Article published November 18, 2009
Key story lines running deep in the trenches
COLUMBUS - Jim Cordle was an early enrollee at Ohio State and was sitting in an offensive line meeting during spring practice in 2005 when a kid he knew a bit from their high school football frays came in while on a recruiting visit.
"He sat down in the back of the room and I looked back a little while later and he'd fallen asleep," Cordle recalled. "I thought, 'You big meatball, go to Michigan.'"
And Justin Boren did. Go to Michigan, that is. Then, in a move believed unprecedented in the century-long rivalry between the two teams, he transferred to Ohio State where, presumably, he no longer catches up on his sleep during team meetings.
"He turned tide and came back to the good side," Cordle said.
Boren's ex-Michigan teammates see it otherwise. To them, he turned tail and went to the dark side. He did a Benedict Arnold, committing the ultimate traitorous act. And, considering he leveled a broadside or two at UM coach Rich Rodriguez on his way out the door, Wolverine players didn't hesitate to fire back on Monday at the start of Ohio State-Michigan week No. 106.
We would love to provide you with Boren's response, but he was not made available for interviews on Monday during the media's lone session with Buckeye players this week.(If you're interested in why covering OSU is often such a thankless task for beat reporters, others not made available by coach Jim Tressel for Michigan-week interviews included quarterback Terrelle Pryor, running backs Boom Herron and Brandon Saine, receiver DeVier Posey, receiver-return specialist Ray Small, leading tackler Ross Homan, and sacks leader Cameron Heyward. Good gracious, why would anybody want to talk to them?)
Boren started all 13 games at either center or left guard for UM, where both of his parents had been athletes, during the 2007 season and captured honorable mention all-Big Ten. Then Lloyd Carr retired and Rodriguez was hired and Boren suddenly became a Buckeye.
The 315-pounder sat out the '08 season under transfer rules before becoming a mainstay at left guard for Ohio State this year. On Saturday, he will make his first foray back into Michigan Stadium where he will get anything but a hero's welcome.
"He's pumped up," Cordle said. "He knows they'll be going after him. It's always a little weird, I guess, when a central Ohio kid [Boren is from Pickerington] goes to Michigan, but I think most people understood that's where his dad had played football and that there were things Justin probably couldn't control during the recruiting process. He wasn't happy. During the off-seasons he drove home every weekend. I knew he was really a Buckeye at heart. So, this is his week. I think he's been waiting for it since the day he got here."
The game has special meaning - beyond the obvious - for Cordle, too. A year ago, he was knocked into ya-ya land by Michigan linebacker Jonas Mouton and all kinds of bad things happened.
"Justin had warned me Mouton hit harder than anybody around and, sure enough, he really popped me," Cordle recalled. "I blacked out and my body just crumbled. I went one way and my knee buckled the other way and it tore my MCL."
He returned from surgery in time for Ohio State's Fiesta Bowl date with Texas. But, perhaps, compensating for the left knee created problems with his right ankle and while his teammates were playing Toledo earlier this season he was undergoing surgery to repair bone spurs and a micro-fracture while cleaning out scar tissue and bone fragments. Amazingly, he was back four weeks later and has since taken up residence at left tackle.
"I think the way he came back so fast from that surgery was an inspiration to our whole group," Tressel said. "His passion to be back and his willingness to play wherever needed … well, Jim has been extraordinary. He had an amazing performance against No. 94 [Iowa defensive end Adrian Clayborn] and he'll need another one this week against No. 55 [Michigan DE Brandon Graham]."
Cordle suspects Graham will be in a nasty mood Saturday. He said he can put himself in the shoes of a Wolverine senior who has never beaten Ohio State and who is suffering through a second straight sub-par season and realizes "for all of the bad stuff going on up there they can salvage everything with one win. This game is how you're judged."
The old saying is that games are won or lost in the trenches, but few of us really pay any particular attention. This week, between Cordle vs. Graham and UM vs. Boren, the play of the big boys may well be how this game is judged.
Contact Blade sports columnist
Dave Hackenberg at:
dhack@theblade.com
or 419-724-6398
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