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It’s often said that college football is built on rivalry games. Other sports have them – Yankees-Red Sox, Lakers-Celtics, Packers-Bears, Duke-North Carolina – but college football rivalries burn with a special intensity.
And if the sport itself is built on these rivalries, it isn’t too much of a stretch to suggest that programs are built on them as well.
Michigan-Ohio State is, in the minds of many, the greatest rivalry in college football. Some would go as far as to say it’s the greatest rivalry in all of sports, period.
As special as this game is to the fans on both sides, there’s nothing that compares to being an actual participant, whether as a coach or a player.
“I’m very aware of the rivalry, having played in it, having coached in it,” Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh said. “I grew up here and my dad was a coach. As I liken the Michigan State game to a state championship, this is even bigger. This is two-states’ championship, Michigan and Ohio. We’re excited about it. We’re excited for the challenge.”
Harbaugh watched his father coach in the game. He watched his mentor, Bo Schembechler, compete against Woody Hayes in the game.
“Pretty much had a pretty good understanding of this rivalry at a very young age,” Harbaugh said, noting also that he had great respect for the coaches and players on both sides.
Players born in these two states grow up with an appreciation for ‘The Game.’ Others born outside the rivalry, like Michigan’s Nick Eubanks – a native of Florida – quickly learn what it’s about once they step on campus.
“Michigan and Ohio State probably wasn’t relevant in my time, but as I grew up, started watching more football, it became known that this was a big rivalry,” Eubanks said. “I looked at this game more, the more I started getting interested in it. When I committed here, I had a chance my freshman year to see the big rivalry, it became very important to me and the team, too.”
Having grown up in Alabama, wide receiver Nico Collins is certainly aware of the ‘Iron Bowl’ between Alabama and Auburn – the rivalry that is often debated against ‘The Game’ as the top feud in the sport.
Collins may have grown up with the Iron Bowl, but his attention is fully on The Game this week.
“This game means a lot to me,” Collins said. “This game means a lot obviously to both teams, coaches. This game is really personal for everybody. I’ll go out Saturday, just have fun and enjoy the moment.”
Senior defensive tackle Carlo Kemp noted that even with a game-by-game approach, rivalry games stick in players’ minds throughout a season.
“This game means a lot to all of us just because there’s two games that you think about the entire year when you come to Michigan,” Kemp said. “Two of the most historic rivalries in all of football, in college sports. Nothing’s gonna change in our approach. Our whole approach this year has been day-by-day, brick-by-brick, game-by-game and on defense, play-by-play. That’s what it’s gonna take for us to be successful on Saturday.”
Linebacker Khaleke Hudson, a defensive captain alongside Kemp, agrees with his co-captain’s sentiments.
“It means a lot to me,” Hudson said. “Coming here, that’s one of your main goals, to come out and beat Ohio, beat Michigan State, beat Penn State, beat Wisconsin, beat the best teams in the Big Ten. This game means a lot to me.”
The past decade and a half of the rivalry has been unkind to the Wolverines. Michigan is 1-14 in that stretch, and it should come as no surprise that the Wolverines have failed to win a Big Ten championship over the same period.
Programs are built by beating their rivals. Ohio State has thrived in Big Ten play these past 15 seasons, winning or sharing the conference title nine times. Michigan’s program crumbled in the period, leading to an unprecedented conference title drought.
There are a lot of reasons why this game means so much to both programs, but the evidence above points to perhaps the biggest reason this rivalry is so important.
The Wolverines desperately need a win in The Game. Harbaugh desperately needs to end his winless streak as Michigan’s head coach in The Game. His program is depending on it.
“My feelings? I’m excited for the game. Excited. Up for and ready for the challenge,” Harbaugh said. “I love the competition. This is the biggest game of the year.”
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