PHILADELPHIA– There is no love lost between Ohio State and Michigan.
And the stakes were as high as ever when the two unbeaten B1G teams met in The Game yesterday at before a sellout crowd of 110,000 at Michigan Stadium.
Two unbeaten 11-0 teams ranked 2 and 3 in the AP poll, a potential spot in the college football playoffs on the line.
Third-ranked Michigan found a way to survive.
One play after Zac Zinter, the Wolverines’ best offensive lineman, went down with a season ending injury and had to be carted off the field, running back Blake Corum burst through the line for a 22-yard touchdown run with 203 remaining in the third quarter to give Michigan a 24-17 lead with to play and the Wolverines held on for a 30-24 victory.
This was the third straight win for Michigan in the storied series and was accomplished without head coach Jim Harbaugh, who watched the game from his home after being suspended for three games in a sign stealing scandal that threatened to derail a perfect season. Sherrone Moore, the Wolverines’ 38-year-old offensive coordinator, coached the game, taking an aggressive gamblers’ approach, going for it on three separate fourth down situations and even pulling a successful halfback pass from Donovan Edwards out of his playbook to keep one drive alive.
Ohio State coach Ryan Day will have to live with his more conservative approach on offense and a defense that couldn’t make stops against the run when it counted in the biggest game of the season.
The picture on Fox TV of the Michigan fans rushing the field and Day making the long walk after the game to the Ohio State locker room spoke volumes. I’m sick,” he said. “We know what this game means to so many people. It’s crushing. We have a locker room that’s devastated.’
Day is 40-0.in Big Ten games not involving Michigan. He is 2-3 against Michigan in a game that punctuates the personal feud between Day and Harbaugh.
In 2020, Harbaugh had lost five straight games to the Buckeyes and Day had just poached defensive assistant Al Washington from his staff. That spring, a photo surfaced of Washington apparently coaching Buckeyes players during a time when it wasn’t allowed. Harbaugh ripped Day on a Big Ten coaches conference call. That led to Day’s infamous comment to his team that they would “hang 100” on Michigan, which led to Harbaugh’s rebuke. “Sometimes people are standing on third base, think they hit a triple, but they didn’t.”
Michigan will now play punchless Iowa next week for the B1G title and a spot in the college football playoff semi-finals in a game Harbaugh will coach.
The dislike between the two has only escalated, which may be why the Buckeye fan reaction was so volatile. The last time an Ohio State coach faced this kind of backlash was John Cooper, who lost an unpardonable 10 of 13 games to Michigan before he was dismissed in the late 90s. Some fans think Day should take the Texas A & M job. Others, like former Ohio State star running back Maurice Clarett, who openly called for Day to be fired.
“Ryan Day . . . Love you bro but gotta go,” Clarett tweeted. “This is why you’re paid millions ($9 million) and lose three straight.”
Clarett wasn’t done yet. “I’m kind.of happy I’m not too connected to the program in these moments,” he said. “I don’t have to be fake cool wtih anyone. Everyone knows you can’t lose three in a row to Michigan. Everyone just isn’t going to say it because they still want access to the Woody Hayes Center.
“No one cares about beating BS teams we schedule. We play those teams on purpose to have a good record to get to Michigan and into the playoffs. That’s part of the program. You don’t make $9 million and lose to your rival three straight times.”
Day is unlikely to go anywhere after an 11-1 and a New Year’s Six game. He has a $46.2 million dollar buy out and this isn’t Texas A & M, where they just paid Jimbo Fisher $76 million to walk away and there is speculation they could offer Kirby Smart of Georgia a five-year, $100 million package to switch allegiances.4
But this was dark day back in Columbus.
