Curtis Samuel celebrates the winning touchdown on November 26, 2016…the moment that made Jack Sawyer want to be a Buckeye. (Photo courtesy of Ohio State sports)
Ohio State vs. Michigan goes to many different places in the minds of those invested in the rivalry. The one that matters most this year to Ohio State would be a change of direction in Ryan Day’s legacy.
Columbus, OH – Ohio State wore black helmets that day. The game: Double overtime.
Remember?
In the words of Chris Fowler: “Samuel … cuts it back … Ohio State wins.”
Legacies are created and memories are made in the Ohio State-Michigan football game. And sometimes, in the suburbs of Columbus, aspirations are born.
Veteran columnist Jeff Gilbert writes Ohio State football and OHSAA sports for Press Pros Magazine.com.
Ohio State senior defensive end Jack Sawyer vividly remembers November 26, 2016. He was a kid in Pickerington, a future Pickerington North Panther, watching his beloved Buckeyes battle The Team Up North. That 15-yard touchdown run by Curtis Samuel – with an escort to the end zone by Pickerington North’s own Pat Elflein – hit Sawyer like a jarring tackle.
“That was really the moment – I want to play in this game,” he said Tuesday. “It’s really cool looking back on it now, watching with my buddies, going crazy when we scored, having no idea I would one day be playing in this game.”
In case you don’t recall the score: Ohio State 30, Michigan 27.
But scores don’t define The Game. It’s the moments you remember that thrill you like they thrilled a young Sawyer. You also remember the ones that break your heart. This Saturday you really don’t care how the Buckeyes win – because they must as a heavy favorite – just as long as they do and fourth-year players like Sawyer finally get their gold pants. If you get an unforgettable hero, a memorable moment, that’s just extra.
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Still fans love the extras – those stories that go with the conquerings – that stoke a great rivalry. Let’s relive a few.
When Jim Tressel spoke to a basketball crowd soon after he was hired to coach the Buckeyes, he told every Buckeye fan what they wanted to hear: “I can assure you that you’ll be proud of our young people, in the classroom and in the community — and most especially, in 310 days, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on the football field.”
Tressel fulfilled that pledge. When Jonathan Wells busted up the middle for a 46-yard touchdown, you knew things would be different under Tressel. The unranked Buckeyes upset No. 10 Michigan 26-20.
Tressel’s 9-1 legacy against Michigan wouldn’t exist with quarterback Troy Smith. Yes, Smith led the Buckeyes to a Fiesta Bowl victory over Notre Dame as a junior, to the 2007 national championship game as a senior and won the Heisman Trophy in a landslide.
But Smith’s enduring legacy is becoming the first quarterback to start in three victories over Michigan since Tippy Dye from 1934-36.
In 2004, Smith dazzled with 241 passing yards, 145 rushing yards and three total touchdowns in a 37-21 upset of the No. 7 Wolverines. That performance was a foreshadowing of the next two seasons.
In 2005, Smith passed for 300 yards in a 25-21 victory. That’s the day he reached legend status. The Buckeyes needed two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. His escape run for a first down set up a touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes. Then Smith and Anthony Gonzalez connected on one of the most famous plays in Ohio State history.
Smith escaped the rush, threw on the run, and Gonzalez made a leaping catch at the three in the final minute to set up the winning touchdown. And ABC’s Brent Musburger lost his mind.
Troy Smith’s enduring legacy was becoming the first quarterback to start in three victories over Michigan since Tippy Dye from 1934-36.
And in 2006, in the only No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup in the history of the rivalry, Smith passed for 316 yards and four touchdowns in a 42-39 game of the century.
Michigan has its share of moments and legacies. You can’t forget Desmond Howard’s Heisman pose or the rose between Charles Woodson’s teeth. You want to forget Tim Biakabutuka, but you can’t. He rushed for 313 yards in 1995 to beat Ohio State 31-23. He played in the NFL for six seasons, but few remember that.
Jim Harbaugh’s legacy of three straight wins will forever be tarnished because of Connor Stalions’ cheat-code shenanigans. But no matter what the NCAA rules, Harbaugh’s legacy north of the Ohio border will always have a shine to it.
Those three losses to Michigan brought Ohio State’s toughness into question once again on Tuesday. The Wolverines ran the ball at will when it mattered most. If this year’s defense has a say, they want this game to be remembered for how tough they say the Buckeyes truly are.
It wasn’t always frosty. Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler were close friends off the field. But in 1968 Hayes attempted a 2-point conversion in the fourth quarter, leading 50-14. When asked why he did it, Hayes responded, “Because I couldn’t go for three.”
“For me, growing up in Columbus, what you pride yourself on is being tough and winning games that way,” Sawyer said. “That’s definitely the style of ball we expect this Saturday.”
The kind of ball and the tough mindset that Woody Hayes brought to the rivalry. The toughness that in 1968 created a story that lives on as myth. Woody probably uttered his most famous saying somewhere at some time and maybe more than once, but its not in any newspaper stories. And it stands as a testament to the depth of the rivalry.
The unbeaten Buckeyes, on their way to a national championship behind quarterback Rex Kern and the rest of the Super Sophs, defeated Michigan 50-14. Jim Otis scored a late touchdown and threw the ball into the stands. Hayes went for two instead of kicking the extra point. He didn’t get the two points. He said he did it because of injuries to the center and the regular extra-point kicker.
The legend, however, is far more compelling: “Because I couldn’t go for three.”
Michigan’s Tim Biakabutuka ran for 313 yards in 1995 and a 31-23 Wolverine win.
Will this Saturday’s game between the No. 2 Buckeyes (10-1) and the unranked Wolverines (6-5) create an indelible memory, a legend, a myth or begin a legacy?
Ryan Day, for one, needs Saturday to signal a legacy change. His three straight losses to the rival define him more in the eyes of many, many fans than his 66-9 record.
A time existed when it was expected coaches would win some and lose some to Michigan. Hayes was 16-11-1 with some bitter and unexpected losses, including losing the 10-year war 4-5-1 to Bo Schembechler. Earle Bruce was 5-4 against Schembechler and Michigan. That wasn’t why he was fired. John Cooper’s record against Michigan was 2-10-1. That, and a 3-8 bowl record, got him fired.
Then came Tressel and Urban Meyer. They combined for a 16-1 record against Michigan to raise expectations that the Buckeyes should rarely, if ever, lose to their rival. But that idea was a myth in a rivalry against a program bound to find success again. Sooner or later that pendulum would swing to defeat for the Buckeyes. Maybe not three straight years but swing that it way it must.
Saturday’s game means everything to Day’s legacy. Not just because a place in the Big Ten title game is at stake. Or playoff seeding. Or getting a chance to play Oregon again. Or anything else associated with this season.
The only answer is because it’s Michigan.
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