Twenty years ago last month Ohio State finally beat Michigan.
Back then this sort of event was such a rarity it didn't matter the Buckeyes' first win over the Wolverines in seven tries only clinched a birth in the consolation prize-ish Florida Citrus Bowl.
Beating Michigan was the only thing everyone wanted. They finally got it, and it arrived with a healthy dose of anarchy.
The outcome was cemented with significant time left in the 4th quarter, resulting in an odd, anticipatory it's haaaaappening roar that carried on for several minutes. Once the game finally ended several Buckeyes triumphantly lifted and carried their coach off the sideline.
2014: Tension, but nothing approaching 20 years ago.
They almost immediately collided with a tidal wave of fans streaming onto the field that was so strong they dropped him. Seconds later the air was already thick with tear gas. The on-field postgame interview could not even be conducted because of the chaos.
ABC ceremoniously awarded its player of the game to the embattled coach John Cooper. This all went down prior to the postgame Carmen era, so the mobbed Buckeyes abruptly stopped celebrating, quickly made their way out of the throng, exited the field and dashed toward their locker room.
A raucous celebration that was seven years in the making was over almost as soon as it began. The band played the Across the Field and then everyone left. It was strangely, though satisfyingly quiet.
The following morning the headline of the Columbus Dispatch smirked "So Much for that Michigan Monkey." It captured a shot of the triumphant Cooper during those precious few seconds when he was lifted up above the fray just prior to being swallowed by it.
The Buckeyes had finally broken through. Three seasons later they had only lost four conference games, but with three of them coming to Michigan. That monkey simply checked out briefly; it never actually left. Ohio State eventually got rid of it only when Jim Tressel arrived. It will return someday.
There's no screeching monkey in 2014. What's plaguing the Buckeyes is a quieter, different kind of animal.
Ohio State hasn't claimed any part of a Big Ten title since 2010 (the NCAA can vacate whatever it wants; we choose not to) which also happens to coincide with the last time it lost to Wisconsin. If it fails to win Saturday this will be its longest championship drought since the six seasons between 1986 and 1993.
What makes this particular stretch especially painful is a series of mishaps and missteps that border on the supernatural: The institutional nuke of 2011 that surrendered a sure championship run. The 12-0 season that followed it where the Buckeyes forfeited their title game tickets. Last year's inability to close out the Spartans in Indianapolis despite an unstoppable inside rushing attack JUST GIVE THE BALL TO HYYYYDE WHYYYYYYYY.
The only silence since the Virginia Tech game has come from Ohio State's former critics.
And that brings us to this season where the Buckeyes have reached the title game once again despite missing their best defensive player and the two-time B1G MVP for the entire season while using an offensive line that replaced four of five starters in front of a freshman who hadn't seen live game action in over two years.
Ohio State also lost its best special teamer against Rutgers and after developing J.T. Barrett into the B1G's record-setting quarterback of the year, Cardale Jones gets his first start this Saturday with both the conference title and a playoff bid on the line. Oh, they're also mourning a death in the family.
The Buckeyes were supposed to be relatively quiet this season, especially after that fire drill dropped a game at home to Virginia Tech (perhaps you remember hearing about it). The only real silence since then has come from their former critics, who have gone from begrudgingly respecting what they've accomplished to extending outright praise.
Nevertheless, the shorthanded Buckeyes are a loss on Saturday away from having no trophies to go with three perfect regular season runs. This jungle is teeming with monkeys, albatrosses and every other metaphor in the animal kingdom.
Meyer prior to the B1G title game a year ago this week.
Every last bit of bad luck and self-inflicted malice has struck this team's conference title aspirations since 2011. Sure, it caught a couple of officiating breaks this season against Penn State (with 45 minutes left to play in the game; still, don't let that get in the way of some weapons-grade whining) but outside of that blip everything the Buckeyes have earned they have manufactured on their own under less-than-optimal circumstances.
Five years ago Ohio State beat Michigan for the seventh-straight time to clinch a share of its sixth-straight conference title. Winning The Game used to almost always accompany the Big Ten title. Today that's no longer possible.
Winning what's somehow become an elusive Big Ten title is now what everyone wants. Once the Buckeyes finally snatch one - and hopefully that will finally come no later than this weekend - it should arrive with a healthy dose of anarchy.
A raucous celebration that's been five years in the making will over almost as soon as it begins in anticipation of the final playoff standings. The band will play the Across the Field and everyone will flee Indianapolis.
And then it will be strangely, though satisfyingly quiet once again. Until Sunday.
