COLUMBUS — On paper, it looks too easy.
One team is ranked No. 10 and has a conference title and a prime bowl spot on the line when it goes for its fifth consecutive win over its chief rival, which has an awful record and is winding up a horrible season.
Yet Ohio State (9-2, 6-1) takes nothing for granted when its plays Michigan (3-8, 2-5).
Even the university president is worried.
“That’s what makes this particularly dangerous this time around,” Dr. E. Gordon Gee said Monday during a visit to coach Jim Tressel’s weekly meeting with reporters. “I think that people can assume too much. When it comes to a rivalry, every rule book should be thrown out and everything that you’re thinking should be thrown out. This will be a great football game and we will be in for a titanic struggle, I believe.”
Ohio State has won the last four meetings, and is a lopsided choice to make it five. World Features Syndicate, provider of the Glantz-Culver Line, established Ohio State as a 19-point favorite — matching the most points the Buckeyes have ever been favored by in a game against their bitter rivals.
The Buckeyes seem to have so much to play for — and the Wolverines so little.
Ohio State can grab a share of its fourth straight Big Ten title with a win before a rollicking home crowd Saturday. It also can move into position for a possible spot in a Bowl Championship Series game, possibly even the Rose Bowl if Penn State loses at home to Michigan State on Saturday.
The Wolverines want to end their miserable season on a high note.
“No one gives us a chance, and that’s fine,” Michigan offensive lineman David Moosman said. “I’ve got my own teammates, I’ve got my own guys behind me. We’re all going to fight for this win.”
Michigan has pulled off major upsets before in the 104-game series.
The biggest came in 1969. Defending national champion Ohio State was No. 1 and riding a 22-game winning streak when a rookie coach named Glenn “Bo” Schembechler led the Wolverines to a 24-12 victory over his mentor, Woody Hayes.
Another came in 1995, when No. 2 Ohio State had manhandled 11 opponents.
Greg Mathews, a starting wide receiver for the Wolverines, was just a toddler when he watched that showdown. His mother was from Columbus, and his grandmother had been a nurse at Ohio State for 30 years, so the rivalry meant a lot to them — and they passed the torch to the little fan in front of the TV set.
“I remember sitting on the couch and watching the game with my mom,” Mathews said of the game in which Wolverines tailback Tim Biakabutuka rushed 37 times for 313 yards as No. 12 Michigan stunned the Buckeyes, 31-23. “He was just running up and down the field. That’s when I said I like Michigan. That’s when I learned most about the rivalry.”
Michigan dominated throughout the 1990s. Then, Tressel replaced the fired John Cooper and was introduced as Ohio State’s new head coach at halftime of a Michigan-Ohio State basketball game in January of 2001. He uttered a promise to the crowd which reverberates through the rivalry today: “I promise you’ll be proud of our young people in the classroom, in the community, and most especially in 310 days in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on the football field.”
Ten months later, the unranked Buckeyes upset the No. 11 Wolverines, 31-28. They’ve won six of seven Michigan games under Tressel. Lloyd Carr resigned after last season, opening the door for Michigan to hire spread-offense guru Rich Rodriguez, who left West Virginia in a messy breakup that involved lawsuits and death threats.
Right now, the Buckeyes have the upper hand on their rivals, on the field and even in recruiting. This spring, they signed the nation’s No. 1 quarterback prospect, Terrelle Pryor.
Pryor, who will start Saturday, was also considering Michigan.
“You look back at history and you start to understand that, for a long time Michigan was in our role — we couldn’t beat them,” Ohio State tight end Rory Nicol said. “So we look at the countdowns that say it’s been 1,500 days since Michigan’s beat us and they look at the same ones. I’m sure in their hearts that just drives them up the wall. They can’t wait to beat us. They’re going to come out swinging this year.”
Tressel discounts talk that the Wolverines are desperate.
“When you say they don’t have anything to lose, that’s not true,” he said.
He said the history and the tradition make the game important to both sides.
“Ohio State versus Michigan trumps everything,” he said.

Rodriguez wants some fans to ‘get a life’

Rodriguez loves to win and hates to lose as much as anyone.
Michigan’s coach, though, tries to keep as much perspective as he can.
Rodriguez has his wife and kids around him after practices, at the team hotel and on bus trips to the stadium. His office door is always wide open, allowing visitors to say hello.
Heading into his first Michigan-Ohio State game — where the Wolverines are expected to extend their dubious record with a ninth loss — he tried to deliver a message to fans who have lost touch.
“It’s amazing some of the things that people would say (on a message board) or yell at you of a personal nature,” Rodriguez said Monday. “You almost want to tell them, ‘Get a life.’
“There’s a whole lot bigger problems. Look at the economy.”
College football’s winningest team has tumbled like the stock market, losing a school-record eight games and getting beat a Michigan Stadium-record five times at home.

Wolverines hurting

Rodriguez said he doubts quarterback Steven Threet or running back Sam McGuffie will play against the 10th-ranked Buckeyes.
Rodriguez says Threet has a shoulder injury, and McGuffie had a death in his family.
Running back Brandon Minor says he will play in Michigan’s finale after missing a game with rib and shoulder injuries.

Ohio in Michigan?

At the top of the release from Michigan’s athletic media relations department, in big, bold letters, it says that Michigan and Ohio State are meeting Saturday at 12:08 p.m. in Ohio Stadium. It lists the stadium in “Ann Arbor, Mich.”

Lose the blue

Ohio State is having a clothing drive — with a wrinkle.
Buckeyes fans can donate gently used items of blue clothing at Ohio State’s official team shop located on the concourse of the Jerome Schottenstein Center and receive a free “Beat Michigan” T-shirt.
Fans can also trade a blue item of apparel at several business locations near campus. They can then purchase a T-shirt for $10.

With honors

Ohio State CB Malcolm Jenkins was the Big Ten’s special-teams player of the week for blocking a punt through the end zone for a safety in Saturday’s win at Illinois.
OSU’s coaching staff also selected team awards. S Kurt Coleman won on defense, QB Terrelle Pryor on offense and K Aaron Pettrey on special units.

Quotable

Michigan NT Terrance Taylor, on what a win over Ohio State would do for the 3-8 Wolverines: “It wouldn’t justify the season. But it would sure make it a little better.”

 

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