This Saturday at high noon Ohio State and Michigan will compete on the gridiron for the 112th time.
The Game has evolved into the greatest rivalry in sports over the years and a huge reason for that is the never ending list of spectacular individual performances turned in by players from both schools.
The Buckeyes are still on the wrong side of the won-loss ledger in The Game's history (47-58-6) though they've won 10 of the last 12 since Jim Tressel flipped the script and Urban Meyer built upon that momentum.
A sampling of the most successful Buckeye player performances in the The Game's history when Ohio State escaped victorious are outlined below.
TROY SMITH
Any conversation about Buckeye dominance in The Game should start with Troy Smith. In three starts at quarterback against the Wolverines, Smith went 3-0 with some gaudy numbers.
In unranked Ohio State's 37-21 win over 7th-ranked Michigan in 2004, Smith blew up for 241 yards passing and another 145 on the ground with three total touchdowns.
The following season in Ann Arbor, Smith racked up 337 total yards (300 passing) in a 25-21 win. The Buckeyes trailed 21-12 with just over seven minutes to play before Smith led the offense to back-to-back scores including a 26-yard touchdown toss to Santonio Holmes before a 27-yard pass with just :37 left in regulation set up an Antonio Pittman's game-winning four-yard run.
A year later, in The Game of the Century, Smith led top-ranked Ohio State over 2nd-ranked Michigan, 42-39, with 328 total yards (316 passing) and four touchdowns to cement his Buckeye legacy.
BEANIE WELLS
Serving as Antonio Pittman's backup as a true freshman, Beanie Wells introduced himself to the rivalry with a nifty 52-yard touchdown run giving Ohio State a 14-7 lead in what eventually became a 42-39 victory securing the Buckeyes' spot in the national championship game.
A year later in a wet and windy Big House, Tresselball was on full tilt as Wells rushed 39 times for 222 yards and two scores, one via a 62-yard gallop in the 3rd quarter providing all the cushion Ohio State would need in a 14-3 win.
For his swan song, Wells rushed 15 times for 134 yards and a touchdown as the Buckeyes cruised past Michigan, 42-7, in Columbus.
JONATHAN WELLS
Ohio State had just one victory in its last 10 tries before Jim Tressel took over ahead of the 2001 season. The day of his hiring Tressel stood at midcourt during halftime of the Buckeye basketball game against the Wolverines and proclaimed that we would all be proud of his team in the classroom, in the community and most especially in 310 days in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
That was pretty bold talk considering the state of Ohio State's roster and sure enough the Buckeyes were just 6-4 entering The Game against 11th-ranked Michigan.
Lucky for Tressel, running back Jonathan Wells had his back as the senior out of Louisiana rushed for 129 yards including a 46-yard touchdown jaunt on 4th and 1 to put OSU in front 14-0. Ohio State would push the lead to 23-0 thanks to two other scores from Wells before the Wolverines made a late charge to fall 26-20.
CARLOS HYDE
Carlos Hyde chewed up Michigan in both 2012 and 2013.
In the 2012 showdown in Columbus, Hyde ran for 146 yards and scored the game's first touchdown as Ohio State turned back the 19th-ranked Wolverines, 26-21, in Columbus.
A year later in Ann Arbor, Hyde went off for 226 rushing yards and scored what proved to be the game-winning touchdown as the Buckeyes held on to win 42-41 in Ann Arbor.
BRAXTON MILLER
With Braxton being somewhat of a forgotten man after missing all of the 2014 championship season and having only marginal impact this year, it's easy to forget just how much of a boss Miller was in past games against Michigan.
In the 2012 win Miller tallied 246 yards of offense with a touchdown which came on the heels of a ridiculous 335 total yards and three touchdowns in a losing effort in 2011.
In the 42-41 victory in 2013, Miller amassed 286 total yards (133 passing, 153 rushing) with five touchdowns cementing his place in the rivalry's history.
best of the rest
- Bob Ferguson: In 1961 the fullback abused Michigan with 152 rushing yards and four touchdowns in a 50-20 win to clinch the national title.
- Jim Otis: In the 50-14 rout of the Wolverines in 1968, Otis ran for four touchdowns over 4th-ranked Michigan sending the Buckeyes to the Rose Bowl where they would beat USC, 27-16, to clinch another national title.
- Marcus Marek: In a 24-14 win over the maize and blue in 1982, the middle linebacker tallied a ridiculous 21 tackles with an interception giving him one pick in all four of his appearances in The Game.
- Keith Byars: As part of what should have been a Heisman winning season Byars ran for 113 yards and scored all three OSU touchdowns in a 21-6 win over 17th-ranked Michigan in 1984 sending Ohio State to the Rose Bowl.
- Tom Tupa and Chris Spielman: In the "Earle" headband game in 1987, Tupa threw for 219 yards and two touchdowns and added another score on the ground as unranked Ohio State turned back 21st-ranked Michigan in Ann Arbor sending coach Bruce out a winner. Defensively, Spielman was everywhere with 16 total tackles including 14 solos. (The year before in a 26-24 loss Spielman tallied 29 stops.)
- Joe Germaine and David Boston: In the 1998 version of The Game in which 7th-ranked OSU prevailed 31-16 over the 21st-ranked Wolverines, Germaine torched Michigan with 330 passing yards with 217 of those going to Boston (10 receptions).
- Maurice Clarett: In a 14-9 Buckeye win in the 2002 thriller that propelled Ohio State to the national championship Clarett ran for 119 yards and a touchdown and set up the game-winning score by calling for, and catching, a 26-yard wheel route.
