeyes’ wins and losses, and none more so than against Michigan.

But that authority is what he’s been reaching for his whole career.

“Growing up as a captain, growing up as a coach, growing up as a coordinator, as you work your way up the profession, you start to take on that responsibility more and more, and I’ve always wanted that,” Day said. “I’ve always wanted to have those decisions. That’s the way I’ve always lived my life. I want the

ball in my hands.”

But the offense was already With the ball in his hands, top-tier when Meyer handed Day Day and the Buckeyes have been the whistle off his neck after the downright dominant — and 2019 Rose Bowl. The program’s worst-ever total defense was the concern, and with an offensive mind in Day taking the reins, there was no guarantee it would improve.

Instead of staying complacent, Day looked north to remedy the biggest Buckeyes’ biggest Achilles’ heel. Day poached two defensive coaches from the Michigan staff in Greg Mattison and Al Washington in a move that could only serve to feed into the rivalry narrative.

But the hires weren’t just to fire up the Buckeye constituency: Ohio State’s defense ranks No. 1 against the pass, gives up the least total yards in the country, and its 9.8 points allowed are its fewest in 44 years. “[Ryan Day] is a stud,” Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said. “I think I may have

I think the thing I learned from Urban right from the minute I got there was you gotta work The Game every day. And the way to honor the rivalry and respect the rivalry is to work it every day, and we do. historically prolific. Ohio State’s 51.5 points per game not only lead the nation. They’re the most in the program’s 108-year history.

shared this before. All the things that we thought he was capable of have come to fruition. The things that I just wasn’t sure of –– managing the staff in this building –– off the chain.”

He’s making Ohio State history, but Day has made sure to pay homage to it as well.

“When I walk down the hallway, saw the guys, I don’t know if you saw the new picture up there, again, I go through the names of Urban Meyer, Jim Tressel, Earle Bruce, Woody Hayes, then you see your picture up there, it takes you to your knees a little bit,” Day said prior to the season.

Those coaches went a combined 37-16-1 against Michigan, and Day has the challenge of following the longest Ohio State win streak in the rivalry.

Few have seen that pressure first hand for as long as Larry Romanoff, a 43-year Ohio State athletics employee who’s worked alongside every Ohio State head coach since Woody Hayes and attended every rivalry game

since 1969.

“If he doesn’t win that game, everybody’s gonna go, ‘Oh, my God, Urban won every time.

Tressel only lost one time,’ which isn’t really fair to [Day], because he’s done an unbelievable job so far,” Romanoff said. “The pressure in that game is great.

That’s why you’ve been practicing all year. That’s why there’s clocks all over the Woody Hayes center counting down to that game. You can go 11-0. You lose that game, you’ve got a crappy winter.”

But Meyer’s protege may just have the blueprint for success. At Big Ten Media Days, Day minced no words when asked if he would modify his forerunner’s approach against the maize and blue.

“No. No. That worked. 7-0. 7-0 worked just fine,” he said.

With each passing moment, the countdown clock ticks down to noon Saturday, when Day will seek to extend Meyer’s unblemished run.

He may not have been born a Buckeye, but if Day comes out the victor in his first Game, he’ll be Ohio’s favorite adopted son.

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Rivalry Issue | The Lantern | 11

traditions run deep for rivalry Crossing out M’s

The bitter rivalry runs deep, and even utterance of the first letter of “Michigan” is taboo in the week leading up to The Game. Every “M” on campus is covered with a red tape “X” during Michigan Week, and no sign is safe.

Even former Ohio Gov. John Kasich joined the jeering in 2013, when he started declaring the game day “Scarlet Letter Saturday” to implore Ohioans to avoid using the letter in spirit of the rivalry.

“Michigan hasn’t won in Columbus since Myspace was a thing, gas cost $1.51 and hanging chads dominated the news in Florida,” the 2018 resolution read.

Just exactly who takes to the night to cross out the letter of every building, street and dorm sign, is unknown, but it is no small task. There are more than 170 M’s just in Ohio State building names listed on Ohio State’s website — the tip of the iceberg on a campus where many buildings have more than one sign, and there are countless other instances of the 13th letter of the alphabet in the

off-campus area that fall victim to the X. Though this tradition has become characteristic of Michigan Week, some think it may be time for a change. In a 2018 letter to the editor in The Lantern, Wexner Medical Center staff member Kyle Hartman said the red tape that is left faded and peeling is unattractive and can damage the surfaces to which it’s applied.

“This day in age, with our incomparable ability to innovate, we need to develop a better way to show our Buckeye pride — either by utilizing electronic technology, using or developing an adhesive-based product that allows us to continue this custom in a way that does not conflict with our dedication to sustainability and elimination of waste,” the letter said.

The way the X’s are removed varies each year, university spokesperson Nicole Holman said in an email. Some years, facilities teams remove the tape, while other years, it is left in place.

For the past two years, Ohio Staters, Inc., a student faculty and staff service organization, has partnered with the facilities team, Mitch Rada-

kovich, OSI vice president and a third-year in data analytics, said.

Though the process of removing all of the tape takes hours, he said it is part of keeping the tradition alive.

“I just love seeing the creativity of where some of the M’s get placed and everything like that. I think that it’s a very clean and fun part portion of the rivalry,” he said.

It seems the scarlet X’s aren’t going anywhere soon, as they reappeared Monday morning.

Lantern Sports Editor Griffin Strom contributed to this story.

toledo and the game The Toledo War was a territorial dispute over the boundary lines drawn for Ohio and Michigan that lasted more than 30 years, originally stemming from the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.

Though there were no casualties in the conflict, both sides sent militias into the disputed area, which included the mouth of the Maumee River, in the 1830s.

Forces from Ohio and Michigan met at opposite banks of the river, and it took the involvement of President Andrew Jackson to finally resolve the situation peacefully in 1836.

Nearly 200 years later, Toledo native and 2014 Ohio State graduate Katie Sullivan became something of a front-line soldier in the

conflict’s modern iteration.

“My dad is an Indians, Cavs, Browns, Ohio State fan. My mom is a Michigan, Tigers, Pistons, Lions fan,” Sullivan said. “My mom’s mom went to Michigan, so my whole side of that family are huge Michigan fans. My dad’s side of the family is all Ohio State fans. That’s just how I grew up.”

In Toledo-suburb Whitehouse, Sullivan’s allegiance was chosen for her, split between Michigan and Ohio teams across sport and league. For college football, Sullivan was raised in support of the maize and blue, something she said was not well-received during her time at Ohio State.

Watching The Game at a bar three years ago, Sullivan said her

remember about playing in your first Michigan game? What was that experience like?

A: Man, it was crazy. The Big House was definitely loud. I knew we had a chance to go to the national championship. I remember that our defense was just struggling that whole season. We weren’t very consistent on defense, but our offense was rolling. I knew how big of a game it was, and it’s funny because C.J. Barnett, the day before the game, was like, “I’m about to make a play.

I’m about to get on the HBO ‘The Game’ series.” I just started laughing at him like, “What’s wrong with this man?” Not thinking the next day I was gonna make a play.

But going into the game, I just remember it was a hostile environment. We got into it with them coming out of the locker rooms.

They came out hot. I don’t even think they had a good record that year, but they came out looking to do damage. I remember we were fighting an uphill battle. I remember jumping on a fumble that Ryan [Shazier] caused. Of course we get to the end of the game and [Bradley] Roby gave up the touchdown, and he was mad. They ain’t have nothing to lose. We all knew they were going for two. I would’ve gone for two myself. And I remember they came out in a

Michigan sweater stood out like a sore thumb in a crowd of scarlet and gray. Unlike the Toledo War, tensions eventually boiled over into something physical.

A Buckeye fan approached Sullivan during the second quarter and asked why she was sporting the enemy’s garb. Perturbed that Sullivan was a Michigan fan, she pressed the issue, prompting Sullivan to respond with, “Do you even know who your quarterback is?” The Ohio State fan proceeded to spit in Sullivan’s face, and the altercation had to be broken up.

“It’s just what I expect at this point,” Sullivan said.

The rivalry has always been big, former 43-year Ohio State

formation, and we called a timeout, and I remember going to the sideline, and coach Coombs was like, “Tyvis, you know what’s coming. We ran this exact play in practice. They got the same formation that we showed y’all. They’re gonna run this play.”

And I’m like, “OK, yeah, that’s right. I do remember the play.” Of course, they went out there, they ran the play, and you know, the rest is history.

Q: Were you nervous out there for that last play? Knowing that The Game and the rivalry all came down to that last play?

A: At that point in time, I wasn’t really thinking about that. I was just thinking about doing my job, making sure they don’t score. I wasn’t really processing how big of a game this was and all that. I mean, of course I understood the moment, but at that point I was too calm and trying to figure out, “OK, if they run this play, make sure to jump this route.” And sure enough, they did it. I was like, “Wow.” Q: What was the feeling like when you came up from getting that interception?

A: I didn’t realize at the moment how big that was. I never realized this play might impact the rest of my life. I never thought of it like that. I just wanted to win the game, I

athletics employee Larry Romanoff said. But the native of Ottawa Hills, less than 15 minutes from downtown Toledo, said Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler’s first clash in 1969 took it to the next level.

That was the first of 50 consecutive Ohio State-Michigan games Romanoff would go on to attend, but he wasn’t rooting for his childhood favorite Wolverines.

“I wrote a letter to Bump Elliott of Michigan. I wrote a letter to Woody, seeing if I could become team manager,” Romanoff said.

“Woody and his assistants sent a letter saying they’d love to have me. I never heard from Michigan.”

Romanoff stuck around not

didn’t realize at the point how deep the situation was, how big that moment was. After the game was over, I’m in the locker room taking a shower, and the media never talks to me. At that point in my career, I’ve never talked to the media before. Jerry [Emig], our media dude comes in, he goes, “Tyvis, they want to see you outside at the podium.”

I’m like, “Podium? What is the podium?”

I don’t know nothing about it. He takes me in there, and sure enough I stepped up on the podium, and I had never seen so many cameras and lights in my face. I’m like “Oh, my goodness.”

Q: How often do people ask you about that play now?

A: I think it’s one of those things that comes up around this time or when I’m talking to Ohio State fans. It’s not like an everyday topic. People tweet it to me and Instagram it to me, so I just watch that play.

I never really have watched the whole game over. I might do that this year, become my new routine.

Q: How does that moment compare to winning the national championship the next season?

A: The national championship is definitely more memorable. I mean that whole thing was like something out of a movie for

only for the “10 Year War,” but up through the end of the Meyer-Harbaugh era, and the three shared more than one another’s presence in a football stadium once a year.

Meyer and Harbaugh were also born in Toledo, seven months apart in the same location –– Mercy Hospital.

The Game isn’t played in Toledo –– and never will be –– but it sure does live there. It means something more to the customers at the Mason brothers’ store, a fan willing to get spit on in the name of her team and Romanoff: It’s just where they’re from.

“That’s the way I was raised,” Romanoff said. “That that game is of utmost importance.”

me personally. It’s something that you just talked about all the time, but to actually get there and do it –– and then I got MVP on top of that –– it was all kind of unexpected.

I used to go in games, but never think that I would be the person to make the big impact of the game. I just always wanted to do my job.

Q: What do the gold pants that you’ve won mean to you?

A: My momma has all four pair of mine, and I need them back. I mean, of course the most significant one to me is the one pair that I made the play in. But yeah, I’m gonna have to come see her about that because she got all four of them and I need them back.

Q: From your perspective, what makes the rivalry so special? Why do you think it’s such a great rivalry in your eyes?

A: I think it’s a great rivalry because it’s truly one of those where the records don’t mean anything, and you really have the whole state –– like the whole state cares. It means something. It’s not a game. It means bragging rights for the whole year. It’s honoring the people that came before you, all the legends in that game, and just one play in that game can change your whole life, which I’m finding out. I think that’s why it’s so special.

MORE THAN A GAME:

10 | The Lantern | Tuesday, November 26, 2019

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KAYLEE HARTER Editor-in-Chief harter.830@osu.edu

In what is perhaps the greatest rivalry in all of college sports, the Ohio State-Michigan game is steeped in traditions. Throughout the years, traditions have come and gone.

One such tradition was the Phantom Band, a practice in which the band led students through campus on Wednesday or Thursday during Michigan Week. It had been fading for years by 2002 after a history of vandalism, according to previous Lantern reporting.

Here are a few rituals that have withstood the tests of time and change:

Gold Pants

Michigan-beating Buckeyes earn more than pride after a win against the Wolverines. They also receive a gold pants charm, symbolizing Michigan’s yellow pants, to commemorate the victory.

The relic dates back to 1934, after a phrase used by the newly appointed head coach Francis Schmidt was

taken at face value. The Wolverines led the rivalry 226-2 heading into the season, but Schmidt was confident the Buckeyes could win.

“He basically told the team, ‘Hey, I don’t care what anybody says. They put their pants on one leg at a time just like we are, and we’re every bit as good, and we can beat them,’” Larry Romanoff, a 43-year Ohio State athletics employee who has attended every rivalry game since 1969, said.

That year, Ohio State beat Michigan 34-0, and the tradition was born.

“It was the first pair of gold pants ever presented to the winning team. The Team Up North doesn’t get those. Only Ohio State gets those. That’s how it all started,” Romanoff said.

Since the 1934 season, 43 more Buckeye teams have received their own pairs of gold pants. If Ohio State’s fifth-year seniors garner a victory, they will be the seventh group in 85 years to earn five pairs of gold pants.

Script Ohio

The Best Damn Band In The Land has made its mark through a variety of traditions, but none more iconic

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than the cursive spelling of “Ohio” across the field at each home game. Though Script Ohio has become a staple of Buckeye culture, it first appeared up north in 1932 and was performed by Michigan’s marching band, according to University Archives.

“They didn’t march like you’re actually writing a cursive ‘Ohio.’ It was just a static formation that didn’t move. So that’s the big difference,” Christopher Hoch, director of the marching band, said.

Four years later, the Ohio State Marching Band brought the tradition home and made it its own. Rather than forming it all at once as Michigan’s marching band had, Ohio State’s band first “wrote” the state’s name across the field in its now-famous fashion on Oct. 10, 1936, according to University Archives and Hoch.

As a former band member and lifetime Buckeye who grew up in Westerville, Ohio, Hoch said Script Ohio was “one of the proudest things” he does.

Today, Hoch said the band performs it at every game TBDITL attends.

“Our fans expected it, and it is the signature of college football here. So it’s that important to us,” he said.

Caught in the crossfire: GRIFFIN STROM Sports Editor strom.25@osu.edu Before the dawn of two centuries past, Ohioans and Michiganders were settling their differences through violent, combative sport on a pitch of grass and dirt.

One-hundred and twenty-two years later, the Buckeyes and Wolverines have yet to sort out those grievances.

It’s a battle that’s been unfolding so long, two of America’s largest stadiums have been erected around it, but it’s not just in the ’Shoe and Big House that the war is waged, nor is the conflict limited to the confines of Columbus and Ann Arbor.

The hottest bed for rivalrous contention may just be Toledo, Ohio, a city caught in the crossfire of geographical middle ground, households divided and –– very nearly –– a war outside the parameters of the gridiron.

“I was helping a guy fit car mats one day. He stops all of a sudden and says, ‘You are an Ohio State fan, right?’” Chris Mason, owner of the Toledo-area Buckeye Wolverine Shop, said. “Totally disrupted, and I looked at him real serious and I said, ‘I am right now.’ And he goes, ‘Well that’s a pretty good answer.’”

Chris and his brother Mark Mason got in the business of monetizing the area’s split allegiances nine years ago when they bought

and refurbished a store that best showcases Toledo’s bipartisan college football fandom. The Buckeye Wolverine Shop, less than an hour’s drive from Ann Arbor, is a treasure trove for Ohio State and Michigan merchandise and memorabilia, split 50-50 with gear from both sides of the rivalry.

“It is absolutely comical around here,” Chris Mason said.

“You’ll walk up to somebody, and they’re over on the Michigan side or they’re over on the Ohio State side, and I’ll say, ‘Is there anything I can help you with?’

‘Oh, no, I’m just finding something for my boss or my brotherin-law.’ And they’ll literally pick things up and walk up to the front

* TOLEDO

GRIFFIN STROM Sports Editor strom.25@osu.edu

Rivalry Q&A with Tyvis Powell

Few Ohio State-Michigan games in recent memory stand out like the 2013 iteration. The 42-41 barnburner saw 12 touchdowns, 1,129 yards of offense and nearly a bench-clearing brawl to boot.

But the game is most remembered for the defensive heroics of then-redshirt freshman safety Tyvis Powell, who intercepted Michigan’s attempt at a game-winning 2-point conversion down one point with seconds remaining. The Bedford, Ohio, native became a huge Buckeye fan after the 2002 national title, and The Lantern got a hold of the man who knows all too well the significance of making The Play in The Game.

Q: What are your earliest memories of watching the Ohio-Michigan rivalry growing up?

A: I remember watching it when they were No. 1 and No. 2. I can’t remember what year that was, but that was when Troy Smith was there, and they had Mike Hart and all that. That was a good game.

That was one of my favorite games when I was growing up. I remember that one.

holding it away from them. It gets pretty comical because you have to bag stuff separately. They don’t want it touching.”

For the sake of business, Mason keeps his personal allegiance close to the vest so as not to ostracize a portion of the customers.

He said it’s common that family members on opposing sides will come in and argue among themselves, particularly as The Game draws nearer.

Less than a quarter of a mile south of Mason’s shop, South Reynolds Road turns into Conant Street, named after Horatio Conant, a physician instrumental in an Ohio-Michigan discordance some believe to be the precursor to the modern football friction.

That was a classic year. And then I remember the year when we actually lost to them, after I committed. That was when Luke Fickell was the head coach. And they still almost won as bad as the season that people say it was. They still almost won that game, and I was mad when they lost.

Q: At what point when you were coming up did you realize that you could play in one of those games? Or when was the earliest that you remember thinking, “I could actually be playing in one of these games myself”?

A: Junior year of high school is when it started getting real to me. As a kid, you say you want to go there, but you don’t really have a plan of how you would actually get there. It’s just something you wish for.

When I met my high school head coach, he was the one that said, “Ty, you could actually play in there. You actually have the talent to play in that game and go to Ohio State.” I asked him, “What did I need to do?” And he came out with a workout plan, and I followed the plan to a T, and I ended up getting there.

Q: Take me through that 2013 game when you were a redshirt freshman.

Prior to the interception, what do you

matchup breakdown thelantern.com

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offense

J.K. DOBBINS RUNNING BACK

JUSTIN FIELDS QUARTERBACK

Yards: 1,446 Touchdowns: 17 YPC: 6.9 Long: 68

Yards: 2,353 Touchdowns: 43 Interceptions: 1 Completion %: 69.4

CHRIS OLAVE WIDE RECEIVER Receptions: 39 Yards: 637 Touchdowns: 10 YPC: 16.3 Long: 58

Rivalry Issue | The Lantern | 9

KHALID HASHI Assistant Sports Director hashi.20@osu.edu

defense

JEFF OKUDAH CORNERBACK Tackles: 29 Interceptions: 3 Forced fumbles: 2 Pass breakups: 4

CHASE YOUNG DEFENSIVE END

MALIK HARRISON LINEBACKER

Sacks: 16.5 Tackles: 38 TFL: 19.5 Forced fumbles: 7

Sacks: 4.5 Tackles: 61 Fumble recoveries: 2

READ FULL STORY ON THELANTERN.COM

MAKE YOUR VISIT

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LOCATION. IS. EVERYTHING.

8 | The Lantern | Tuesday, November 26, 2019

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What to expect from The Game ANDY ANDERS Assistant Sports Editor anders.83@osu.edu

The Big Ten East race is over.

Ohio State is going to the Big Ten title game, and Michigan is not.

Yet only people who make abodes beneath boulders would believe neither team has anything to play for.

“We live it every day. The Team Up North is something that we talk about every single day,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said. “And the best way to respect a rivalry is to work it every day.”

No. 2 Ohio State (11-0, 8-0 Big Ten) travels to Ann Arbor, Michigan, for its regular-season finale against No. 13 Michigan (9-2, 6-2) in the 116th edition of The Game.

Seasons can be made or broken on the back of The Game’s results, and Day will witness firsthand that phenomenon for the first time as head coach Saturday.

“This was a hard-fought win, a top 10 team, really well-coached,” Day said following the Saturday game against No. 8 Penn State.

“But quickly, we transition to that rivalry game, which means everything to us.”

The Wolverine defense, currently No. 6 in total and No. 4 against the pass nationally, has mauled opponents all season, while Michigan’s pass rush could provide the most concern for Ohio State’s offense. Wisconsin and Penn State recorded five and

three sacks, respectively, against the Ohio State offensive line, forcing sophomore quarterback Justin Fields to scramble many more times.

Both the Badgers and Nittany Lions mixed in a variety of defensive fronts and blitz packages.

Michigan defensive coordinator Don Brown is nicknamed Dr. Blitz.

The Wolverines are No. 4 in the Big Ten with 35 sacks. Senior linebacker Josh Uche leads the way with 7.5, trailed closely by junior defensive end Kwitty Paye.

Redshirt senior offensive tackle Branden Bowen said establishing a rushing attack is key to opening up the air, as the Buckeyes gained 229 of their 417 yards on the ground against Penn State.

“If you don’t have a good run game, you’re not gonna pass the ball,” Bowen said. “Being able to do that is key to running the offense how we want to.”

Day, then co-offensive coordinator, used Brown’s own schematics against him in 2018.

Michigan’s blitzes often leave defensive backs isolated in man coverage.

Day ran passing concepts that emphasized the athleticism of Ohio State’s receivers, crossing routes being a prime example, and the Buckeyes piled up 396 yards through the air against the nation’s No. 1 pass defense en route to a 62-39 victory.

Ohio State has distributed passes to a wealth of receiving weapons that can generate similar mis-

matches, with five different wide receivers over 230 yards in 2019, and three over 450.

On offense, Michigan redshirt senior quarterback Shea Patterson took his limp of five straight games under 50 percent completions to a full sprint with more than 360 passing yards in his past two contests against Michigan State and Indiana.

Ohio State boasts the No. 1 pass defense in the country, pounding quarterbacks into submission with the second-best sack total in college football and holding them to 51.9 percent completions when they do get the ball away.

Co-defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, brought over from the San Francisco 49ers to help revamp Ohio State’s worst-in-school-his-

AMAL SAEED | PHOTO EDITOR

Ohio State junior defensive end Chase Young (2) tackles Penn State redshirt Freshman quarterback Will Levis (7) during the second half of the game Nov. 23. Ohio State won 28-17.

tory total defense from 2018, said he is looking forward to scheming for his first game against Michigan.

“Since the day I got here, I’ve heard about it, and I had to throw all my blue away,” Hafley said.

“I’m excited to be part of it. Very excited. I’m blessed to be part of it. College football, 11-0, playing your rival in the last game of the regular season? I can’t ask for anything else.”

Junior defensive end Chase Young returned from suspension against Penn State and recorded three quarterback takedowns, bringing his season total to 16.5 — No. 1 in the nation and better than the sack total of 24 teams.

He was suspended for two games by the NCAA after it was found that he accepted a loan from a family friend in 2018, which he later repaid, according to previous Lantern reporting.

Young said he was already mentally preparing for the Wolverines prior to the Penn State victory.

“If you can’t get hype for this, you’re just not that type of dude,” Young said. “We’re gonna go to the drawing boards and prepare the best we can.”

While it could still backdoor in with a Big Ten title if it lost to Michigan, winning out all but secures a bid to the College Football Playoff for Ohio State.

The Game kicks off at noon Saturday.

Top 5 solo performances against Michigan

5

WR David Boston, 1998

4

RB Carlos Hyde, 2013

O

I

n his tenure as Ohio State head coach, John Cooper went 2-10-1 against the Wolverines.

However, one of the two times Cooper managed to slay the Wolverines came on the back of wide receiver David Boston.

Boston had 10 receptions for 207 yards with two touchdowns in Ohio State’s 31-16 victory against Michigan in 1998. Not only did Ohio State go on to tie Michigan and Wisconsin for a share of the Big Ten title, but it also went on to defeat Texas A&M in the Sugar Bowl to cap off an 11-1 season.

Boston’s 207 yards are the most receiving yards recorded by any Buckeye receiver against Michigan in the 122-year rivalry.

hio State boasts a stable of legendary running backs –– Archie Griffin, Eddie George and Ezekiel Elliott to name a few –– but Carlos Hyde ran for more yards than any of them against Michigan.

Hyde carried the ball 27 times for 226 yards and a touchdown in Ohio State’s 42-41 victory against Michigan in 2013.

Hyde’s workhorse load was instrumental in propelling the Buckeyes forward to stay undefeated. Hyde’s performance wore down the defense en route to a 526-yard offensive onslaught.

In addition, Hyde’s lone score gave the Buckeyes a 7-point lead with the game winding down.

With the Buckeyes up 42-41, an interception by Tyvis Powell sealed the deal for the Buckeyes.

3

QB Troy Smith, 2004

A

n argument could be made that quarterback Troy Smith’s performance in 2006’s “Game of the Century” deserves a place on this list –– but he was already the Heisman front-runner.

In 2004, no one expected it when Smith lifted unranked Ohio State over No. 7 Michigan in just his fifth career start.

Against Michigan, Smith was the entire Buckeye offense. Of the 446 total offensive yards Ohio State totaled that day, Smith was responsible for 386 of them. Not only did he pass for a then-careerhigh 241 yards and two touchdowns, Smith also led the team in rushing, gaining 145 yards on 18 carries for another touchdown.

The dominant effort plus an upset over Michigan is enough to give the spot to 2004 Troy Smith.

2

LB Chris Spielman, 1986

T

This is the lone entry on this list in which the Buckeyes actually lost a matchup with the Wolverines. In a top 10 showdown between No. 6 Michigan and No. 7 Ohio State, the Wolverines came back from a 14-6 deficit at halftime to win 26-24.

However, despite the team’s loss, Chris Spielman’s performance was so dominant that it still claimed him a spot on the list.

Spielman tied the single-game tackling record set by linebacker Tom Cousineau back in 1978 with 29 total tackles. Nineteen were assisted and 10 were solo tackles. No other player for the Buckeyes had more than five solo tackles that day.

Spielman finished his career at Ohio State third overall in tackles with 546.

COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES

Ohio State split end David Boston (9) avoids Indiana defensive back Michael McGrath (38).

SHELBY LUM | FORMER PHOTO EDITOR

Senior running back Carlos Hyde (34) avoids a tackler during the 2014 Discover Orange Bowl against Clemson Jan. 3.

COURTESY OF TNS

Former Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith (10) buys some time and eludes Indiana’s Keith Burrus (97) Oct. 21, 2006.

Chris Spielman starred on the Ohio State defense from 1984to 1987 before an 11-year career in the NFL with the Detroit Lions, Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns.

1

BRIAN NELSON Sports Director nelson.1302@osu.edu

QB Dwayne Haskins, 2018

I

It was supposed to be a revenge tour for Michigan in 2018, but Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins made Columbus a rough stop for the Wolverines.

Sixty-two points is the most an Ohio State team has ever put up against Michigan in regulation, and much of that has to do with the Buckeye quarterback.

Haskins put on a clinic, eviscerating the No. 1 pass defense in the country to complete 20 of 31 passes for 396 yards and six touchdowns –– both of which set new highs for Buckeyes in The Game.

The performance was part of a 54-touchdown year for Haskins that vaulted him to New York as a Heisman Trophy finalist and eventual first round NFL Draft pick.

CASEY CASCALDO | MANAGING EDITOR FOR MULTIMEDIA

Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins (7) looks to throw the ball downfield in the Big Ten Championship against Northwestern Dec. 1. 2018.

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Rivalry Issue | The Lantern | 7

Playing the spoiler The Game a wasteland of lost national title hopes ANDY ANDERS Assistant Sports Editor anders.83@osu.edu A chapter in the Ohio State-Michigan game logged precisely 50 years ago bears an uncanny resemblance to the circumstances surrounding this year’s rendition.

In 1969, an undefeated Ohio State team that’s closest game was won by 27 points, traveled to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to play a Wolverines squad led by first-year head coach Bo Schembechler.

While it was ranked in the top 15 nationally, Michigan had lost all hopes of a national title with two previous losses.

That day, it yanked a potential national title from Ohio State’s grasp 24-12.

In 2019, an undefeated Ohio State team led by first-year head coach Ryan Day that has won all its games by 24 points or more — with the exception of a 28-17 victory against No. 8 Penn State — has similar national title hopes. It also travels to Ann Arbor to face a two-loss Michigan team that, while ranked in the top 15, is eliminated from both the National and Big Ten title races.

Michigan has a chance to spoil Ohio State’s season, even if it doesn’t completely kill its playoff chances, and 1969 is

far from the only time one side did the other’s hopes in.

The late 1960s-70s serves as the pinnacle of national championships swept away by the tides of The Game.

Ohio State and Michigan played an astounding eight top 10 matchups in a 10-year stretch from 1968 to ’77. With Rose Bowl berths often on the line — and prior to the advent of one national championship game in college football, meaning a Rose Bowl win could lock up a championship — those games could sometimes serve as a barrier to a national title.

1968 serves as one exam-

ple. Ohio State and Michigan were ranked No. 2 and No. 4, respectively, in the Associated Press Poll after rebounding from seasons in which they finished unranked. The winner was destined for a Rose Bowl date with then-No. 1 USC in a de facto national title game.

Ohio State won that game and went on to beat USC to take home the grand prize.

The exact same set of circumstances arose in 1973, this time with Ohio State ranked No. 1 and Michigan ranked No. 4.

That game ended in a 10-10 tie, dropping both teams in the national polls, and the Buck-

AMAL SAEED | PHOTO EDITOR

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day prepares to run onto the field prior to the game against Penn State Nov. 23. Ohio State won 28-17.

eyes finished No. 2 after their eventual Rose Bowl win.

Many fans remember “The Game of the Century” in 2006, when No. 1 Ohio State played No. 2 Michigan, the winner assured a spot in the BCS National Championship and the loser left to play in the Rose Bowl. The Buckeyes edged out a 42-39 win.

However, there are other instances outside of 1969 when one side spoiled the other without both being in the running for the title game.

Both 1995 and ’96 saw an 11-0 No. 2-ranked Ohio State team lose to Michigan teams placed No. 18 or lower.

This past season, the Wolverines clawed into Columbus on a 10-game win streak, ranked No. 4 with playoff aspirations.

Ohio State, eliminated from playoff contention after a loss to Purdue, stuffed those dreams into pipes with a 6239 dismantling of the nation’s No. 1 total defense.

Michigan gets the opportunity to play a spoiler role at home Saturday, with circumstances that mirror a historic 1969 upset.

The Buckeyes hope to shatter that mirror and extend what’s been seven years of bad Wolverine luck.

2019 compares favorably to Ohio State’s best seasons ANDY ANDERS Assistant Sports Editor anders.83@osu.edu

This season marks the 16th time Ohio State either started 11-0 or won a national title.

In none of those seasons did it finish in the top three for both scoring offense and scoring defense. Ohio State leads the nation in both thus far in 2019.

Even that doesn’t capture Ohio State’s undefeated run in 2019. At a program with eight national and 38 Big Ten titles, this team is on track to break the single-season school record in points per game and finish No. 2 in yards per play.

With one more sack, it will break the school team sack record of 47, and with 13 more tackles for loss, it will break that record, too.

Ohio State’s 28-17 victory Saturday against No. 8 Penn State was its first by fewer than 24 points in 2019. Head coach Ryan Day said he was pleased to see his team win its first relatively close contest.

“I’m proud to be their coach. I’m proud to be part of this thing. It’s a special group,” Day said. “And that’s what happens when you play in a game like this.

It’s not pretty; it’s not always going to be that way. But if you keep swinging, that’s life.”

The Buckeyes have gotten off to eight other 11-0 starts in school history, with seven seasons ending with a national title that didn’t start with 11 victories. Out of those 15 total seasons, Ohio State beat Michigan 13 times.

CORI WADE | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR

Ohio State junior running back J.K. Dobbins (2) gets tackled in the first half of the game against Penn State Nov. 23.

Compared with the other 15 Buckeye teams with either the same winning start or a championship finish, this Ohio State team outscores its opponents by the largest average margin, at 38.9 points per game.

What also stacks up favorably for this campaign is the balance of its offense.

The 2019 Buckeyes average more than 240 yards in both passing and rushing this season, a claim none of the other 15 can make. They top the list in passing with 248.3, adding 282.7 yards per game on the ground.

Advanced analytics comply with the rudimentary ones. Ohio State’s 2019 SRS, a college football rating system that takes performance and schedule strength into account, is the highest of the 16 seasons at 27.24.

Only two other seasons in Ohio State

history surpassed that number, one being the 1973 campaign that saw the Buckeyes tie Michigan before winning the Rose Bowl to finish No. 2 in the polls. That season, their SRS was 29.66. An undefeated 1944 season, which didn’t capture a national title, is the highest in program history at 29.87.

More than the numbers, great players also make great teams.

Three Ohio State players are currently in the Heisman Trophy conversation — junior running back J.K. Dobbins, sophomore quarterback Justin Fields and junior defensive end Chase Young.

The 1995 team had a similar three-headed monster with quarterback Bobby Hoying, who finished No. 10 in Heisman Trophy voting and tallied with a school record in season passing yards; Heisman Trophy-winning running back Eddie George; and wide receiver Terry Glenn, who won the Fred Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s best at his position.

Then there was Ohio State’s version of the “Four Horsemen” backfield in 1975, with two-time Heisman Trophy-winning running back Archie Griffin; school rushing touchdown record-holder Pete Johnson; Cornelius Greene, one of Ohio State’s earliest dual-threat quarterbacks; and dynamic wingback Brian Baschnagel.

This would be the third time Ohio State has had three players finish in the top 10 for Heisman voting if it happened, with 1969 and 1973 being the first two.

A win against No. 13 Michigan Saturday would only help solidify this season’s position among the greatest.

Tradition versus ratings Why The Game is played at noon LILY MASLIA Outreach & Engagement Editor maslia.2@osu.edu Early wake-up calls, breakfast tailgates and chilly mornings are just a few of the traditions that come with noon football games.

And Ohio State fans have seen many in their days.

“Once upon a time, all of Ohio State’s games were played at 1 p.m.,” Jerry Emig, Ohio State associate athletics director, said in an email. “Times have certainly changed.”

For the past four football seasons, half of Ohio State’s home games and all of Michigan’s have been at noon.

Since 1980, the Ohio State-Michigan kickoff has taken place between noon and 12:45 p.m. 33 times, and at 1 p.m. or later six times –– four after 2000.

The decision behind many of Ohio State’s game times are made by FOX Sports, which acquired the Big Ten Conference primary football rights in 2017, Emig said.

“They’ll cover seven of our 12 regular-season games,” Emig said. “And this year, the network introduced a noon game for their biggest game of the week.”

The most notable deviation from noon for Ohio State-Michigan was in 2006, which fans now dub as “The Game of the Century,” when No. 1 Ohio State played No. 2 Michigan at 3:30 p.m. The purpose of the time change was to get as many people watching as possible.

Since then, the Ohio State-Michigan game has been scheduled for noon.

Jake Footer, a fourth-year in finance, said keeping the Ohio State-Michigan game at noon is a disadvantage.

“To place big games at noon takes away from some of the excitement of the game,” Footer said. “There is a reason that the big games are supposed to be at prime time — because all eyes are going to be watching.”

Footer, who said he has attended every home game in his four years and watches every away game, describes prime time as a time when there are no other big games.

While noon may be a burden for some football fanatics, other Buckeye fans’ experiences remain mostly unchanged.

Hayleigh Coppenger, a fourth-year in city and regional planning, said she typically enjoys noon games and even likens them to Christmas morning.

“When it’s noon, it’s the first thing you do in your day, so you’re not feeling lazy about yourself because the game is at 3:30 [p.m.],” Coppenger said.

Coppenger said the earliest she’s woken up for a noon game is 4:30 a.m. for this past year’s Michigan matchup.

In the continual debate around tradition and ratings surrounding kickoff, it appears that tradition comes first.

Whether watching the game as a die-hard Buckeye fan, a general sports junkie or a social tailgater, go ahead and mark your calendars for the next few years because the noon timing for the two rivals doesn’t appear to be going anywhere.

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taken from enemy lines Mattison and Washington switch sides in rivalry

GRIFFIN STROM Sports Editor strom.25@osu.edu Just seven coaches in history have forsaken the hallowed dividing lines and traded in their blue for red or vice versa.

Two of them hold positions on Ohio State’s staff this season.

Ann Arbor, Michigan, figured an unlikely location for head coach Ryan Day’s defensive coaching staff overhaul, but now on the other side of the rivalry, the work of Greg Mattison and Al Washington has been instrumental in turning Ohio State’s worst-ever defense into the nation’s best.

“Kind of a funny thing, [former players] will be like, ‘Hey coach, I never thought I’d see you in red,’” Mattison said. “Well it’s funny because my wife says I look really, really good in red.”

Rewind a year.

Mattison and Washington are coaching defensive line and linebackers on college football’s top-rated defense at Michigan.

The Wolverines are not only favored to beat Ohio State in Columbus –– something that hasn’t happened since 2000 –– but they’re in the driver’s seat for their first-ever trip to the College Football Playoff.

Talk of “revenge tours” gave Michigan the air of confidence it desperately needed to revitalize its standing in the rivalry, but its balloon was quickly popped by the razor sharp offense of Urban Meyer, Dwayne Haskins and Day. The Buckeye offense hung 62 on Michigan, eight more than it allowed to its previous five opponents combined, so it wouldn’t come as a shock if Mattison and

Washington didn’t feel like picking up a phone call from Day the following month.

If you weren’t familiar with their history, that is.

Day was hired as a graduate assistant at Florida in 2005, the same year Mattison began his three-year tenure as co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach at the program.

“Ryan Day was a great young coach then, and I remember him,” Mattison said.

“When you coach, there’s guys that you come across that are younger coaches that you’re not with a long time –– he’s a guy that right away, you knew. I said, ‘This guy’s good now.’”

Washington, a Columbus, Ohio, native, played at Boston College while Day was a

father, Al Sr., played linebacker from 1977 to ’80.

“I’ve known coach Day, know the program tradition, but Mom and Dad are 20 minutes away,” Washington said. “Threeyear-old, 1-year-old, my wife went here. A lot of who I am is from 614 and Columbus, father playing here... So I think those things were definitely major contributors to coming –– that unique blend of everything.”

A $150,000 raise didn’t hurt either, and the money would seem even more of a factor for Mattison, who was seeking a promotion to a position he had already held for 19 of the past 24 years.

“Coach Harbaugh was great,” Mattison said. “He understood that I wanted to co-

“Kind of a funny thing, [former players] will be like, ‘Hey coach, I never thought I’d see you in red. Well it’s funny because my wife says I look really, really good in red.”

Greg Mattison Defensive coach

coach, and went on to coach with him from 2013 to ’14 as Boston College’s running backs coach, while Day served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

Despite their personal history, Day reached out to Harbaugh first, in what he said was their first real interaction, to get permission to address the coaches.

Both Mattison and Washington had different reasons to be receptive to Day’s offer. For Washington, it was the chance to return home and to the school at which his

ordinate, and it was an opportunity to be a coordinator, and that was what I wanted to do and not much you’re gonna do about that. The hardest thing, probably, was calling the players.”

Salary-wise, the Ohio State defensive coordinator post afforded Mattison a bump up from $525,000 to $1.1 million, and it was a job that Mattison didn’t have to do alone.

Mattison said the opportunity to be a co-coordinator alongside Jeff Hafley was

Rivalry Issue | The Lantern | 5

appealing, given that the last time he comanned a defense, he won a national championship at Florida under Urban Meyer.

Overseeing a defense that gave up a program-worst 403.4 yards per game a season ago to a college football low 217.4 through 11 games, another national championship appearance for Mattison is far from unlikely.

Still, Day said he didn’t completely gloss over the fact that Mattison is a 13-year Michigan man during the hiring process.

“It was in consideration, yeah,” Day said with a grin in February. “Knowing him, whether I was here or anywhere else, I would’ve tried to hire Greg Mattison. And it all comes down [to]: Who are the best coaches for our players?”

With essentially the same rotation at linebacker from a year ago, junior Baron Browning already has three more sacks, eight more tackles and five more tackles for loss than in 2018. He credited some of his improvement to the added level of comfort he feels with Washington as his position coach.

It remains to be seen just how comfortable Mattison and Washington will be upon their return to the Big House Saturday, but with the holiday season approaching, they won’t be getting any gifts from Harbaugh and the Wolverines.

“We’re not going to be sending each other Christmas cards based on where [Mattison] went,” Harbaugh told the media in March. “That’s how I feel and understand it. Still a good man. Still have a ton of respect for him, and we’ll be friends again some day when we’re done coaching.”

Michael Hermanoff

go blue!

HOUSE

DIVIDED for 45 years “We’re not going to be sending each other Christmas cards based on where [Mattison] went.

That’s how I feel and understand it.”

Jim Harbaugh Michigan head coach

CASEY CASCALDO | MANAGING EDITOR FOR MULTIMEDIA

Ohio State linebackers coach Al Washington and co-defensive coordinator Greg Mattison call out a play in the second half of the game against Cincinnati Sept. 7.

Ohio State won 42-0.

Sandy Hermanoff

go buckeyes!

4 | The Lantern | Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Ohio State wins if...

BRIAN NELSON Sports Director nelson.1302@osu.edu

Heading into Saturday’s game, it will have been 2,926 days since Michigan beat Ohio State.

This past year, the Wolverines were supposed to snap the losing streak and take back control of one of college football’s greatest rivalries.

Instead, Ohio State made a statement in its 62-39 victory against archrival Michigan.

Though its chances at a spot in the College Football Playoff had been squandered thanks to its blowout loss on the road to Purdue, the Buckeyes still came together to take control of one narrative: The Game belongs to Ohio State and has for most of the 21st century.

Aside from a close loss to Michigan in 2011, when Luke Fickell was serving as interim head coach, the Buckeyes have emerged victorious against the Wolverines every season since 2004.

After coming away with a 2817 two-possession win in its first true 2019 test against No. 8 Penn State, Ohio State is traveling to Ann Arbor, Michigan, undefeated. Waiting for the Buckeyes will be head coach Jim Harbaugh and the 9-2 Wolverines.

Harbaugh has not found success against the Buckeyes since he

took over as head coach in 2015.

He came close in 2016 when J.T. Barrett and Curtis Samuel led Ohio State to a nail-biting 30-27 victory in double overtime.

Despite having home-field advantage, success will be difficult to come by for Harbaugh Saturday. Michigan will be facing the No. 6 total offense and No. 1 total defense in the country.

Against the Buckeye offense, the Wolverines present a solid matchup on paper, boasting the No. 4 defense in the country that allows 267 yards per game.

Michigan has matched up against four ranked opponents in Wisconsin, Penn State, Iowa and Notre Dame over the course of 2019, and came away with victories against the latter two.

The best offense the Wolverines faced was the Badgers, who slot in at No. 37 in the nation in total offense. Wisconsin dismantled Michigan 35-14 and hung 359 rushing yards on the back of star junior running back Jonathan Taylor. A little more than a month later, Ohio State blew out the Badgers 38-7.

Much like this past year, when the Wolverines came into Columbus, Ohio, with the then-No. 1 total defense in the country and were blown away by quarterback Dwayne Haskins and the Buckeye offense, Michigan has not faced an offensive opponent of the same caliber as Ohio State.

It only gets worse when further analysis shows that Michigan is better at defending the pass compared to the run. Ohio State has the nation’s No. 4 rushing offense, averaging 282.7 yards per game. This is the mismatch the Buckeyes will exploit. While the Wolverines only allow 106 yards per game, they are not the best rushing defense Ohio State has faced.

Both Penn State and Wisconsin have better rushing defenses than Michigan, currently ranked No. 4 and No. 9 in the nation, respectively. The Buckeyes shredded both of those defenses on the ground, rushing for more than 200 yards against each team.

Ohio State will be able to run against Michigan just like it has done all season. In addition, this past week’s game against Penn State saw the release of Justin Fields from his cage in the pocket. His 21 carries for 68 yards had a major impact in spreading the Nittany Lion defense out and opening up the field for J.K. Dobbins and the passing game to flourish.

Simply put, Michigan’s defense is good, but the Buckeyes’ offense is great.

All the data shows that the Wolverines’ greatest strength won’t be enough to stop Ohio State, and that doesn’t even take into consideration how the Buckeyes match up against Michigan defensively.

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OPINION There’s no single weapon on the Michigan offense that will effectively threaten Ohio State on defense. Penn State star redshirt sophomore wide receiver K.J. Hamler is better than any receiver the Wolverines have. Ohio State held Hamler to 45 yards on three receptions. The same goes for running back. Taylor only rushed for 52 yards against the Buckeyes.

Even at quarterback, Penn State redshirt sophomore Sean Clifford and Wisconsin junior Jack Coan have comparable or better numbers than Michigan senior Shea Patterson.

This is the game for which Ohio State has been preparing all season. It has been a complete team that has overwhelmed every opponent it has faced. Michigan may play up to its competition and keep the game close for a while, just as Wisconsin and Penn State managed to do, but no team has been able to contend with the Buckeyes for four full quarters.

The Wolverines do not have the strength to do so, much less win.

Ohio State will win Saturday.

It is at its full strength, ready to make it 2,927 days since Michigan beat Ohio State come Sunday.

AMAL SAEED | PHOTO EDITOR

Ohio State senior wide receiver Binjimen Victor (9) celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the first half of the game against Maryland Nov. 9. Ohio State won 73-14.

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Rivalry Issue | The Lantern | 3

Top 5 rivalry moments this century JOHNNY AMUNDSON Lantern reporter amundson.15@osu.edu

5

2013 - Tyvis Powell intercepts 2-point conversion for the win After winning the opening five games of the season, Michigan dropped four of its next six games entering The Game in 2013. In contrast, No. 2 Ohio State entered Ann Arbor undefeated, having not lost a game in almost 23 months.

The two teams traded touchdowns back and forth throughout the first two quarters, with the halftime score ending at 2121. Ohio State’s 14-point third quarter set the stage for a second undefeated regular season, but three fourth quarter touchdowns

by Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner put the Wolverines within an extra point of tying the game. Michigan decided to go for the 2-point conversion to go up by one with just 32 seconds remaining; Ohio State had no more timeouts.

Michigan trusted Gardner, who had five total touchdowns and more than 450 passing yards to hand Urban Meyer his first loss as Ohio State’s head coach.

Gardner took the shotgun snap from the 3-yard-line, turned to his right and fired a quick ball into the end zone. The pass was caught, but by Ohio State safety Tyvis Powell. After a failed onside kick attempt, Ohio State won 42-41, the highest scoring game since an 86-0 Michigan win in 1902.

UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES

The Game is entering its 20th iteration of the century Saturday, and with it comes another chance to create unforgettable moments that will be forever etched in the annals of college football. The Lantern counted down the top 10 rivalry moments since 2000:

4

UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES

2011 - Michigan’s first win since 2003 In the offseason between the 2010 and ’11 seasons, the Buckeyes lost head coach Jim Tressel to resignation, star quarterback Terrelle Pryor to the NFL supplemental draft and three key starters to five-game suspensions as the result of NCAA violations for trading memorabilia for tattoos. Enduring a 6-5 season to that point, the unranked Buckeyes limped into their matchup in the Big House against No. 17 Michigan.

Ohio State battled back from two long Michigan touchdown drives and a holding penalty that resulted in a safety to take a onepoint 24-23 lead at halftime.

But Michigan quarterback and 2011 team MVP Denard Robinson proved too much for the Buckeye defense to handle. Robinson scored five touchdowns — three through the air and two on the ground — and amassed 337 total yards to give Michigan the 40-34 win, its first since 2003.

3

2016 - Curtis Samuel touchdown in double overtime for the win Michigan entered the season ranked in the top 10 after a 41-7 dismantling of Florida in the Citrus Bowl the season prior. The No. 3 Wolverines climbed the rankings and entered into Jim Harbaugh’s first road matchup as head coach against the Buckeyes with just one loss on the season.

No. 2 Ohio State also had just one loss going into the game and was playing for a spot in the College Football Playoff.

After tying the game with a 10-point second-half comeback and last-second field goal, the Buckeyes started off with the ball in overtime and scored a touchdown in two plays.

On fourth-and-goal from the 5-yard-line, Michigan wide receiver Amara Darbo slanted inside and dove to catch the game-tying touchdown for the Wolverines. Michigan was forced to settle for a field goal on its subsequent offensive drive to go up 27-24.

Ohio State was also stopped in three plays, but decided to go for the fourth-and-1 attempt instead of kicking a field goal to tie. Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett kept the ball on the option play and was tackled into two players. The referees spotted the ball at the first down line, and the spot was confirmed after a video review.

Ohio State running back Curtis Samuel took a handoff 15 yards for the game-winning touchdown on the next play, a 30-27 double-overtime Ohio State victory.

2

UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES

2001 - Tressel guarantees first win There was nothing to suggest that Ohio State would flip the script in the biggest rivalry in college sports when Jim Tressel was hired as the Buckeyes’ head coach in January 2001. Tressel had never been a head coach of a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision team, and Ohio State was 35-56-6 all time against Michigan — including just 2-7-1 in the past 10 matchups.

“I can assure you that you will be proud of your young people in the classroom, in the community, and most especially, in 310 days in Ann Arbor, Michigan,” Tressel promised Buckeye fans who had gathered to watch Ohio State take on Michigan in men’s basketball Jan. 18, 2001.

Tressel’s guarantee of a victory came to fruition as unranked Ohio State beat No. 11 Michigan 26-20 that next season. The Wolverines would beat the Buckeyes just once in Tressel’s 10 seasons as head coach, and Michigan has just two wins in the rivalry since Tressel made that promise.

1

2006 - Game of the Century In 2006, the Buckeyes and Wolverines took college football’s No. 1 and No. 2 positions, respectively, through two different paths.

The Buckeyes sat atop the preseason polls and hadn’t budged ahead of what was billed “The Game of the Century.” Michigan, on the other hand, was ranked No. 15 in the preseason Coaches Poll, but climbed up the ranks after a number of impressive wins, including one against then-No. 2 Notre Dame.

Michigan scored a touchdown on its opening drive, but a 21-point second quarter, including a 39-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Troy Smith to wide receiver Ted Ginn, found Ohio State up 28-14 at halftime.

Michigan came roaring back in the second half to cut the lead to four points at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

On the following drive, the Wolverines stopped the Buckeyes on third down, but Michigan linebacker Shawn Crable was issued a personal foul for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Smith after he threw the ball.

Ohio State took advantage and capped the drive with a touchdown, going on to win 42-39.

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READ ABOUT THE TOP 10 MOMENTS OF THE CENTURY ON THELANTERN.COM

LANTERN FILE PHOTO

Former Ohio State running back Curtis Samuel (4) carries the ball during the second half of the Buckeyes’ 30-27 overtime win against Michigan Nov. 26, 2016.

2 | The Lantern | Tuesday, November 26, 2019

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THE LANTERN

FROM THE DESK OF UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT MICHAEL V. DRAKE

THE STUDENT VOICE OF THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

The Lantern is a student publication that is part of the School of Communication at The Ohio State University. It publishes issues Tuesday and Thursday, and online editions every day. The Lantern’s daily operations are funded through advertising and its academic pursuits are supported by the School of Communication.

LANTERN STAFF 2019-2020 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF KAYLEE HARTER MANAGING EDITOR FOR CONTENT ABHIGYAAN BARARIA MANAGING EDITOR FOR DESIGN KELLY MEADEN MANAGING EDITOR FOR MULTIMEDIA CASEY CASCALDO COPY CHIEF ANNA RIPKEN CAMPUS EDITOR SAM RAUDINS ASSISTANT CAMPUS EDITOR LYDIA WEYRICH OUTREACH & ENGAGEMENT EDITOR LILY MASLIA LTV CAMPUS DIRECTOR AKAYLA GARDNER

CORI WADE | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR

The Ohio State University is celebrating its sesquicentennial this year. Woven into our 150-year history as a public research university is the 122-year-old competition with That Team Up North.

On Saturday, The Game will once again capture the nation’s attention.

College football’s greatest rivalry is one I have watched and appreciated throughout my whole life — and now hold dear in my sixth year as president at Ohio State.

As we celebrate this notable year, our university has unprecedented momentum on and off the field. Last year, almost 700 student-athletes in 36 varsity sports were recognized for GPAs of 3.0 or higher. Football, women’s golf, women’s soccer and men’s tennis received the NCAA’s Public Recognition Award — given to teams scoring in the top 10% based on retention and classroom success — and 14 sports posted perfect Academic Progress Rate scores.

This fall, we welcomed the most academically accomplished and diverse class in our history to Columbus. This corresponds with historic graduation rates, research funding and affordability measures to lower the cost of and increase access to an excellent Ohio State education. The university has committed more than $150 million in additional aid for lower- and moderate-income students since 2015, which has benefited tens of thousands of Buckeyes and their families. Our efforts have reduced the percentage of students with debt and the amount of debt they carry.

While we are proud of our progress, we know that it is truly a team effort.

It takes all members of Buckeye Nation working together — students, faculty, staff, alumni, friends and

supporters. We recently announced plans to engage 1 million donors as part of Time and Change: The Ohio State Campaign. No other university in the nation has undertaken a campaign with that level of engagement.

We also cannot succeed without our partners — including the University of Xichigan.

My friend and colleague President Mark Schlissel and I share a deep dedication to opening the doors of higher education to all. Both of our universities are founding members of the American Talent Initiative, which aims to enroll and graduate an additional 50,000 low- and moderate-income students across the nation by 2025.

Our scientists work together on groundbreaking research. The American Lightweight Materials Manufacturing Innovation Institute — founded with the help of Ohio State and Michigan — operates a public-private partnership designed to advance manufacturing technologies and prepare the workforce. Ohio State and Michigan scientists continue to collaborate on ways to reduce algal blooms, cut carbon dioxide emissions and study the impact of social media in our lives.

Both universities are active members of the Association of American Universities, comprising 65 institutions that contribute to society’s progress and well-being through innovation, scholarship and policy issues. Both schools joined in the early 1900s, one of many highlights in a record of collaboration reaching back more than a century.

In the long run, Buckeyes and Wolverines are committed to working together to make the world a better place — even while, this weekend, we are both committed to emerging as champions.

SPORTS EDITOR GRIFFIN STROM ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR ANDY ANDERS LTV SPORTS DIRECTOR BRIAN NELSON LTV ASSISTANT SPORTS DIRECTOR KHALID HASHI ARTS&LIFE EDITOR NICHOLAS YOUNGBLOOD ASSISTANT ARTS&LIFE EDITOR ASHLEY KIMMEL LTV ARTS&LIFE DIRECTOR OLIVER BOCH JOHN R. OLLER REPORTER JASMINE HILTON PATRICIA B. MILLER MAEVE WALSH LTV SPECIAL PROJECTS DIRECTOR JACK LONG PHOTO EDITOR AMAL SAEED ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR CORI WADE DESIGN EDITOR VICTORIA GRAYSON ASSISTANT DESIGN EDITOR RICHARD GIANG SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR SHELBY METZGER DIRECTOR OF STUDENT MEDIA SPENCER HUNT GENERAL SALES MANAGER MARIE PIERCE PRODUCTION MANAGER TAO WANG

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Donor Sperm Bank

Donor Bank $2,400 per semesterSperm • Males 18-40 eligible www.becomingadonor.com • 614-451-4375 Earn $1200 OR MORE per semester Males between the ages of 18-40 are eligible to become donors

For more information go to www.becomingadonor.com