Saturday, November 30, 2019
Michigan 6 - 7 Ohio St. (7:20 left in 1st Quarter)
Michigan goes three and out and punts. OSU will start from its own 45.
Michigan 6 - 7 Ohio St. (8:50 left in 1st Quarter)
It's easy when you know how. OSU goes 75 yards in nine plays, capping off their touchdown drive with a 5-yd run by J.K. Dobbins of LaGrange H.S. in LaGrange, Tex. (One of the great mysteries of college football in recent years is why so few great football players from Texas play for the University of Texas.) Blake Haubeil of Canisius H.S. in Buffalo adds the extra point, and the Buckeyes have a one-point lead.
Michigan 6 - 0 Ohio St. (11:43 left in 1st Quarter)
The Wolverines take the opening kickoff and go 75 yards in 7 plays. Giles Jackson, a freshman wide receiver from Freedom H.S. in Antioch, Calif., dashes 22 yards on an end-around for the touchdown. Quinn Nordin, a senior from Rockford H.S. in Rockford, Mich., misses the extra point.
Michigan v. Ohio St.
Here are the last eighteen meetings between these two ancient rivals (home teams listed first):
11/24/01: Michigan 20 - 26 Ohio St.
11/23/02: Ohio St. 14 - 9 Michigan
11/22/03: Michigan 35 - 21 Ohio St.
11/20/04: Ohio St. 37 - 21 Michigan
11/19/05: Michigan 21 - 25 Ohio St.
11/18/06: Ohio St. 42 - 39 Michigan
11/17/07: Michigan 3 - 14 Ohio St.
11/22/08: Ohio St. 42 - 7 Michigan
11/21/09: Michigan 10 - 21 Ohio St.
11/27/10: Ohio St. 37 - 7 Michigan
11/26/11: Michigan 40 - 34 Ohio St.
11/24/12: Ohio St. 26 -21 Michigan
11/30/13: Michigan 41 - 42 Ohio St.
11/29/14: Ohio St. 42 - 28 Michigan
11/28/15: Michigan 13 - 42 Ohio St.
11/26/16: Ohio St. 30 - 27 Michigan
11/25/17: Michigan 20 - 31 Ohio St.
11/24/18: Ohio St. 62 - 39 Michigan
If you're keeping track at home, that's a record of 16-2 for the Buckeyes in the 21st century. That's not much of a rivalry. Michigan hasn't won in Columbus since Bill Clinton was president. Michigan never beat Urban Meyer while he was at OSU. Michigan hasn't held OSU to less than 30 points since 2012.
The odds-makers aren't giving Michigan much of a chance this year, either. OSU's closest game was an 11-point win over Penn State last week. Every other game has been a blowout. According to Vegas, the Buckeyes are favored by nine in a game where 52 points are expected. That would work out to something like a 30-21 victory for OSU.
And yet, I have a feeling that we will see some real drama today. Early in the year, Wisconsin beat Michigan 35-14, and most folks haven't paid attention to them since. But they are 9-2 on the year, with their only other loss coming by seven points at Penn State. Here are their last four games:
10/26/19: Michigan 45 - 14 Notre Dame
11/02/19: Maryland 7 - 38 Michigan
11/16/19: Michigan 44 - 10 Michigan St.
11/23/19: Indiana 14 - 39 Michigan
Yes, Indiana is Indiana. Yes, it's ludicrous that Maryland is in the Big 10. But Notre Dame and Michigan State are long-time rivals who have tormented the Wolverines in the past -- this year Michigan crushed both of them in the Big House. That's the version of Michigan that Ohio State is going to see today.
Fifty years ago, Ohio State was coming off of the 1968 national championship. The Buckeyes were ranked number one all year. They had no close games in the regular season. The week before the Michigan game, they toyed with a Purdue team that was ranked 10th in the country, beating them 42 to 14. But on November 22, 1969, they went to Ann Arbor and lost, 24 to 12. The Bo Schembechler era had begun. Jim Harbaugh has a chance to start his own era today. I'm very curious to see what will happen.
11/24/01: Michigan 20 - 26 Ohio St.
11/23/02: Ohio St. 14 - 9 Michigan
11/22/03: Michigan 35 - 21 Ohio St.
11/20/04: Ohio St. 37 - 21 Michigan
11/19/05: Michigan 21 - 25 Ohio St.
11/18/06: Ohio St. 42 - 39 Michigan
11/17/07: Michigan 3 - 14 Ohio St.
11/22/08: Ohio St. 42 - 7 Michigan
11/21/09: Michigan 10 - 21 Ohio St.
11/27/10: Ohio St. 37 - 7 Michigan
11/26/11: Michigan 40 - 34 Ohio St.
11/24/12: Ohio St. 26 -21 Michigan
11/30/13: Michigan 41 - 42 Ohio St.
11/29/14: Ohio St. 42 - 28 Michigan
11/28/15: Michigan 13 - 42 Ohio St.
11/26/16: Ohio St. 30 - 27 Michigan
11/25/17: Michigan 20 - 31 Ohio St.
11/24/18: Ohio St. 62 - 39 Michigan
If you're keeping track at home, that's a record of 16-2 for the Buckeyes in the 21st century. That's not much of a rivalry. Michigan hasn't won in Columbus since Bill Clinton was president. Michigan never beat Urban Meyer while he was at OSU. Michigan hasn't held OSU to less than 30 points since 2012.
The odds-makers aren't giving Michigan much of a chance this year, either. OSU's closest game was an 11-point win over Penn State last week. Every other game has been a blowout. According to Vegas, the Buckeyes are favored by nine in a game where 52 points are expected. That would work out to something like a 30-21 victory for OSU.
And yet, I have a feeling that we will see some real drama today. Early in the year, Wisconsin beat Michigan 35-14, and most folks haven't paid attention to them since. But they are 9-2 on the year, with their only other loss coming by seven points at Penn State. Here are their last four games:
10/26/19: Michigan 45 - 14 Notre Dame
11/02/19: Maryland 7 - 38 Michigan
11/16/19: Michigan 44 - 10 Michigan St.
11/23/19: Indiana 14 - 39 Michigan
Yes, Indiana is Indiana. Yes, it's ludicrous that Maryland is in the Big 10. But Notre Dame and Michigan State are long-time rivals who have tormented the Wolverines in the past -- this year Michigan crushed both of them in the Big House. That's the version of Michigan that Ohio State is going to see today.
Fifty years ago, Ohio State was coming off of the 1968 national championship. The Buckeyes were ranked number one all year. They had no close games in the regular season. The week before the Michigan game, they toyed with a Purdue team that was ranked 10th in the country, beating them 42 to 14. But on November 22, 1969, they went to Ann Arbor and lost, 24 to 12. The Bo Schembechler era had begun. Jim Harbaugh has a chance to start his own era today. I'm very curious to see what will happen.
Ohio St. 28 - 17 Penn St. (Final)
This is the only game all year where a team took Ohio State into the fourth quarter. Down 21-0 in the third quarter, Penn State scored 17 quick points to make the score 21-17 with one quarter to go. But OSU put one more touchdown on the board, and the Buckeye defense made it stand up, and Ohio State had its 11th victory of the season.
It was the last game of the year in Columbus, a town that loves its football team, and has rarely had a season more pleasant than this one. The Buckeye fans cheered and cheered through the gloom and rain of the fourth quarter, and one can hardly blame them. They have dominated almost every team they'v played, they pulled out a tough victory against a very good Penn State team, and now they are only two games away from the playoff.
It was the last game of the year in Columbus, a town that loves its football team, and has rarely had a season more pleasant than this one. The Buckeye fans cheered and cheered through the gloom and rain of the fourth quarter, and one can hardly blame them. They have dominated almost every team they'v played, they pulled out a tough victory against a very good Penn State team, and now they are only two games away from the playoff.
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