On November 30, the Michigan Wolverines traveled to the Ohio Stadium, also known as the Shoe, to face off against the 2nd-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes. The Michigan vs. Ohio State matchup is often regarded as “The Game,” as this matchup can make or break each other’s season. For that reason, it is widely viewed as the biggest rivalry in all of sports.
Before the matchup, Ohio State’s quarterback, Will Howard, was asked about the game.
“It hasn’t really been this week, for me it’s been all year,” Howard said. “Feeling how much this rivalry means and how deep it runs and how deep it cuts. You can look around the building and see the countdown clocks. From the moment I got here, it was different. You don’t wear blue in the building. You don’t say the ‘M’ word. All this stuff, I was like this is different. It’s not really a rivalry; it’s more like a way of life.”
These two teams have faced off 119 times before this year, with Michigan leading the series with 61 wins, 51 losses, and 6 ties. The Wolverines came into the game on November 30 with a dominant win streak for the past 3 years. Going into the game, The Buckeyes were favored by a whopping 20.5 points, the largest spread since 1978. However, records and spreads rarely mean anything when they face off on the field.
Michigan Wolverines Head Coach Sherrone Moore in his press conference stated, “I think we’re not gonna forget about what’s happened (with the losses earlier in the year) but I think we’re gonna use it as motivation for this game. This game means a lot. Every year it means that much. Each team could be 0-11 or 11-0 and the records go out the window in this game and you really just care about winning the game. That’s what our guys are focused on and doing everything we can to go win.”
Despite entering the 120th matchup as 20.5-point road underdogs, Michigan outlasted Ohio State 13-10 in a defensive battle. Coach Moore said a game like this has a major emphasis on the rushing battle. “The team that wins the rushing battle wins the game … that’s gotta be an emphasis for us.” Michigan went on to dominate the run battle all game long, with 173 yards compared to Ohio State’s 77 yards. Next, the kicking battle was dominated by Michigan, with the kicker Dominic Zvada drilling a 54-yarder and the go-ahead 21-yard field goal with only 45 seconds left of the nail-biter game. On the other hand, Ohio State kicker Jayden Fielding missed two field goal attempts, presumably causing Ohio State the game. But, what stood out the most was Michigan’s second-half defensive performance allowing 0 points, called by Michigan defensive coordinator Wink Martindale.
After Michigan’s 13–10 victory, a Wolverines player tried to place a Michigan banner on the Buckeyes’ logo at midfield of Ohio Stadium. This act sparked shoving and pushing among players, which escalated into an exchange of punches between members of both teams. The fight got so intense that even the defensive end for Ohio State, Jack Sawyer was seen grabbing the flag and throwing it away. Kalel Mullings, Michigan’s leading rusher and only touchdown scorer was asked about the incident on live television immediately after the game: “It was such a great game and you hate to see stuff like that. It’s bad for the sport, it’s bad for college football.”
The Big Ten conference has fined both Michigan and Ohio State 100k for both teams’ involvement in the altercation. Once again, The Game showed why it’s the most intense rivalry in sports, with emotions running high both on and off the field.
