Amid a coronavirus press conference in Ohio, a Michigan alumna and the state governor try to best each other in terms of the rivalry.
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The Michigan – Ohio State rivalry takes very few off days.
We must admit, we’ve been big fans of Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s handling of the novel coronavirus, and The Buckeye State’s COVID-19 numbers reflect his solid leadership in the matter.
With Wednesday being Earth Day, DeWine announced to the Ohio press corps in Columbus that he would be giving away his personal buckeye tree at random to one the media members in attendance.
But we’re not quite so sure it ended up being random.
One of the media members who has been covering DeWine and his handling of coronavirus-related matters is Dayton Daily News political reporter Laura Bischoff, a Michigan native and 1987 graduate of the University of Michigan. Perhaps knowing of DeWine’s giveaway, Bischoff chose a certain PPE item that would assuredly get attention from anyone in the capital city of Columbus.
.@GovMikeDeWine promises to give away his Buckeye tree plant to someone in the Ohio press corps. Looks like I picked the perfect day for my M Go Blue mask. pic.twitter.com/dpkqKA3hWX
The two legends once got together and played Jordan’s game recreationally.
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Just, you know, two of the greatest of all time balling out together, no big deal.
Former Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan has dominated social media in recent days with the premiere of ESPN’s ten-part 30 for 30 series The Last Dance profiling the prolific guard and his time in the NBA. But it was only a few weeks ago that Tom Brady received similar mentions when he signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after spending 19 seasons with the New England Patriots.
But, at one time, the North Carolina basketball star and Michigan quarterback got together in the Bahamas and played a friendly game of pick-up basketball.
The NBA on ESPN Facebook page shared a glimpse of the two G.O.A.T.s in action, and while there’s very little action featuring Brady, as he’s somewhat on the periphery, you can see Jordan easily draining shots with impunity.
Regardless, it’s a cool moment and something all sports fans can truly enjoy.
The two prolific institutions have teamed up to lead a social media campaign to show solidarity as COVID-19 has canceled sports this spring.
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It’s been a heck of a month, with all eyes on what should have been the forthcoming NCAA Tournament as well as spring football, only to see the novel coronavirus pandemic see it all canceled in short order.
As far as Michigan Athletics is concerned, it’s not about to sit by idly while it waits for the proverbial storm to pass.
As announced by the NCAA, Michigan and Texas are leading the way in the fight against COVID-19, as the two storied institutions are working together to forge a path for all of college athletics through the creation of ‘United as One,’ a social media campaign designed to show solidarity through these tough times.
The #UnitedAsOne campaign, created and led by NCAA member schools, started to form less than 24 hours after the remaining NCAA winter and spring championships were canceled due to the evolving global health threat surrounding COVID-19.
Unity, at an unprecedented time, became a rallying cry among the membership of more than 1,100 schools and nearly 500,000 student-athletes across three divisions. It started small. A group of about 50 digital and social media creatives within different athletics departments began direct messaging each other on Twitter on Friday.
“What’s next?”
“What can we do?”
“What should we do?”
Quickly, the consensus became to find a way to come together, to show unity and support within college athletics during a trying time for everyone in the country. That evolved into the #UnitedAsOne campaign, which officially launched at 4:16 p.m. Eastern time Thursday, exactly a week after the announcement of the NCAA canceling the remaining 2019-20 winter and spring championships.
“Moments like this, I feel like we should be bringing our teams together,” said Brian Wagner, Michigan’s digital strategy and creative lead, who was part of the initial group that came up with the campaign. “All of our programs, all of our student-athletes, our coaching staffs, we’re all in the same boat here. This is certainly something to show that we’re all in this together.”
To show this, the social media accounts of schools across the country started posting a unified graphic Thursday. The graphic reads “United As One” on one side — the “O” being the NCAA’s logo — and is personalized with the school’s logo on the other side.
It’ll be a tough time without sports, but Michigan and Texas are among the schools leading the way when it comes to building bridges and creating solidarity through these tough times.
Did the two head coaches just become best friends?
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ORLANDO, Fla. — Jim Harbaugh may not have gotten Michigan to Alabama’s elevation in college football’s elite as of yet, but there’s certainly a lot of similarities in he and head coach Nick Saban.
That was certainly recognized when the two coaches sat down for the VRBO Citrus Bowl joint head coach press conference on Tuesday morning, as the stoic football men discussed the matchup. Both have been known for having something of an adversarial relationship with the media, and when Saban started getting bristly about media evaluations of players, you could see Harbaugh finding kinship with his compatriot on the other side of the table.
“Everybody’s got to make a decision about what’s best for their future, and we feel like our job is to make sure that we give them the correct information because there’s a lot of misinformation out there, whether it’s mock drafts or who is the evaluator,” Saban said. “And what we try to do is make sure we get the information from the actual people who draft.
“I know there’s a lot of media guys out there and, even you, but I’m not sure you draft anybody.
“Do you have a pick when the draft comes? So we try to get the information from the people who will actually pick the players, which is sometimes not congruent with what you all think, no disrespect to your ability to evaluate.”
As Saban finished this diatribe, a grin quickly came across Harbaugh’s face, drawing laughter from the media in attendance.
So, like Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly in the movie Step Brothers, did the two head coaches just become best friends?
Yup!
They probably won’t be however tomorrow evening, after they face off in the VRBO Citrus Bowl in Orlando.
From the mind of Brian Letscher, the complete 11-episode series ‘Those Who Stay,’ chronicling the first year of Bo Schembechler in Ann Arbor.
“Those Who Stay: The 50th Anniversary” is a historical fiction series based on a true story and draws on first-hand interviews with the players and coaches of the 1969 Michigan Football program.
“Those Who Stay: The 50th Anniversary”
Episode 1
November 23, 1968. Columbus, Ohio
Ohio State Head Coach, Woody Hayes, is surrounded by reporters, reveling in the you know what-kicking his Buckeyes have just given a good Michigan team. 21-14 at halftime, it looked like the Wolverines might give the #2 team in the land a run for their money. Instead OSU and their ‘Super Sophomores’ shook down Michigan for every last nickel, scoring 29 unanswered points in the second half.
But it was the last touchdown and Woody Hayes that really had the Wolverines pissed off.
Late in the 4th quarter, Ohio State’s Jim Otis scored to put them up 50-14. But instead of kicking the extra point, Woody went for two. A scoundrel move by anyone’s standards. Except for Woody when playing “that school up North”. To beat them wasn’t enough. He wanted to dominate Michigan. To rob them of their will and dignity. To stampede through their nightmares for the next 364 days.
OSU didn’t get the two points but that hardly mattered. Attempting it was more than enough.
A beat reporter asks, “Why go for two when you’re up by 36 points?”
Woody fires back, “Because they wouldn’t let me go for three.”
School on a Saturday…no class.
An hour later, Michigan’s team bus rattles in the cold evening air. Players – bodies beat, egos bruised – climb up. Ice packs, crutches and silence.
Head Coach Bump Elliott, 43, is last aboard. He surveys his exhausted squad. A gentlemen’s coach, he speaks with a quiet dignity, “That is one of the finest team’s college football has ever seen. You played with the effort, class and integrity befitting a Michigan team. If anyone needs a trainer, let us know.”
Bump sits and the bus slowly pulls out and heads up Interstate 23 to Ann Arbor.
Canham Makes A Move
Bump Elliott repeats it, testing out the title, “Associate Athletic Director.”
The full-on Athletic Director, Don Canham, 50 years old, a decent suit, leans back in his office chair, “It’s yours if you want it. Or you can coach another year if you’d like. But I gotta say, Bump, you don’t seem very happy.”
Canham was just six months on the job. He’d been an All-American high jumper at Michigan and the head track and field coach for 18 years before taking over as AD. A Michigan Man to be sure. This wasn’t easy, this conversation. He liked Bump Elliott. Everyone liked Bump. Bump was honest and fair and treated the players as young men not cannon fodder. They had been friends for over a decade.
But now Canham was in charge of the whole show. And with that promotion came a surprise in the form of a $250,000 annual departmental deficit. Michigan Stadium was yet to be dubbed The Big House – which was understandable considering that it was barely more than half-full. The 1967 Ohio State game had just 64,144 butts in seats. Canham had to right a sinking ship and do it fast.
Bump looks out the window of Canham’s office, the faint chants of an anti-Vietnam protest in the distance. He’d put together a couple good teams in his ten years, including the 1968 squad. But times were changing fast. Players had been missing practices to attend those same protests. Civil Rights. Anti-War. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy had both been gunned down between Spring Ball and now. These issues weren’t hypotheticals to the players – to be discussed in some Angell Hall classroom, no, this was their lives.
‘Associate Athletic Director’ it was for Bump. He’d leave a year later to become the Athletic Director at Iowa but until then he was all Maize n’ Blue, committed to helping Canham find the next head man. How hard could that be?
Rushed from the Blindside
Morning sun pours through the huge windows, across a large, wood table dotted with coffee mugs. The monthly faculty meeting, presided over by President Robben Fleming. But now he just presides over shocked silence while Don Canham, stock still in the leather, swivel-back chair of the stately university conference room, tries to catch up with what he just heard.
“You’re saying you want to disband the football program?”, Canham asks Dr. Marc Rosenstein, 47, Dean of the History Department.
“I’m saying I’d like to discuss whether, given the times we are in, does football fit into our current worldview, “ Rosenstein replies.
Canham: “What the hell does that even mean?”
Rosenstein: “We are hailed as one of the foremost progressive universities in the country, we are strongly anti-war, and so I wonder – “
Canham: “What does that have to do with – “
Rosenstein: “I wonder if we shouldn’t examine the football program and decide if it fits into our current culture and, frankly, if it’s even financially viable. You’re losing money, right?”
Canham: “The football program is fine. It’s doing fine.”
Rosenstein: “But we need it to be more than fine, right? It has to support our athletic department as a whole and, right now – with the stadium half-full – it’s not doing that.”
Canham: “What the hell is – Marc, what the hell is going on here? You love football.”
Rosenstein: “I do. All the more reason this is a difficult topic to broach.”
Canham: “Then don’t broach it.”
President Fleming steps in: “That’s enough, gentlemen. Marc, do you have a motion to make or are you just talking out loud?”
Rosenstein: “No motion at this time.”
Fleming: “Then please refrain from just spitting stuff on the table with no warning. It’s not like you’re suggesting we close the chess club.”
Canham bites his tongue. But the looks of several around the room tell him Rosenstein is not alone.
Job Opening: Head Football Coach at The University of Michigan
Canham hangs up his office phone and looks to Bump. It’s not good.
They called everyone they knew – George Allen, Ara Parseghian, Doyt Perry, Ben Martin and more – and cobbled together a list of excellent candidates.
And not one of them wants the job.
“The facilities weren’t up to par.” Which they weren’t. They were terrible.
“You don’t pay your assistant coaches enough.” Which they didn’t. They couldn’t afford to.
And, the real kicker: “Football just doesn’t seem important to the university anymore.” Which, given Rosenstein’s words and the lot of nodding heads, Canham had to consider that maybe that was true too.
But recruiting waits for no one. They had to find their man and find him fast if they wanted a chance in hell of competing. Bump looked down his list of mostly crossed off names. But down there, at the bottom, was one last coach.
Bump: “There is this one guy. Ara mentioned him and so did Doyt – he was an assistant for both. Knock on him is he’s got a bit of a temper but – “
RING, RING. Canham rips the receiver up to his ear –
“Hello? Hey, Joe! Uh huh. Gotcha. We can fly you in as soon as possible and – (listens) oh – okay, got it. I’ll be there, first thing.” He hangs up and grabs his overcoat.
Canham: “Paterno at Penn State.”
Bump: “Isn’t he prepping for the Orange Bowl?”
Canham: “That’s why I’m meeting him at the Pittsburgh airport bright and early.”
Bump: “He’s interested?”
Canham: “Enough to meet. That’s all I need.”
And Canham’s gone, a man on a mission.
The Greater Pittsburgh Airport Hotel
A young Joe Paterno, 43, Penn State sweater and the black horned-rimmed glasses, sits in a hotel room chair, Canham across from him. It’s just the two of them.
“I’m not trying to be disrespectful, Don, but, see, your program is losing money because it just doesn’t seem like the university or community or even your players care about football anymore.”
“They care. They just need you to remind them,” Canham replies.
“My guys at Penn State – these are hard-working, steel-town kids. No one is missing practice to attend a protest.”
“We have some talented, hard-working players, I assure you.”
“Woody beat you by 40,” Paterno counters.
Canham takes a deep breath and stares at Paterno. Not in a million years did he think it would be this hard to find a new head man. Not at Michigan. But he could see where Paterno was coming from. He was going to a major bowl game for the third year in a row, ranked in the Top 10, building a program at a place that lived and breathed football.
“I hear you, Joe, I do,” Canham said, “Yes, we lost to Ohio State. Yes, we have some things to improve on and, yes, Ann Arbor is a different place than Happy Valley. But it’s still Michigan. Our guys are talented and smart and there’s not a high school player alive that doesn’t want to wear that winged helmet. Every year, the last game of the season, you’ll get your shot against Woody and the Buckeyes. There is nothing like that game, Joe, and you know it. National television every single year and there’s not a parent, recruit or President that isn’t watching.”
Paterno is listening. Canham sets the hook.
“I’m guessing that’s appealing to a man who likes to compete. I know you’re having success right now. But Penn State will never be Michigan and you know it.”
Paterno, indiscernible, just stares at Canham. Canham stares back.
The Butcher of Barberton
Bump Elliott couldn’t get Detroit News sports editor, Joe Falls, off the phone and he was too polite to hang up on him. Falls wanted to know who was front-running for the job. Bump didn’t want to tell the truth: no one. Not a single interview lined up and it was nearing Christmas, 1968.
The athletic department secretary, Linda, pops her head in, “Don’s on Line 2.” Perfect.
Bump: “Hey Joe – Joe, uh huh, listen – Joe, I have to go. We’ll let you know as soon as we know, yes – goodbye Joe, I’m switching lines now.” And he does, “Hello, Don.”
“He said no, “Canham says, “He’s happy where he is.”
“Okay. Well…we’ll keep digging.”
“Rosenstein isn’t going to have to disband the program, we’re doing it all by ourselves,” Canham says.
“What do you mean? Dean Rosenstein?,” Bump asks.
“It’s nothing. It’s…Rosenstein’s a blowhard,” Canham says, “Who else do we have?”
“Well, there is this young fellow who coached for Ara at Northwestern and Doyt at Bowling Green. He’s won a lot of games as head man at Miami of Ohio the last six years including a couple of championships. More than half his staff was coaching high school ball just a couple years ago. And he’s got a reputation for having quite a temper,” Bump finishes.
“Bump, you wanna be in administration, you gotta work on your sales skills,” Canham says.
“And he’s got a penchant for cursing.”
Canham, leaning against a pay phone in the Pittsburgh Airport, sighs, “So you want me to interview a foul-mouthed guy with a staff full of wide-eyed, young bucks and the temper of General Patton?”
“And he played and coached for Woody Hayes.”
“Oh, for crissakes.”
“Which means if anybody knows how to beat them, it’s this guy,” Bump says.
Canham stands up straight…that’s interesting.
“What’s his name? (listens) Say it again. (listens) Skembochler? What the hell kind of name is that?? Sounds like the butcher from some German village. Schembeckner? I’ll learn it if I have to, okay – just get him up here for an interview as soon as you can. And mum’s the word.”
Come join us at the all-new WolverinesWire forums, where we aim to be a fun (not negative) place to talk Michigan athletics!
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It’s been a long time coming, but now we’re expanding the WolverinesWire site in the best possible way.
You may have noticed a new ‘forums’ tab up on the top menu with our recent site redesign, and while they’ve been in soft open, they’re now officially open for all to join and use.
We’ve utilized them for our game threads the past few weeks, and it’s been a rousing success. We’re hoping that you’ll sign up using Discourse and not only join the conversation, but start one of your own.
We aim to be a congenial space to talk Michigan football, basketball, and whatever else you might find interesting.
So join us! As is everything we do, it’s absolutely FREE! So, win or lose on the field, court or rink, let’s have a good time talking about it!
The stunning finale of the 1969, as retold by Brian Letscher.
“Those Who Stay: The 50th Anniversary” is a historical fiction series based on a true story and draws on first-hand interviews with the players and coaches of the 1969 Michigan Football program. It will be ongoing through the 2019 Michigan/Ohio State game.
On the small television in the Michigan full staff meeting room, Wisconsin head coach, John Cotta, takes a bite of his apple and pushes his hat back on his head in awe.
“Not much you can do about it,” Cotta says, “I was about to go over and see if they had a big ‘S’ on their chest.”
ABC Sports cuts back to their reporter who is standing beside Woody Hayes who can’t hide the horn-rimmed twinkle in his eyes.
“This seems to be how every opposing coach talks about your squad,” the reporter says, “Are you concerned your team will be over-confident going into this Michigan game?”
“I’m not one to hide our light under a half-bushel,” Woody replies, “If you talk your players down they may start to believe you. No, this is the best material we’ve ever had at Ohio State and I expect they will continue to play that way.”
Bo leans forward and flips the TV off.
“Hide our light under a half-bushel,” he says to the empty room. “That’s a new one.”
Gary Moeller pops his head in. “Team’s ready for you.”
“Any word from McLean?”
Every player who played in the game was required to check in with the Lindsay McLean, the head trainer, on Sunday before the team meeting.
“If anyone’s injured they’re not telling him,” Moeller replies.
Bo nods, sips a milkshake. A far cry from after the Michigan State game when the training room was packed with guys saying they were hurt. He leans back in his chair and stares at the now-dark television, jaw set.
They’d gotten back from Iowa City at around 9PM. Bo went home, tucked the boys in bed, had a bowl of Millie’s chili and tried to sleep for a few hours before finally heading back to the office to watch film.
“You know the last time he and I played hand ball, he beat me,” Bo says. “1962, my last year coaching for him. You were a senior?”
“Junior,” Moeller says. Moeller, 27, had played linebacker at Ohio State.
“Sonofabitch called me at 5AM, the Friday before we were set to play UCLA — just like he used to do when I was a graduate assistant. “Schembechler! Meet me at the court in fifteen minutes!” I drag my (expletive) down there and he beat me. Bad. He kicked my butt. We were ranked No. 1.”
“And lost to UCLA,” Moeller says.
“Goddamn right. Lost three games that season. But beat Michigan. 28-0.”
Bo drags on his milkshake, “He knew I was leaving. Hell, I didn’t even know that but I think he knew I was going to take a head job somewhere. And there was no way in hell he was letting me leave without beating me in handball one more time, “
He leans back, a half-grin. “That sonofabitch.”
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1969 – 9:08 AM
“Listen, Marc, it’s Ohio State week, can you just give it a rest?”
Canham sits on the edge of his desk, phone to his ear, Dean Rosenstein on the other end of the line.
“That’s exactly why I can’t give it a rest. The report isn’t great, Don. It’s not horrible but it’s not great. There is a genuine case to be made that the university disband the football program.”
“You’re the only one making that case, Marc – and spending university money to do it. Tell me how that makes any sense.”
“I know this is hard, but this needs to be evaluated fairly and the Ohio State game is a huge part of the evaluation.“
“Ticket sales are through the roof for this game,” Canham says.
“Great, I look forward to seeing it,” Rosenstein says, “I’ll be there on Saturday, sitting with President Fleming and some other Regents. I wish you and the program the best. I still have to do my job.”
“This is not your job.”
“I’ll see you Saturday.”
He’s gone. Canham slams down the phone, fuming. Things were turning around and he knew it, he could feel it. The record said two losses and the attendance wasn’t great yet but Band Day had been a huge success and the tailgating thing was growing every home game. Beating Ohio State was a longshot, fine — but with Bo’s energy and the talent Bump Elliott had assembled, who the hell knows.
The program needed time, that’s all, Canham knew that. But right now, with Rosenstein breathing down his neck, the only thing he could afford to think about was this Saturday.
“Jan!”
Jan Sterling, his executive assistant, flies in. “Mr. Canham!”
“I want a quarter page ad in every paper in Ohio by tomorrow: Free tickets to the game Saturday, limit 10 per person.”
“Are you serious?”
“Unfortunately, yes. We need a full house.”
“A full house of Buckeye fans?”
“We’re at 80,000 now – most of those are from Michigan. The only place to get more butts in more seats is south of the Toledo strip.”
“Fine,” Jan sighs, “but at least offer ‘buy one, get one free.’”
“Good idea. Get everyone on it, call every paper we can right now and reserve the space. I’ll write the copy now – you’ll have it in ten minutes.”
“One more question: Do we have the budget for this?”
“Not at all.”
Canham was a riverboat gambler, no doubt about it, and he was doubling down on Bo and the team.
“Let me worry about that when the time comes, “ Canham says.
“Okay,” Jan nods, “We’ll get right on it.”
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1969 – 1:10 PM
Mandich, Curtis, Caldo and Craw walk into Yost, expecting to be the first players there. They’re coming in early to watch film. But when they enter the locker room they nearly run into the backs of Henry Hill, Cecil Pryor, Thom Darden and Barry Pierson, all of whom came to do the same.
But they can only see one thing at the moment: 50-14.
Because it’s everywhere. It’s taped on their lockers, painted on the walls, marked on every single practice jersey. It’s on the floors in front of the toilets, on the mirror and the inside of the shower curtains. They couldn’t be in the locker room with their eyes open and not see 50-14 in at least three places. It was even painted on the wooden sign over the door, right above ‘Those Who Stay Will Be Champions.’
An hour later, Bo stood before the team in their Monday meeting.
“Men: there is not a single person outside of this room that believes we can beat Ohio State. Fifty-to-fourteen. Everyone, including the men in this room, remembers that score. That game last year in Columbus. The old man hung fifty points on this team. Fifty points because he chose to go for two with a minute-and-a-half left in the game when they were up by thirty-four.”
Bo laid it out there. He didn’t need to do anything other than that. These seniors remembered that game like it happened yesterday. The humiliation. Ohio State kicking their (expletive) in the second-half, blowing them off the ball. The long, cold bus ride home with the clanging of that Ohio State victory bell chasing them back to Ann Arbor.
“50-14, men.” Bo scans his team and stops on Mandich who has tears in his eyes. Bo doesn’t need to say another word.
“Let’s get to practice.” The words out of his mouth before the guys leap off their chairs and head for the field.
Generally, Monday was for scouting report and a half-pad practice to go through the basic game plan. Simple, get loose, get a feel for the opponent, no tackling to the ground.
But this team had been preparing for Ohio State for months. They knew Kern. They knew Otis and Tatum and Stillwagon. Back before Spring Ball, Bo had changed Michigan’s defense to look like Ohio State’s just so they could practice against it every day. They had been scouting the Buckeyes since March. Before that. Since 50-14.
So, despite the half-pads there was no half anything that Monday. The guys flew around the cold field like it was already Saturday, smashing into each other, tackling to the ground, the offense hooting and hollering and the defense quietly setting about to destroy. It was absolute bedlam. On a Monday.
Hanlon grabbed Bo. “They’re way too high, Bo. We gotta settle them down before someone gets hurt.”
Bo watched Barry Pierson crash into Billy Taylor. Hanlon had a point. The guys could burn out by Saturday. Or, worse, someone could get hurt. It was risky.
“Bo?” Hanlon pressed.
“Let ‘em go for now,” Bo replied. “We gotta let ‘em go.”
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1969 – 2:15 PM
Bo and the staff dressed for practice in the coaches locker room. Canham had paid for some new chairs, replaced the lightbulb overhead and built some shelves. But the nails in the walls stayed per Bo’s request.
He wanted to hang his hat on the same nail as Fielding H. Yost.
“Seventy-eight percent of the time that Kern gives up the ball it goes to Otis,” Jim Young said as he layered on a sweatshirt. It was twenty-six degrees outside.
“So, we stop Kern and make him go to Otis,” Bo said.
“Exactly,” Young replied.
“No one has been up on them, not once all season, let alone early in the ballgame. We get an early lead and make Woody throw it.”
“We can run the football on them,” Hanlon says, “Eat the clock and move the ball.”
“We can run the ball but we are not running it at Tatum – he’s too damn fast,” Bo says.
“That’s good!” Hanlon says. “He rushes up the field – fast! And we run Taylor right underneath him.”
“Goddammit, Jerry, you don’t drive your car into a tornado!”
“They won’t know what to do with it! It’ll slow Tatum down!”
Coach Stobart charges up the stairs.
“Are you with him on running the ball directly at Tatum?” Bo asks Stobart.
“Yes, I am, it’ll work, but – ”
“Oh, horses***! You’re both dumber than a box of rocks!”
“Maybe, but we’ve got a bigger problem right now.”
Five minutes later, Bo, Stobart, Hanlon, Moeller and Young are on the practice field.
Well, what should be the practice field. Right now, it’s piled with a foot of snow and ice.
“Grounds guy swears he put the tarp on last night, ” Stobart says.
Bo’s face is beet red, veins bulging, as he surveys the snowy tundra.
Bo looks at the two maintenance men at the far end, shoveling. Slowly.
“We can watch extra film with the guys until the field’s cleared – get in some solid mental reps,” Jim Young says.
“Bulls***!” Bo shouts as he marches back toward the door to the players’ locker room, “You’re gonna fight in the North Atlantic, you gotta train in the North Atlantic!”
The team is finishing dressing for practice when Bo slams through the doors –
“I need every single freshmen with me – NOW!” He storms back out.
Fifteen minutes later — SCHHHUP! – a shovel crunches through the snow and ice. Bo grunts, strains, lifts the heavy snow-filled shovel and tosses its contents to the side of the field.
Inside the doors to Yost, Mandich, Craw, Curtis, Hill – the rest of the team – crowd the vestibule windows and watch the coaching staff and freshmen clear the field by hand.
Bo shovels like he’s being buried alive. This is Woody, he thinks. Somehow that sonofabitch got someone to take the tarp off the field. And right now, at this very second, Woody and his Buckeye squad were already done with warm-ups and working on beating Michigan. Right now, they were getting better. It was definitely Woody.
Bo stops, sucking wind, chest pounding — the cheeseburgers and stress have taken their toll. He looks to Yost and sees Hill and Mandich watching.
SCHHHUUP! – right back at it – they can’t waste a single second.
Mandich can’t take it. He gets what Bo is doing – trying to save the starters’ energy for practice – but he can’t sit here, in the warmth, doing nothing.
“Alright, listen up!” Mandich yells. “Sophomores! Go get more shovels from maintenance. Everyone else – to the field, use whatever you can to clear it off and let’s get to practice!”
Turns out a hundred and seven guys can clear a football field of snow and ice pretty damn fast.
Thirty minutes later, Don Moorhead is barking out signals, taking the snap from Guy Murdoch and handing off to Billy Taylor who starts to the outside and — WHUP! — his feet slide out from under him and down he goes. At least he held onto the ice cube of a football. So far, Tuesday practice of the biggest week of their season, has been a complete wash.
“Run it again!” Bo yells, “And, for crying out loud, be patient with it Taylor!”
Bo wheels and kicks at the frozen field. He hisses in Coach Stobart’s ear, “We’re gonna make sure this goddamn field is covered tonight.”
Probably not the best time for Hanlon to say it but he does, “They’re too high, Bo, we gotta calm ‘em down.”
“Let ‘em go!!” Bo barks. He whirls back to the huddle, “Run it again!!”
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1969 – 5:15 PM
“Run it again!!” Bo barks through the dark, cold night.
Moorhead drops back and hits Mandich over the middle. Mandich breaks a tackle and sprints into the endzone. Which is 65 yards away. Senior safety, Tom Curtis, Mandich’s roommate, chases him the whole way.
The players are unfazed by the freezing temperatures and slippery field. They’re flying around like it’s the first week in August.
“Cheese n’ crackers, Bo, they’re going to have nothing left by Saturday,” Hanlon says.
“Goddammit, Jerry – say that one more time and you’re fired!!”
Hanlon waves his practice schedule in disgust. “Aw, you can’t fire me the Wednesday before this game and you know it!”
“I’ll fire you anytime goddamn time I want!”
“Fine, go ahead, “ Hanlon say, “Just promise me you’ll run the ball right at Tatum and I’ll clean out my locker myself!
“Aw, you sonofabitch with the running it into Tatum – you’re whistlin’ in a graveyard, Hanlon! Run it again!!”
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1969 – 6:30 PM
“One way or another, men, you will remember this day, this football game, for the rest of your lives.”
Thursday’s practice had been more of the same – focused and fast. It had been a miserably cold week but there wasn’t a single grumble from a player, coach, manager or trainer.
And now Bo walked up and down the aisles of the team meeting room. The final address. Bo did this on Thursday night. He knew Saturday was too late. The game was won or lost Monday through Thursday.
“Each and every one of you must beat the man across from you. And, yet, this will not be enough, men. You must also beat the man who plays your position. Every single one of you must outplay your counterpart! Ohio State has the All-American, Rex Kern, at quarterback. Moorhead, are you prepared to play better than Rex Kern this Saturday?”
“Yes, coach!” Moorhead yelled.
“Henry Hill. Ohio State has the All-American Jim Stillwagon at nose tackle – are you prepared to outplay the great Jim Stillwagon?
“Yes, coach!” Henry said.
“Ohio State has the All-American Jim Otis at fullback. Garvie Craw, are you ready to play better than the mighty Jim Otis this Saturday?”
“Yes, coach!”
And on it went. Bo went through each and every player and got the same response each and every time — “Yes, coach!”
“As I told you men at halftime of the Minnesota game, this is your team now. You seniors – this is your team. And the only thing that matters this Saturday is that we play as a team! They can throw out all those great backs and quarterbacks and linebackers – all those All-Americans! And it won’t make a lick ‘a difference if we play as a team. Individuals win games, men, but they do not win championships. A TEAM wins the championship! And after all you’ve been through – after all we’ve put you through – you are a team!”
He stands still, eyes on fire, and points to their game calendar on the wall. Every week now crossed out except Ohio State.
“It comes down to this, men. A cold Saturday in November. An opportunity. An opportunity to do what we set out to do. Every single one of you had the courage and the toughness to stay and be a part of something bigger than yourself. And I promise you, men, you may go on to travel the world and do great things but here is nothing – nothing! – in this world better than that. Nobody’s got it better than us, men, right here, right now – I’ll guarantee you that. ‘Cause we’re Michigan. The team. The team, the team, the team! We’re gonna win the goddamn Big Ten Championship and we’re gonna to do it by beating Ohio State!!”
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1969 – 11:34 PM
Bo leans against the kitchen counter and finishes off a bowl of cold chili.
Ice cream is next, vanilla. He pulls a jar out of the fridge and examines it. A handmade label reads: Millie’s Hot Fudge. He unscrews the lid and scoops it out, covering the ice cream.
“I guess the hot fudge is a winner.” Millie walks in, wrapping her bathrobe around her.
“What are you doing up?” he asks.
“Feeding Shemy.”
Bo gestures to the hot fudge, “You made this?”
“My mom’s recipe.”
“The best hot fudge I’ve ever had,” Bo says.
“I donated 20 jars to Meals on Wheels.”
“Meals on Wheels?”
“They deliver hot meals to senior citizens and people who can’t leave their homes,” Millie replies.
“That’s terrific, “ Bo says. He shovels in another scoop.
“I hate to break it to you but, hot fudge, no matter how good, isn’t going to guarantee a victory.”
Bo nods, tries to smile. He always eats when he’s nervous. They both know that.
“What are you going to say to Woody?” Millie asks.
“Whaddya mean?” Bo says.
“You always talk to the opposing head coach on the field during pre-game. I’m guessing it mostly small talk but this is Woody. What are you going to say?”
“I haven’t thought about it.”
“Baloney. You’ve been thinking about it since the moment Canham hired you.”
She’s right. He’s come to know that, most of the time, she’s right.
“I’ll ask him how Anne is doing,” he says. “Congratulate him on a helluva season. Then tell him we’re going to kick his (expletive).”
“You will not, “ Millie smiles.
“Yes, I will. Ask him about Anne.”
Millie smiles. He’s still got his sense of humor. That’s good.
“Promise me you’ll get at least five hours of sleep tonight,” she says.
“I make no promises I can’t keep,” he says.
She pecks him on the cheek and heads back to bed.
Bo looks out the kitchen window. A silver moon hangs low in the sky, the craggy arms of the trees reaching upward. Thirty-six hours to kick-off.
Ohio State has the four-time National Championship winning head coach in the great Wayne Woodrow Hayes. In 1968, Woody had won every major Coach of the Year award including The Sporting News, the Walter Camp and the Eddie Robinson.
“Bo Schembechler! Are you prepared to out-coach the great and mighty Woody Hayes?”
In thirty-six hours, he’d find out if he had.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1969 – 12:15 PM
via Michigan Bentley Historical Library
“Hello everybody! Yessir, it’s finally here – Meeechigan vs. Ohio State in football!”
Bob Ufer, the legendary, longtime announcer for Michigan Football on WPAG radio, leaned forward in his seat, and looked out over the rapidly filling Michigan Stadium.
The atmosphere absolutely electric.
“Twenty minutes until blast off as two of the oldest rivals in the Big Ten square off in what promises to be the game of the day, the game of the year, the game of the century!
“Call it what you will, it promises to two-and-a-half hours of some of the most exciting football ever in the 104 years of man’s inhumanity to man! All the blue chips are right out there on Canham’s carpet, right now! It’s all here in the hole that Yost dug and it’s building to a dramatic climax. This is what intercollegiate football is all about! All morning long the caravans of cars filled with Buckeye fans have been pouring across the border from down south and echoing from each one of those cars is the old familiar chant, ‘We don’t give a damn for the whole state of Michigan,’ while all of us up here in the water wonderland never forget that Ohio is a four-letter word!
“And here they are – the parade of All-Americans – Kern, Otis, Stillwagon, Tatum – the list goes on as the Ohio State Buckeyes take the field for pre-game on this beautiful Saturday in November!!”
In the middle of the press box, Canham sets a hot cup of coffee down in front of Dean Rosenstein. President Robben Fleming sits next to him.
“Fresh pot, Marc.”
“Thank you,” Rosenstein says.
“My pleasure,” Canham replies.
“Quite a crowd today,” President Fleming says casually.
“I’d say so. Over 103,000.”
“This tailgating really seems to be catching on.”
“I’d say so. It’s possible we’ll have the largest crowd in the history of collegiate football today.”
Fleming nods, looks to Rosenstein and very calmly says, “Look at this, Marc. Look at the energy, the community, the excitement. What can possibly be wrong about this?”
For once, Rosenstein has nothing to say. He knows Fleming is right.
***
Down in the Michigan locker room, it’s quiet. The crowd noise and Dr. Revelli’s marching band are muted. Mandich tapes his fingers, Curtis adjusts his helmet, Dierdorf tightens his cleats. Business-like. 50-14.
Student manager Red, motions to Coach Hanlon that Ohio State is on the field for final warm-ups. Michigan’s turn to head out now.
Bo strides to the middle of the room. The players strap on their helmets in anticipation.
“Men…it’s time.”
The team explodes, leaping to their feet and charge after their captain, Mad Dog Mandich who, his eye-black already streaked with tears, has literally knocked the door off its hinges.
In the tunnel, cleats clacking on the cement mixes with the trumpets and drums as that small square of light at the bottom — the entrance to the field — grows bigger and bigger.
Finally, Mandich, leading the way, gets to the field and the crowd ROARS!
It’s a madhouse. Michigan Stadium may very well lift off the ground.
And then Mandich sees it…
“Bo!” he yells over the noise, “Hey, Bo!!”
Bo pushes his way to the front and sees what Mandich is yelling about: Woody has Ohio State on Michigan’s side of the field.
“You sonofabitch,” Bo says to himself.
Mandich and Henry Hill and Tom Curtis and Caldarazzo are all up front now, looking at him, waiting for him to do something. So is the entire stadium.
Bo swallows hard and jogs straight to Woody. What the hell was he supposed to say?
“Hey, Woody.” Bo says.
Woody, ever the gamesman, coolly keeps his eyes on his team.
“Hi, Bo.”
“You’re on our side of the field.”
“What’s that?” Woody says, holding a hand to his ear, still not looking at Bo.
“You’re on our side of the field. You need to move.”
Woody finally looks at Bo, a gleam of competition in his eyes.
Bo holds his stare. There are no congratulations or asking about wives or wishing each other ‘good luck.’ This is not the handball court. It’s just two men, who have tremendous respect for each other and live to compete, staring at each other, wondering who will blink first.
A long few seconds…and finally —
“Let’s go, men!” Woody takes off across the fifty-yard line to the visitor’s side of the field.
“WOOO HOOOOO!” Mandich lets out a warrior cry as he and the others gallop onto the field.
The game hasn’t even started and Bo had passed his first test with flying colors.
Up in the press box, the ABC broadcasters, Bill Flemming and Lee Grosscup, are sent out to millions of televisions across the country.
“Well, Ohio State has won the toss,” Flemming says, “and we’ll see right away if this Michigan defense can stop the Buckeyes.”
Grosscup says what everyone at home is thinking, “The last time Ohio State lost a football game was October the 28th, 1967. Most believe Michigan will be their 23rd consecutive victim which would set an all-time record.”
“Dana Coin will kickoff, “ Flemming says, “Tom Campana and Larry Zelinas are deep to receive for Ohio State.”
And, on the field, for Bo and his coaches and the players, the crowd, the band, the TV cameras, the last eleven months – it all fades away. Their entire focus narrows to the only thing that matters: the hundred yards of turf between the white lines. Sixty minutes.
POP!
Dana Coin’s foot meets the ball — The Game is on.
The first drive of the game, Ohio State drives the length of the field but Michigan’s defense holds on 4th down and 1 when Henry Hill stuffs All-American fullback, Jim Otis, inches short of the first down.
After a Michigan punt, Ohio State All-American fullback, Jim Otis, does score first. They miss the extra point. 6-0, Ohio State.
Jim Otis scores first for Ohio State. Photo: Michigan Bentley Historical Library
Michigan comes right back and Garvie Craw – Otis’ counterpart – plunges in from the 3-yard line. PAT is good. 7-6, Michigan.
OSU’s All-American QB, Rex Kern, throws 22 yards to WR White for a touchdown. They miss another PAT. 12-7, Ohio State.
Michigan comes back – largely on a 28-yard run by Billy Taylor, a draw play directly past a weak side fire by OSU All-American Jack Tatum. A few plays later, Craw scores again. 14-12, Michigan.
After a 60-yard punt return by senior safety Barry Pierson, Michigan scores again when Don Moorhead, The Warbler, runs it in from the 4-yard line. 21-12, Michigan.
After OSU misses a field goal, Michigan’s counterpart kicker, Tim Killian, makes one. 24-12, Michigan.
The next two Ohio State drives are ended by senior safety Tom Curtis’ interceptions, including one in the end zone.
Halftime. Michigan leads 24-12.
***
In the locker room, the normally reserved and quiet defensive coordinator, Jim Young, pounds on the blackboard, over and over. “They will not score again!!”
He was right.
Barry Pierson has three interceptions in the second-half. Woody benches All-American QB, Rex Kern, but his backup is intercepted as well, by Michigan LB Thom Darden with 1:34 left in the game.
Don Moorhead QB sneaks it to the ground and it’s over.
Final score: 24-12. Michigan.
via Michigan Bentley Historical Library
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1969 – 3:18 PM
via Bentley Historical Library
“Hail! to the Victors Valiant,
Hail! to the conqu’ring heroes,
Hail! Hail! To Michigan
The Leaders and Best!
“Hail! to the Victors Valiant,
Hail! to the conqu’ring heroes,
Hail! Hail! To Michigan
The Champions of the West!”
It had taken the team nearly twenty minutes to get off the field. Mandich, triumphant tears in his eyes, a rose in his hand, was carried into the tunnel by fans. Caldarazzo and others had gotten an ecstatic Bo up on their shoulders and done the same for him.
But now here they were, together, in their locker room, singing The Victors.
The mighty Buckeyes had fallen in what papers all over the country would call ‘The Upset of The Century.’
Michigan had shocked everyone but themselves.
Bo, hat long gone, hair askew, steps to the center, a game ball in his hands, his eyes full. The room gets quiet as he studies his team.
“Congratulations, men. You stayed — and you’re champions.”
The room explodes! Bo looks to Hanlon, who’s grinning back at him. Guess they weren’t too high.
Bo holds the game ball high and they quiet down again.
“In fifteen years of coaching, I have never been prouder of a group of players – of a team – than I am at this moment. There is not much more to say right now…you all know how I feel about each and every one of you. But there is only one game ball. And today, this ball goes to a man who has as much to do with this victory as anyone in this room. A true Michigan Man…Bump Elliott.”
There wasn’t a dry eye in that locker room as a gracious Bump accepted the game ball from Bo. Many would say it was the classiest gesture they’d ever see in the world of sports.
***
There was a party at the Schembechler house that night. Millie had tons of chili and homemade hot fudge. The Schembechler and Pilcher boys replayed the game highlights in the backyard.
Bo and the staff and Don Canham tried to watch the game film in the basement but kept getting interrupted by well-wishers stopping by the house. Finally, they gave up.
Bo and Canham found themselves on the front porch around midnight, the party still going strong inside.
Canham sips his Manhattan. “Well…not bad for a bunch of high school coaches from Ohio.”
“Not bad at all,” Bo says. “I appreciate the opportunity, Don. I see you got that stadium full.”
“You held up your end of the bargain. Let’s keep it going, shall we?”
“Sounds fine by me,” Bo says as they shake hands. “I’ll just need the players’ locker room re-done and raises for all my assistants.”
Canham nods and smiles. He expected nothing less.
EPILOGUE
Fritz Crisler, the legendary Michigan coach and athletic director, didn’t make it to Michigan Stadium for the game that day in November 1969. He had fallen ill. But he watched the game from his hospital bed and wrote the following letter to Bo sometime that evening:
My Dear Bo,
I have had a lot of football thrills in my lifetime, but the masterpiece you and the Michigan team turned in this afternoon will stand prominently in the list. In game preparation against seemingly overwhelming odds, I have never seen a team better conditioned, technically, physically and mentally, to reach such a high inspirational peak, as you and your staff had those kids this afternoon. It was the greatest upset I have ever witnessed. The achievement will have a long life in the contribution to the richness of Michigan’s enviable football history and tradition.
Even callous me shed a few uncontrolled tears from sheer pride and joy as the game ended. My very best to you and the team, always…always.
Fondly,
Fritz Crisler
Bo framed the letter and hung it on the wall by his film screen in his basement so he could see it all the time. That 1969 season and win over Ohio State would set the stage for the next 40 years of Michigan Football. Bo kept his promise for the next 20: every single player that played for him won a championship. Many also went on to become doctors, lawyers and heads of corporations. And all of them would look back on that season, and that game, as one of the greatest achievements of their lives.
Hail. Hail…
The Team, The Team, The Team…
Those Who Stay Will Be Champions.
A Michigan native, Brian Letscher is a writer/actor who graduated from the University of Michigan in another century. Best known for heavy recurring roles on SCANDAL and VALOR, he also earned a Rose Bowl Championship ring while playing football for the Wolverines under Head Coach Gary Moeller and coached Division 1A football for several years. He is currently shopping a limited-run scripted television series on which “THOSE WHO STAY: The 50th Anniversary” is based.
Woody Hayes & Bo Schembechler transformed 2 of college football’s finest programs into behemoths that formed the sport’s greatest rivalry.
[jwplayer hpdi49yU-XNcErKyb]
Michigan football had enjoyed a lot of success during the 1940s, especially against the rival team from Ohio. Yet the Wolverines only claimed two outright conference titles and shared two others. In 1950, head coach Bennie Ooosterbaan hoped his Michigan team could win another conference championship and a trip back to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.
[lawrence-related id=16936]
SNOWFLAKES TO ROSE PEDALS
In 1950, Ohio State was ranked #8 in the nation and coming into The Game with a 6-2 record. The Buckeyes team had been led by Vic Janowitz, one of the best athletes in their program’s history. Michigan was off to a disappointing 5-3-1 start and fell out of the AP rankings earlier that year. However, because of a better conference record than the Buckeyes, they still had a chance at winning the Big Ten and a trip to the Rose Bowl. The night before The Game, a blizzard swept across the Great Lakes area and across northern Ohio. It was the beginning of the great Appalachian storm of 1950, that claimed the lives of dozens of people. Columbus was covered in a half-foot of snow by game time and gusting winds made it difficult to clear the field of snowdrifts. The contest was nearly called off. However, Michigan Athletic Director Fritz Crisler insisted that if the game wasn’t played, his team would not return the following week. Game on.
The Game became a slippery, windy, punting exhibition by both teams that day. Michigan took the strategy of punting on first and second down, playing the field position game to the extreme. On the other sideline, Buckeyes coach Wes Fesler decided to play it conservative too. The strategy backfired for him. With the score 3-2 in favor of the Buckeyes, and under a minute remaining in the first half, Coach Fesler chose to punt on third down instead of running out the clock. The Vic Janowitz punt was blocked and recovered in the endzone by center Tony Momsen for the game’s only touchdown. Tony’s brother, Bob Momsen, playing for Ohio State, had blocked a punt earlier in the game. That blocked punt led to the Buckeyes field goal and only score of the game. Michigan won the game 9-3 despite having 27 yards of offense, punting 24 times, and not converting a first down or completing a pass. Wes Fesler resigned two weeks later and Michigan went on to win the Rose Bowl 14-6 over California.
EVERY GOOD STORY NEEDS AN ANTAGONIST
Photo: Malcolm Emmons, US Presswire
The Michigan Wolverines and their fans have always seen themselves as the good guys in this rivalry. The higher class university, the more prestigious football program. Some say that is arrogance, but to Michigan fans, it’s simply the truth. As the Ohio State Buckeyes built upon their own traditions, they hoped to be recognized as being on the same level as their bitter rivals from up north. No single man contributed more to that goal for the Buckeyes than Wayne Woodrow Hayes.
Coach Woody Hayes was a rough-edged military man and had only been a head coach a few short years before being hired at Ohio State. His 33-11 record at Denison and Miami University in Ohio had turned heads. It was also his blue-collar, no-nonsense, push it to the limit style of player development, that made him a perfect fit in the Big Ten Conference. He also was known to have what we would refer to today as anger management issues. Hayes also had a difficult start to his tenure at Ohio State, having three losses in each of his first three years at the helm. His losses included shutout defeats at the hands of Michigan in 1951 and 1953, which was an unacceptable trajectory in Columbus. A win against the Wolverines, nay one series, one goal-line stand in 1954 that would save Woody Hayes’ career.
The 1954 match-up featured the No. 1 ranked Buckeyes versus the No. 12 ranked Wolverines. Bennie Ooosterbaan’s Michigan squad held Ohio State to a 7-7 tie going into the fourth quarter. Michigan had picked up a first down near the Buckeye goal line, poised to score the go-ahead touchdown, only to be stuffed on four straight downs. The Ohio State defense held in dramatic fashion at the 1-yard-line and then handed the ball over to the Buckeye offense. All-American Howard ‘Hopalong’ Cassidy and the Ohio State offense fed off the momentum of their defense, driving 99 yards for a touchdown and the lead. The Buckeyes won the game 21-7, finishing the year undefeated and giving them claim to the Associated Press national title.
Coach Hayes followed up with another win over the Wolverines in 1955, in the Big House. He became the first Ohio State coach to win in Ann Arbor since 1937, and only the third to win consecutive games against Michigan. Woody would rack up a 12-6 record in his first eighteen years at Ohio State, versus Wolverine teams led by coaches Bennie Oosterbaan and Bump Elliott.
Michigan had seen five losing seasons and only 1 conference title under Coach Bump Elliott. For a program like Michigan, the expectations were so much higher. The final nail in Elliott’s coaching coffin in Ann Arbor was a 50-14 loss to the Buckeyes in 1968. What started out as a close game, soon turned ugly for Michigan. At the end of the contest, after Ohio State scored a touchdown to take a 48-14 lead, Woody elected to go for two. When asked by a reporter after the game why he chose to go for the 2-point conversion, Hayes responded, “Because they wouldn’t let me go for three.” Ohio State went on to win another Rose Bowl and the national championship. For Michigan, it was a loss that would cut bone-deep. Despite having gone 8-2 on the season, the blowout loss to the Buckeyes led to just the eighth coaching change in Michigan program history.
BO WHO?
via Bentley Historical Library
“Bo who?” That was the question everyone in Wolverine country was asking Don Canham in 1969. Glenn “Bo” Schembechler was an unknown to just about everyone around the Big Ten, except Woody Hayes. Schembechler played offensive tackle for Hayes at Miami of Ohio and later joined his Ohio State coaching staff as an assistant. Who better to defeat Woody Hayes than one of his disciples? Who better to beat ‘Ohio’ than a former Buckeye assistant?
Apparently, Joe Paterno. At least that’s what Canham originally thought. But when Paterno turned him down, Canham found a diamond in the rough in Schembechler.
Schembechler had some coaching credits of his own, compiling six winning seasons at his alma mater, Miami. He brought a hard-nosed, gritty attitude and an air of confidence, that could be contagious to a player if they were willing to work hard. Many players quit the team before the end of spring practices in 1969, but Schembechler challenged the remaining young men. Bo made a sign for the locker room that promised: “Those who stay, will be champions.” He later emphasized that he intended for them to be champions on the football field, in the classroom, as young men, and as fathers and husbands. It was also clear from the get-go, that Bo had studied Michigan tradition and was serious about beating Ohio State.
The 1969 Ohio State Buckeyes had been ranked at the top of the AP poll all season long. They were considered a juggernaut and by his own admission Woody Hayes’ best Buckeyes team up to that point. Bo Schembechler’s Michigan Wolverines dropped their third and fifth games of the season, entering the game ranked at #12 with a 7-2 record. The Wolverines had found a groove late in the year with four straight wins, averaging 44.5 points-per-game, outscoring opponents 178-22 during that stretch.
Schembechler and his staff spent all season preparing his team for the Buckeyes, little-by-little, week-by-week. He even changed the base defensive scheme at the beginning of the year from a 4-3 to a 50 front, because Ohio State ran a 50 front. He wanted his team to know the Buckeyes inside and out. Schembechler also would not allow his Wolverines to forget the 50-14 loss to Ohio State the year before. The score was written on signs, placed all over the Michigan football facilities, “50-14” stickers put on the players’ helmets, and every player on the scout team wearing number 50. All to remind the Michigan team how Woody Hayes had disrespected the entire Michigan program when he went for two points in 1968. Michigan was out for revenge, and on November 22, 1969, they finally had their chance.
The Buckeyes were a 17-point favorite and led the game 6-0 early on. Michigan answered with a Garvie Craw touchdown, taking a 7-6 lead on the Buckeyes. It was the first time Ohio State had surrendered a lead all year long. The lead would change two more times, first with the Buckeyes taking a 12-7 lead. Then Michigan running back Billy Taylor broke a 28-yard run to set up another Craw touchdown. The Wolverines defense forced a quick three and out, which resulted in a punt. Michigan senior Barry Pierson returned the punt 60 yards, setting up another touchdown for Schembechler’s team. They held a 24-12 lead at halftime, then shutout the Buckeyes in the second half to pull off what was the biggest upset in the history of the rivalry. Bo Schembechler’s players carried him off the Michigan Stadium turf, and Woody Hayes was crushed.
The rivalry heated up to its boiling point for the next decade, each team focused solely on winning a Big Ten title and winning that final regular-season game of the year. Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler waged a ‘Ten Year War’ against each other that pulled no punches and lost no love.
In 1973, both teams entered the final game of the season ranked in the top five in the nation. Ohio State at No. 1 and Michigan at No. 4 in the AP poll, both teams undefeated at 10-0 on the year. They had fought out nail-biting defensive battles in the previous two meetings, and the ’73 meeting was no different. The game ended in a 10-10 tie, leaving the two teams with the same record. Michigan had dominated the Buckeyes statistically and believed that they would be headed to the Rose Bowl to represent the Big Ten. Instead, a controversial vote by Big Ten athletic directors gave Ohio State the Rose Bowl bid. Bo Schembechler was furious, feeling slighted by the conference.
It would get worse before it got better on the Michigan side of the rivalry. The Wolverines defeated everyone on their schedule from 1973 to 1975, except for Archie Griffin and the Ohio State Buckeyes. Woody had earned a 4-2-1 advantage against Schembechler to that point. Early in 1976, Bo underwent open-heart surgery but was able to return to the team in the summer and lead them to a 9-1 start going into The Game. All-American running back Rob Lytle and quarterback Rick Leach sparked a second-half surge, leading the Wolverines to a 22-0 victory over the Buckeyes. Michigan would win The Game in 1977, and again in 1978 to make it three straight for the first time since Bennie Oosterbaan’s teams of the late 40s.
After losing to Michigan in 1978, Woody Hayes went on to have a meltdown in the Buckeyes’ Gator Bowl loss. His physical assault of a Clemson player in that game would be the end of his career and the end of the ‘Ten Year War.’
[lawrence-related id=16936]
HARBAUGH’S GUARANTEE, DESMOND’S POSE, AND WOODSON’S ROSE
Getty Images
In his eighteenth season as Michigan head coach, Bo Schembechler’s starting senior quarterback was Jim Harbaugh. Jim was a confident captain, a leader, and the son of one of Schembechler’s former assistants. Leading up to the 1986 matchup with Ohio State, Harbaugh told reporters that he guaranteed a win that Saturday in Columbus. Michigan was 9-1, coming off a disappointing first loss of the year to Minnesota the week before. For only the second time since 1935, The Game was not the final regular-season game for Michigan. To the chagrin of many Michigan fans, a game with Hawaii had been added to the schedule the week after the yearly rivalry game. It did still provide them with an opportunity to redeem themselves, win a share of the Big Ten, and go to the Rose Bowl. The guarantee made by the Michigan quarterback was not going to make things easier.
The Buckeyes jumped out to an early lead, but Harbaugh and All-American running back Jamie Morris helped lead the Wolverines as they battled back. The Ohio State lead was just 14-6 at halftime, leaving opportunity for Schembechler’s squad to take the lead. The teams traded touchdowns in the second half, creating a 26-24 Michigan advantage with just over a minute to play. Ohio State had recovered a fumble but Michigan held at their own 28-yard-line, forcing a Buckeye field goal. Matt Frantz’s kick attempt was wide left, sealing a Wolverine win and backing up the guarantee made by the highly competitive Harbaugh.
In 1991, another Wolverine legend made a bold move against Ohio State. This time, it was after the dagger had been plunged in the heart of the Buckeyes. The fourth-ranked Michigan team outmatched their eighteenth-ranked rivals, winning 31-3. Heisman Trophy hopeful Desmond Howard returned a punt 93 yards for a touchdown, striking the Heisman pose in the endzone. Michigan claimed a share of the Big Ten title and Howard became the second Wolverine to bring home the Heisman Trophy award.
1997 – Another Michigan-Ohio State game, another top-five match-up with a Big Ten title and national championship on the line. Oh, and another Heisman Trophy on the line. This time, it was Lloyd Carr’s Michigan team looking to hold on to a No. 1 ranking and the Buckeyes playing spoiler. The guy looking to do the Heisman pose was primarily on the defensive side of the ball though. Wolverine cornerback Charles Woodson knew all about the rivalry with the Buckeyes, long before he attended the University of Michigan. He grew up in northern Ohio. He also knew what to do with the ball in his hands, having played running back in high school. Woodson returned a punt 78 yards for a touchdown and helped the Wolverines off to a 20-0 lead before the Buckeyes began a late surge. It was his defense, however, that thwarted the Ohio State rally. The Buckeyes were threatening to take the lead in a 20-14 game when Charles Woodson intercepted a Stanley Jackson pass in the endzone. Woodson would become the first (and still the only) primarily defensive player to win the Heisman Trophy and Michigan won the Rose Bowl to claim their 11th national championship.
‘THE GAME’ IN THE NEW MILLENIUM
Gary Moeller and Lloyd Carr were products of the Bo Schembechler coaching tree, and fully understood the importance of the Ohio State rivalry at Michigan. Lloyd Carr had won four of five against Ohio State to finish out the 20th Century. Then he kicked off the new millennium with another win over a John Cooper coached Buckeye team. Cooper was let go after the 2000 season to make room for a sweater vest clad villain to take the stage in the next act of this storied rivalry.
New Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel did not waste time throwing gasoline on the flames of the greatest rivalry in college football. After being officially introduced as head coach, he attended a Buckeyes basketball game in Columbus. Tressel declared to the Buckeye fans that his team would come away from Ann Arbor with a victory on the football field that November. He followed through on that promise and doubled down in 2002 with a second straight win over Lloyd Carr’s Wolverines.
2003 brought the 100th meeting of these two football programs and the stage was set for another classic between Buckeyes and Wolverines. Jim Tressel’s Ohio State team was ranked #4 in the BCS national rankings and Lloyd Carr’s Michigan squad came in ranked at #5. Michigan jumped out to a 21-0 lead early in the game and never relinquished it for a 35-21 victory and a trip to the Rose Bowl. It would be the last celebrating the Wolverines would do in this rivalry for a long time.
Ohio State came into the 2006 season expecting a shot at a Big Ten title and the national championship. Michigan however, just came off a 5-loss season and expectations were not high. The Wolverines proceeded to crank out 11 wins to begin the season, including a surprising Week Three dismantling of Notre Dame in South Bend. When rankings were released the week of The Game, Ohio State and Michigan were ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the nation, respectively. It would be the first time in the history of the rivalry that the two teams were facing off from the top two slots. The winner would earn a bid to the national championship game.
The hype leading up to The Game is always feverish and full of lore. Jim Tressel invited former coach Earle Bruce to deliver an address to the team on Sunday night, and former Buckeye linebacker Jack Tatum gave a speech on Thursday night. Lloyd Carr had the great Bo Schembechler lined up to give a Thursday night speech to his team. But Bo was not in good health, prompting Carr to try and talk him out of speaking to the team. Schembechler insisted, skipping a cardiologist appointment to be there.
The anticipation was already unmatched for this historic match-up, and then a little over 24 hours before kickoff, tragedy struck. Bo Schembechler had died, leaving Michigan fans sad and yearning for a big win to honor their fallen legend. The Wolverines fought hard but lost a 42-39 thriller to the Buckeyes that would be dubbed ‘The Game of the Century.’
The passing of Bo Schembechler seemed to trigger a shift in the college football universe, casting a dark cloud of the Michigan side of the rivalry for years to come. Lloyd Carr left Michigan after the 2007 season and another loss to Ohio State. Rich Rodriguez lost all three of his match-ups with the Buckeyes and Brady Hoke mustered just one win — Michigan’s last in the series to date — in four tries. As Ohio State rose to possibly the highest plateau of their storied existence under coach Urban Meyer, Michigan suffered through mediocrity.
Former Michigan quarterback Jim Harbaugh was brought back to Michigan to restore the order of the football universe. To get Michigan back to competing with Ohio State for Big Ten championships. So far, Harbaugh is 0-4 against the Buckeyes. A blowout loss in 2015 was followed by a 2016 game that slipped away in double-overtime. Those first two losses to the Buckeyes could be forgiven by Michigan fans, understanding that it takes time to turn a program around. But after turning in three 10-win seasons in four years, the continued losses to rival Ohio State have become unacceptable to many in the fanbase. Some believe that The Game should be placed high above other games on the schedule, made a priority above all else. Others see it as just part of the puzzle to success in the landscape of Big Ten football today.
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What is painfully clear for Michigan fans in recent years, is that beating Ohio State has become increasingly difficult. While the Wolverines were struggling through coaching changes and scheme overhauls, the Buckeyes had developed arguably the most successful football program in the modern era.
In rivalries like this one, however, you won’t hear excuses. Jim Harbaugh is fully aware of what is at stake this coming Saturday in Ann Arbor. His players know that it’s time to cash in on all that trust they have put into the system.
It is clear that both programs have benefitted from this rivalry. Ohio State built its entire program on showing that it could compete with, and beat the mighty Michigan machine of the early 1900s. The ‘Ten Year War’ brought both teams to national attention just as television was becoming a viable way to distribute the game to homes around the entire country. And now the Ohio State dynasty has motivated the Wolverines to return their program to greatness under Jim Harbaugh’s guidance.
These two schools and programs strongly dislike each other, maybe even hate each other. But they also need each other more than either would like to admit.
This is the greatest rivalry in all of college sports. Wolverines and Buckeyes will never forget it.
Getting a general gauge of how the local media feels about the Wolverines chances against the Buckeyes.
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I rarely write these articles in first-person, but this is a different deal here, because it’s not a normal article.
Perhaps it’s better suited as a board post — the new WolverinesWire forum is ready for use! — but since that hasn’t officially-officially launched (though you can still sign up, post and respond to topics, everything you’ll be able to do once it is ‘launched’), figured this was a better medium.
I arrived last night at Schembechler Hall for the last regular season pre-game media availability super early, as always, and there was one prominent writer for a national outlet already there. We got to talking about The Game and how our optimism for Michigan’s chances have significantly risen over the course of the last few weeks, and especially after the Wolverines’ drubbing of Indiana, which has been a close game over the course of recent memory.
When we each gave our percentage of optimism heading into Saturday — and I was firm that I’m picking Ohio State to win, like I’ve said I will do all season — he suggested that I informally poll all of the other media members in attendance to get a barometer of how the local beat is feeling about Michigan’s chances. As I told him, last year, I picked the Wolverines to win — like everyone else — but I had a sinking feeling all week they would lose, which I cautioned on my podcast and openly told my friends. It wasn’t just tempering expectations.
This year, I have the opposite feeling.
So, here’s where everyone I asked stands heading into Saturday, with their names undisclosed, but their overall role noted, so that you can get an idea of their perspective.
Local beat writer, website – 30%
Local news reporter – 25%
Local radio host – 50%
Local beat writer, newspaper- 28%
Local beat writer, newspaper – 34%
Local beat writer, newspaper – 30%
Local writer, website – 33%
Local beat writer, website – 32%
Local beat writer, newspaper – 25%
Local radio host – 25%
Local beat writer, newspaper – 33%
Local writer, website – 40%
Local beat writer, website – 26%
Local writer, website – 41%
Local columnist, newspaper – 36%
Local radio host – 40%
Me – 43%
Average confidence level: 34%
Yesterday, I said between 40-45%, hovering around 40%. To me, Michigan’s general feeling of optimism has me ticking up, and it’s been bolstered by some off the record conversations I’ve had. It should be noted, I also had positive off the record conversations with prominent people last year, but to me, it bordered on cockiness rather than being self-assured in the game plan or where the maize and blue actually was.
So, take that for what it’s worth. We’ll know more about how the Wolverines will fare on Saturday at noon EST.
The Game will be nationally broadcast on FOX with Joel Klatt and Gus Johnson on the call.
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