Both Urban Meyer and Jim Harbaugh were bred into the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry, born in the same Toledo hospital a mere seven months apart.
But it took each man a little longer than that to get their first taste of The Game on the sidelines of their respective and beloved universities, doing so in the 1980s. Meyer, like Harbaugh, wanted to play college football but wasn't good enough to do so at Ohio State. So he settled for the University of Cincinnati.
Meyer's brief career as a defensive back lasted only during the 1984 season while he also dabbled in minor league baseball, drafted by the Atlanta Braves organization in the 13th round of the 1982 MLB Draft. He spent two seasons at shortstop for the Braves before graduating from Cincinnati in 1986. Meyer then bolted north to Columbus and Ohio State after one season as an assistant high school coach in the Queen City.
Harbaugh, on the other hand, received a scholarship offer to play for the Wolverines in 1982 from his idol, Bo Schembechler. Having spent the majority of his childhood at the feet of Michigan football either as a ball boy or helping Schembechler's staff (and his own father, Jack) in any way possible, Harbaugh felt immersed in the rivalry even when a job switch moved him to California. Jack Harbaugh took over as Stanford's defensive coordinator before Jim's junior year of high school but it wasn't long before he returned to Ann Arbor.
Here is what each man did in college during the 1980s before their first-ever on-field meeting as part of the Ohio State-Michigan game in 1986—when Harbaugh delivered on a guarantee that the Wolverines would beat the Buckeyes in Ohio Stadium.
Always the quarterback. Via Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports.
1982
Harbaugh signed with the Wolverines in February, instantly buried on the depth chart behind Dave Hall and Steve Smith. Described as "a slick California passer" after graduating from Palo Alto High School, Harbaugh had to wait his turn. After all, Smith set Michigan's single-season record for total yards of offense with 2,335 a year earlier.
Michigan went 8-4 that year, lost to the Buckeyes 24-14 but still won the Big Ten. Smith didn't perform as well as the season before but Schembechler never pulled the trigger on Harbaugh. The quarterback redshirted.
“To suddenly pull some freshman out of the bag, I don't think you can do that in today's football,” Schembechler said in September after a 1-1 start according to the Detroit Free Press.
Meyer, meanwhile, played shortstop for the Braves organization while attending Cincinnati.
1983
Harbaugh threw for 116 yards in the program's annual spring game but walk-on Mike Walker cast a shadow over his performance with a 69-yard touchdown pass to Steve Johnson. Walker never played a down for the Wolverines and Harbaugh again found himself third on the depth chart behind Hall and Smith.
“Harbaugh is a fresh talent who'll be all right, but has a lot to learn,” Schembechler said.
Smith started 11 games that season and Hall started the other as the Wolverines finished 9-3 and bested Ohio State 24-21 in Ann Arbor. Harbaugh rarely saw action, finishing the season 2-of-5 passing for 26 yards. His first completion came on Nov. 5, 1983, in a 42-10 win against Purdue.
Meyer continued to play baseball for the Braves while at UC.
1984
The 1984 season represented a chance for Harbaugh to take the reins of Michigan's quarterback position. Meyer quit baseball and went out for football at Cincinnati, playing defensive back and holding kicks for the Bearcats. Cincinnati went 2-9 that season under Dave Currey, its lone victories coming in the season opener against Akron 28-27 and against Louisville 40-21.
Cincinnati defensive back Urban Meyer.
Smith's graduation and a knee injury to Hall left Schembechler with a hole at quarterback. He opened the competition in the spring to Harbaugh and recent recruits Chris Zurbrugg and Russ Rein.
“Harbaugh is coming along pretty well. He's having a pretty good spring,” Schembechler said before the annual spring game. “Zurbrugg has emerged as a good prospect. There's kind of a battle in there.”
Harbaugh won the job and beat defending national champion Miami (FL) and Bernie Kosar 22-14 in his first-career start. He did not throw a touchdown in that game, however. His first college scoring toss came a week later against Washington but Michigan lost 20-11. The Wolverines went 6-6 that season, losing five of their final eight games after Harbaugh left a 19-7 loss to Michigan State with a broken arm.
Harbaugh's final stats in 1984: 60-of-111 passing for 718 yards, three touchdowns and five interceptions.
1985
Harbaugh returned and started all 12 games for the Wolverines. Michigan went 10-1-1 and beat Nebraska 27-23 in the Fiesta Bowl.
Harbaugh also led his team to a 27-17 victory against Ohio State in Ann Arbor, in which he connected with John Kolesar on a 77-yard touchdown pass that put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter. His third scoring toss on the day, Harbaugh threw for 230 yards and only had three incompletions.
“That was a play that took the starch right out of their sails,” Schembechler said of Harbaugh's bomb to Kolesar.
Michigan's only loss of the season came at eventual Big Ten champion Iowa, 12-10. The Wolverines tied Illinois 3-3. Harbaugh ended his redshirt junior campaign 145-of-227 passing for 1,976 yards, 18 touchdowns and only six interceptions.
Meyer spent 1985 as the defensive backs coach at St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati, working under Steve Rasso, meeting Earle Bruce and other members of the Ohio State coaching staff. It didn't take long before Bruce offered Meyer a job.
1986
Meyer spent the first of his two seasons as a graduate assistant at Ohio State under Bruce coaching tight ends. While beginning his course work to earn a master's degree in sports administration, Meyer found himself at the bottom of the totem pole at his beloved university during a season the Buckeyes went 10-3 and won the Big Ten.
On New Year's Day, the Buckeyes beat Texas A&M 28-12 in the Cotton Bowl. But even though the season ended on a high note, Harbaugh put his final imprint on the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry as a player more than a month earlier.
Ohio State graduate assistant Urban Meyer.
“No doubt about it, it's going to take our best offensive game of the year. And I guarantee we beat Ohio State. We'll be in Pasadena on Jan. 1,” Harbaugh said in a television interview before the game. “There's no doubt in my mind about that.”
Harbaugh delivered on his guarantee. He completed 19 passes against the Buckeyes and threw two interceptions but Michigan still went on to win 26-24 in Columbus mostly on the legs of running back Jamie Morris. The former quarterback returns to Ohio Stadium for the first time on Saturday since his infamous guarantee, which he made 30 years ago Tuesday.
Meyer coached wide receivers that season for Bruce. Asked on Monday if he remembered Harbaugh's guarantee and subsequent performance in the 1986 version of The Game, Meyer said he didn't.
“Just moved on.”
Harbaugh completed 180-of-277 passes in 1986 for 2,729 yards, 10 touchdowns and 11 interceptions that season. The passing yards was a Michigan record and helped him earn the Chicago Tribune Silver Football as Big Ten Most Valuable Player. Harbaugh also finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting behind Vinny Testaverde and Paul Palmer.
The two men meet at Ohio Stadium for the first time since 1986 on Saturday. Jim Harbaugh had a much more decorated college (and for that matter, NFL) playing career but each took different paths to their respective positions as head coaches at Michigan and Ohio State.
Meyer's earliest memory of The Game came as a young boy in Ashtabula, Ohio, when his mother made him run an errand with her instead of listening to it on the radio.
“What the hell [are] we talking about? You don't leave [during] that game,” Meyer recalled on Monday. In Ashtabula, Ohio, outdoor mall walking down, and over the loudspeakers I just kept stopping and listening to the game.”
Harbaugh and Meyer appear to be readying for step two of what is believed to be the next step in the great coaching rivalry of Ohio State and Michigan. Credit that to Bo Schembechler and Woody Hayes and how each legendary coach impacted the current ones.
“It's a nice compliment to two of my heroes, Bo Schembechler and Woody Hayes,” Harbaugh said on Monday. “But then back to work.”
“I learned it from those two—two of the greatest coaches of all time,” Meyer said. “They handled themselves with incredible class, toughness, demanded of their players, and you got to see that every time those two teams played. So that's my memory, and that's how we go about our business here.”
The rivalry is renewed in Columbus at noon on Saturday.
