Article published November 20, 2009
Stronger OSU teams have lost at Ann Arbor
How big of an upset would Michigan beating Ohio State be on the morrow?
Well, big, but not bigger than life.
True, the Buckeyes have won five straight in the series and are 7-1 against UM during the Jim Tressel era. True, the Buckeyes already are headed for the Rose Bowl while the Wolverines, with a defeat, would be headed back to the drawing board with a second straight losing season.
It looks like, as ex-Ohio State coach John Cooper suggested, a mismatch.
"I don't think there's any question that [Michigan's] Rich Rodriguez is a great coach and the offense he is running is a step ahead of the time," Cooper told my colleague, Matt Markey. "But you've got to have some horses to run it. Combine that with the fact [the Wolverines] don't have the stellar defense they normally have, and it looks like a mismatch."
It's hard to argue with that.But admit it, OSU fans; you're still not comfortable with that offense, especially when The Vest pulls it even more tightly to his vest. And, despite having what Cooper calls the "one great defensive team" in the Big Ten, you're a bit uneasy with the knowledge that Iowa's freshman quarterback, in his first-ever start, orchestrated a late, 70-yard touchdown drive to send last Saturday's conference title game into overtime at the Horseshoe.
Still, hardly anyone can imagine Michigan actually beating Ohio State.
It surely must have been like that in 1969 when Woody Hayes took a once-and-future national championship team in the midst of a 22-game winning streak into Michigan Stadium to face Bo Schembechler's very first UM squad. The Buckeyes of Rex Kern, Jim Otis, Jack Tatum, and Jim Stillwagon were 8-0 and had outscored opponents 371-69.
Final score? Michigan 24, Ohio State 12. The Wolverines went to the Rose Bowl, the Buckeyes went home, and thus began the Ten-Year War between Woody and Bo that elevated this Midwestern brawl into the most bitter of national rivalries.
Then there was Gary Moeller's four-loss and unranked Michigan team blanking No. 5 Ohio State 28-0 in 1993. That wasn't Cooper's worst moment, though, in a career that saw him suffer a 2-10-1 record against the Wolverines. That came in '95 when the Buckeyes - Eddie George, Orlando Pace, Korey Stringer, Joey Galloway, Mike Vrabel, et al - were undefeated, ranked No. 2, and knocking on the national title door before a 31-23 loss in Ann Arbor.
Those were some bigger-than-life upsets. One tomorrow, should it happen, wouldn't quite compare because this Ohio State team, frankly, doesn't quite compare on either side of the ball with those predecessors.
After the stunning upset loss in '69, Hayes had a carpet made with the score of the game on it and placed it at the locker room door, forcing the Buckeyes to see it every time they went in or out for the next 11 months or so.
When Rodriguez said, as he did about a dozen times during a press conference earlier this week, that he understands the magnitude of the rivalry, I believe him. But I don't know if understanding it translates into living it year-round as the Buckeyes did with Woody's carpet and as they do to this day.
Senior safety Kurt Coleman was talking earlier this week about how the Buckeyes are graded on every aspect of their participation, from sprints during spring practice to lifting weights in the winter to conditioning drills early in summer camp. Those who finish near the bottom in any category are placed by OSU's coaches in the maize-and-blue division.
"You don't want to be maize-and-blue," Coleman said.
And, if you're a Buckeye, you never want to lose to those colors.
"There's pressure, sure, because we don't want to be the first senior class to lose to Michigan in, what, six years," said OSU offensive tackle Jim Cordle. "It's going to happen eventually. Isn't it? I mean, I think so."
He didn't sound like he expected it to happen tomorrow.
Then, again, better Buckeye teams than this one have made the trek to Ann Arbor only to swallow the bitter taste of an upset.
Contact Blade sports columnist
Dave Hackenberg at:
dhack@theblade.com
or 419-724-6398.
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