Ten years ago, The Game wore a new face for the first time in its illustrious history.
Ohio State and Michigan met on the gridiron for the first time ever on Oct. 16, 1897. The Wolverines won that day, dropping the Buckeyes 34-0 to kick off the border war. The matchup blossomed into something much more over the next 100-plus years, with players plastering their name in history and legendary coaches helping the programs reach the pinnacle of college football.
It took until the mid-1930s before Michigan and Ohio State began to lock horns annually at the end of the season, signaling more meaning to The Game with Big Ten and national championships often hanging in the balance. Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler fought the Ten Year War during the 1970s. Then Earle Bruce and his team's headbands became as memorable as John Cooper never being able to beat Big Blue.
But on a late November afternoon in 2006, the two schools did something they never had before: Met as the top two ranked teams in college football.
Ohio State, led by eventual Heisman Trophy winner and quarterback Troy Smith, boasted an electrifying offense with weapons at receiver in Anthony Gonzalez, Ted Ginn Jr., Brian Robiskie, Roy Hall and others. Running backs Antonio Pittman and Chris Wells complimented the potent passing attack, all with Smith orchestrating things in line with Jim Tressel's vision.
Not to be outdone, Lloyd Carr's Wolverines rose in the rankings steadily during the regular season behind the arm of Chad Henne, the powerful legs of Mike Hart and future NFLers left tackle Jake Long and receivers Mario Manningham, Steve Breaston and Adrian Arrington. Top defenders Shawn Crable, Lamar Woodley and Leon Hall bolstered a terrific team that cooled down the heat from Carr's seat after a 7-5 season the year before.
In the age of the BCS, No. 1 v. No. 2 represented a national championship play-in game. With no Big Ten Championship Game in place at that time, the winner would punch its ticket to the Fiesta Bowl. The loser would receive a Rose Bowl trip as a consolation prize.
But the fact it pitted the two teams that make up the greatest rivalry in sports made the game more anticipated, analyzed and watched than ever—an estimated 21.8 million viewers tuned to ABC that afternoon. And it delivered. Ohio State and Michigan went back and forth at one another and the Buckeyes did not finally clinch the win until late in the game with an onside kick recovery and ensuing first down.
The scoreboard read 42-39 in favor of Ohio State when 60 glorious minutes of football ended. All who watched knew resulted in an instant classic.
At the 10-year anniversary, Eleven Warriors talked to a few of the major Ohio State players in the game to get their thoughts on everything that led up to the matchup, Schembechler's sudden death and how the game played out in their eyes. All quotes were said to Eleven Warriors unless otherwise noted and each section has a brief overview to provide context.
Great Anticipation
With the majority of talent back from a 2005 team that finished 10-2 and on a seven-game winning streak that included a thrilling win at Michigan and thrashing of Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl, Ohio State entered the season ranked No. 1 in the country. Michigan entered 14th.
The Buckeyes traveled to defending national champion Texas and throttled the No. 2 Longhorns 24-7 in Week 2, only adding more fuel to the fire that they were undoubtedly the best team in college football. Wins against ranked teams Penn State and Iowa hardly provided much sustenance to dispute that claim, as Ohio State beat the Nittany Lions and Hawkeyes by a combined score of 66-23.
Michigan also grabbed a more than noteworthy win in the non-conference, beating No. 2 Notre Dame in South Bend 47-21 a week after the Buckeyes downed Texas. That win shot the Wolverines into the top 10 for good before September ended and the wheels started to turn for everyone on the outside looking in that the matchup at the end of the season between the two rivals could be special.
As fate would have it, both teams took care of business to get to 11-0 and set the stage for a nationally televised game the schools agreed to push back from its traditional noon slot to 3:30 p.m.
“Well, it's finally here, what you've been talking about for six weeks,” Tressel said to begin his weekly press luncheon that Monday. “We're excited to be at this point, to have the privilege of being in the Ohio State-Michigan game and having it right here in our stadium, and the whole world will be watching two outstanding football teams.”
Many expected a low-scoring affair, with Ohio State's top-ranked defense giving up just 7.8 points per game and Michigan's rugged front four allowing a mere 29.9 rushing yards per contest. Michigan also entered in the top-10 of the country in scoring defense, total defense, tackles for loss and third-down percentage.
Still, the Buckeyes entered as 6.5-point favorites mainly due to Tressel and Smith, for the simple fact the coach rode a 4-1 mark against the Wolverines in his Ohio State tenure. A pair of those came with Smith at quarterback, including the thrilling 25-21 victory in Ann Arbor a year earlier. All eyes came turned Columbus that week, with more than 1,000 media credentials issued and interview after interview taking place.
It certainly had a national championship feel to it.
Antonio Pittman, Ohio State Running Back: “The pressure was on. I think once we got to Week 8 of the season, you could see the countdown of basically what it was leading up to. I remember them, with all the suspense building up pushing the game back from noon to a 3:30 p.m. kickoff. It was very weird because tradition is noon no matter what.”
Doug Datish, Ohio State Center: “I think that whole year was kind of crazy. We were No. 1 all the way through. You get a little bit, I don't know if you want to call it fatigued, but you get fatigued from being No. 1 all year, you get everybody's best shot. All this different stuff.
“But that week was special because it was not only Michigan and all the stuff that goes along with that being the biggest game of the year but it truly was to play for the national championship. It almost like the crescendo of the season for us. You knew it was a big game so it wasn't just ESPN, you had all the big dogs there, big sports guys there. It was obvious that there was something big going on that week.”
Tragedy struck just hours before kickoff when news that Schembechler had passed due to ongoing heart issues spread like wildfire across the country. The famed coach collapsed at a local television station in Detroit around 10 a.m. and his death was confirmed roughly two hours later by the medical examiner. His connection to both programs is lengthy, being that he is an Ohio native and once coached for Woody Hayes at Ohio State.
Schembechler impacted so many at Michigan, even giving his usual pregame speech before The Game to the Wolverines in 2006 much to the dismay of Lloyd Carr.
“I tried to convince him not to talk,” Carr said then, “because when I went down to get him, about 2:20, he said he was having a hard time breathing. He said he had a hard time breathing since he had the pacemaker put in (a month earlier).
“But he said, ‘No, I’m going to talk to them.’ So he went down and he spoke to them for 10 or 12 minutes.”
Schembechler's death shocked the college football world.
Pittman: “Bo ended up dying the [day] before and everything leading up to it, it was huge. For me it was a different kind of excitement and ready for the game.
“My father is from Barberton, where Bo Schembechler's from. Bo actually recruited me to go to Michigan. Sent me a handwritten letter because he knew my father personally. It was crazy because I knew him, Scot Loeffler, the offensive coordinator, who graduated from the same high school as my father. The relationship and the ties and the balance between the two were very rare. It was hard.”
Chris "Beanie" Wells, Ohio State Running Back: “We had to take into consideration earlier in the week, Bo Schembechler passes away and that just is an added incentive for Michigan to want to go out and win that football game. With what he had meant to that university and what he meant to the rivalry, those guys around there. It was a heckuva week of preparation as well.”
Jim Tressel, Ohio State Head Coach: “I had known him for quite a while because he was from Akron and that is where I started my coaching so all of our coaches at the University of Akron knew him ... I felt like I knew him very well.
“Beyond that, I think the fact he was one of the legends in my field, couple that with that he was both a Buckeye and a Wolverine. After the initial shock and the sadness of, 'Oh my God, one of my idols is gone,' there was a little selfish hint in my mind that 'Oh my gosh, Michigan is just going to play lights out.' Because they got to see him every day.
“It'd be like, can you imagine if Woody died in morning before for us? If you were only 99 percent ready to play the game you were officially 100 percent ready.”
James Laurinaitis, Ohio State Linebacker: “What really stood out to me, I remember Bo passed away a couple days before the game. I remember thinking there wasn't anymore motivation for a 1/2 game from their end. That kind of solidified it.
“The hype just kept building and building and building. You knew there was going to be a ton of people there. It kind of felt like a national title game. We had played Texas earlier in the year and it was No. 1 v. No. 2 but when you play the rival and it is No. 1 v. No. 2, it was different.
“You could just sense everything. When it started to really open up for me, we got the Blackwell, looked outside and saw as the minutes ticked by, the swarm of people kept increasing. It was impressive. Just adds to your excitement to play. Added to the butterflies, trying to get ready for that game.”
Datish: “The focus was to win that game, no matter what. Being that it was No. 1 v. No. 2, it controlled everything we wanted to do. We wanted to win the Big Ten Championship, we wanted to beat Michigan, we wanted to go to the National Championship and have an opportunity to play. Everything we wanted and everything we set out to do so far in that season we had set out to do.
“Was there any more emphasis to it than any other year? Probably not to be honest with you. Coach Tress and that stuff was a big fan of doing everything you needed to do every week regardless of the opponent so you feel kind of had home when you're preparing. But for that week, you have a couple more things. Hurricane [Earle] Bruce comes in, he gives you a big speech, nobody likes that rivalry more than him. The only difference is when you're on the scout team you had to tape your helmet into Michigan colors. I've done that before—it's not that fun.”
Punches Thrown
Michigan started the game on offense and hardly wasted any time announcing its presence to the highly-touted Buckeye defense and the fans at The Horseshoe. Henne hit Manningham twice for more than 20 yards to get the ball down to Ohio State's 1-yard line.
Hart made it 7-0 with an easy touchdown run off tackle not even 2:30 into the game.
Laurinaitis: “We knew we were going to have our hands full with their offense and I'd be lying to you if I said I expected as high of a scoring game as it was. But it really just adds to the greatness of the game and the way it took shape of one of epic proportions.
“If anything, I look back and I am happy we won the game but am disappointed that we didn't play better defensively because I feel like we could have put a whooping on them if we had just played better. But you have to give them credit as well. They had a lot of bad people on that team, they were able to establish the run game early.”
Ohio State countered with Smith leading the charge on a 69-yard scoring drive that included a strike to wide receiver Roy Hall over the middle on 3rd-and-long. Smith found Hall in the corner the end zone a handful of plays later for a 1-yard touchdown to tie the game.
Tressel's decision to open up the offense and let Smith throw the ball around the field surprised Michigan, who anticipated a ground and pound attack at the beginning of the game. Ohio State instead ran five receivers out to start the drive and with Smith throwing darts all over the field, quickly evened things up.
Wells: “To start the game, you obviously always want to run the football but Coach Tressel saw it as a perfect opportunity to kind of switch it up a little bit. Coach Tressel is very methodical about the way he goes about things. I think it was kind of planned all along to lure everybody to sleep in terms of Michigan and then once you got to the game open it up with the passing attack.
“Coach Tressel, he does a little bit each week and it's pretty much year-round in preparation for that Ohio State-Michigan game. I think the way he came up with the game plan was no different. They obviously thought we were going to come out with a heavy set, running the ball but we opened it up passing the ball. Something we hadn't done frequently.”
Tressel: “I think it was an evolution. It wasn't just an, 'Oh, hey, why don't we try this?' I think we always tried to be as broad of an offensive attack as well could for the reason being our defense being able to practice against everything.
“We probably looked at Michigan like you do every team and said where are the matchups? We knew you couldn't do all of one thing anyway and we knew how dynamic they were on offense. We knew we were going to have to be pretty good. Obviously, we didn't factor in those turnovers we had. Had we not had those turnovers it would have really been decisive.
“Troy was really progressing in his understanding and some of those young receivers were really coming along. Guys like Hartline and Robiskie, Gonzalez and those guys. Everyone knew Teddy was Teddy. Those young guys were coming along but we also knew we were going to need to run the football well.”
Datish: “Having Troy in the huddle, it's unique man. My wife always tells the story that we were playing the year before up at Michigan and we came back to win the game. My wife and in-laws and everybody was in the stands, freaking out like saying, 'I can't believe we're going to lose' and all this stuff. They were sitting in front of Troy's mom and Troy's mom looked at them and said, 'Baby girl, I don't know what you're worried about. Troy's got this.'
“And he did. Then playing with him, we never had any doubt that we were going to be successful and we were going to win. I don't know how else to put it. With him back there, you just didn't have any doubts. Having a guy like that on your team is pretty valuable, obviously.”
The first quarter ended tied at 7 before Ohio State exploded to build a lead. Laurinaitis denied Hart on 3rd-and-1 at the beginning of the second quarter to force a punt, which helped the Buckeyes seize control.
Wells, then a freshman, took a handoff from Smith on the ensuing drive, spun out of a tackle and raced 52 yards before he dove into the end zone to give the Buckeyes a lead they would never relinquish.
Wells: “Even before the play, I remember the night before I'm in Antonio Pittman's and Troy Smith's room and I remember Troy kept harping and beating in my head, and other guys in the room that night, if you make a play in this game, a huge play, and we go on and win the game you will etch yourself in stone at Ohio State history forever. Because this is the biggest Ohio State-Michigan game that ever been played.
“As that play came on, I got the opportunity to get out there on the field and that run, I spun off Shawn Crable, an Ohio guy I kind of grew up idolizing, it was kind of almost by accident. He was right there and I was trying to get away from him. I spin and it's like daylight, it's like parting the sea that I see in front of me. It was as wide as can be. Essentially wide open.
“If you go back and watch the tape, I was holding onto the ball so tight because I didn't want to fumble because I had a fumbling issue my freshman year there. That's all I was thinking about. Holding onto this ball so tight for dear life, once I got to the end zone I said, 'Wow. This is incredible. I just made a play in this game and everybody talking about essentially one of the greatest Ohio State-Michigan games with the anticipation and the buildup to it. Ever.' It was an incredible moment for me.”
Then Smith took over. After the Buckeye defense forced another punt that Michigan downed inside the Ohio State 10, the future Heisman winner evaded pressure on second down and fired a heater to Brian Robiskie on the right sideline.
The wide receiver slipped by Leon Hall and cut left, flipping field position with a gain of 39 yards to the Michigan 48-yard line. Tressel called for a handoff to Pittman on the next play, who ran for 9 yards. Officials briefly delayed the game to check and see if the running back had actually picked up the first down. He didn't but Ohio State's head coach saw it as an opportunity to strike with a wrinkle in the offense.
Sprinting to the line of scrimmage in a power formation with three tight ends, Michigan failed to notice that one of them happened to be Ginn. Smith faked to Wells and hid the ball behind his right thigh while Ginn streaked down the middle of the field and by the Wolverine secondary.
Smith delivered a perfectly thrown, high arching pass to Ginn, who leaped between defenders to reel in the 39-yard strike and make it 21-7. The play sent Ohio Stadium into a frenzy.
Tressel: “It'd been something from a formation standpoint that we'd done a little bit with the thought in mind of one day not just running the ball and getting your 1 yard. If you recall, we ran the ball and got 9 yards. The feeling was we were just going to line up and get that 1 yard.
“We wanted to be a little bit unpredictable. We knew that if it was incomplete, we could try to get the yard conventionally, if you will. We didn't think it was a gamble but we thought it could be a big play. And obviously it was.”
Michigan showed its salt as a top team, however, as Henne and Hart led the way on an 80-yard drive to cut the lead in half. Henne hit a wide open Arrington near the sideline for a 37-yard touchdown with 2:33 left in the half.
The Wolverines felt themselves lurch back into the game but gave Ohio State—and Smith—too much time before halftime. A series that didn't need a single third down conversion ensued, with the quarterback piecing together a nearly perfect 2-minute drill, running nine plays to travel 80 yards.
The final 8 yards came on a slant to Gonzalez with 20 seconds left before intermission. With a 28-14 lead through 30 minutes, Smith's stat line was ridiculous—21-of-26 passing for 241 yards and three touchdowns.
Michigan's defensive line was one of the best in the country all season but did not get to Smith in the first half, so he made the Wolverines pay. He also showed why Ohio State held the edge on its side that would eventually lead to a win.
Laurinaitis: “It was just a back and forth game. Every time we felt like we gave them a punch in the gut they kind of gave it back. Just two competitive teams that were clawing for that and clawing for a chance to go play for a national title. I just knew that with Troy Smith at QB we were going to win that game at home, on his Senior Day.
“Whenever Troy Smith was our quarterback I never thought we were going to lose a game. I always had a confidence because he was having a magical season. He was kind of like Houdini. The year before you witnessed it against Michigan when he stepped up in the pocket for that Gonzo play.”
Pittman: “We were ready for it. Troy was incredible. I knew it was his last game. I was contemplating leaving, Gonzo was contemplating leaving. We all huddled up and knew the importance of it.”
Putting It Away
With a chance to extend an early knockout blow in the third quarter, Ohio State punted on its first drive. Michigan got right back in the game again, with Hart carrying four times on the way to the end zone.
On his 2-yard touchdown carry, the Michigan running back shoved aside Ohio State safety Jamario O'Neal. The Wolverines intercepted Smith on the next drive after his pass was tipped and intercepted by Alan Branch.
Tressel: “That was about really the only disconcerting time. We dropped a couple balls, it wasn't like we weren't doing what we could do. We dropped a couple balls and missed a pass pro or whatever. You're starting to think, 'Oh my goodness. I hope that we haven't made this assumption that we're fine.' You can't discount what they did. That was a whale of a football game. Both teams kept coming.”
But Ohio State's stout defense held and forced a 39-yard field goal by Garrett Rivas with 8:41 left in the third quarter to make the score 28-24. Needing a score to re-establish some momentum, the Buckeyes turned to their junior tailback.
Pittman took the second play on the drive 56 yards for a touchdown, squirting out on the backside and splitting Michigan's safeties before sprinting to the end zone essentially untouched. The photo of him running away from the entire Michigan defense is an iconic shot in The Game's history.
Pittman: “It was Right Tight 46 Power. To be honest, it happened in a blur. I remember getting the ball, it was a weird scenario, there was a little crease, the linebacker came and the guard kicked him. The safety came and I gave him a side step and I was not letting anybody catch me. Beanie had already broke one earlier, that was my little brother, and I could not let me outdo me.”
Datish: “We ran that play about a billion times and we ran it against everybody and everything. It was one of those things that listen—they know we're going to run the play and we know we're going to run the play. We're just going to try to get hats on hats and see who can execute it. But that one with Pitt, I think he hit it out the backside, which happens on occasion and that is when those really huge plays happen.
“It was just one of those plays where everybody got a good block, everybody got hats on hats and Pitt was really good at having the patience to hit the hole at the right time and make a definitive decision with it. He didn't really do much dancing. He hit that one clean and we were lucky to get some really big running plays in that game. And that was one of them. It was awesome. I don't remember what had happened—I just was on the ground and didn't know until it was in the end zone. There is no other feeling like that, a long, big play, a big game, No. 1 v. No. 2. You know everybody in the country is watching and you can just kind of feel that.”
The score shot Ohio State out front 35-24 and it stayed that way for the final 8 minutes of the third quarter. It didn't take long to change once the game's final stanza began.
Michigan got within one score again on another 1-yard touchdown run by Hart, a play set up by an end around to Breaston after an exchange of punts.
The Buckeyes needed to answer and began the ensuing drive by moving quickly. Facing a 3rd-and-1 at Michigan's 28-yard line, Smith saw an errant snap from Datish fly over his head. Michigan recovered with a chance to retake the lead for the first time since the opening drive of the game.
Datish had a few poor snaps on the day, largely due to the black brace he had to play with on his right (snapping) wrist, plus the new sod at Ohio Stadium. The turf caused many players to lose their footing on more than one occasion throughout the game.
Datish: “Personally I played a good game other than I had two bad snaps. It got caught on the turf, had never happened before in my life and it never happened after that. One of those weird, freaky things. I could have been a big time goat had Troy and everybody else not played as good as we were playing.”
Tressel: “We were probably dumb asking him to do that [snap with his hand/wrist taped].”
Michigan failed to take advantage. A quick three-and-out in the form of a drop by Manningham, a run by Hart and an incomplete pass by Henne forced a punt. Sensing a chance to put the nail in Michigan's proverbial coffin, Smith and Tressel led the march to put the game out of reach.
Pittman ripped off a 26-yard run after Smith faked a throw to the left, then the quarterback fired a bullet to Brian Hartline on 3rd-and-5 to push the ball to Michigan's 33. The Wolverines were running out of chances as the clock trickled under 8 minutes.
Facing another 3rd down, Smith rolled right to evade pressure. Still with his eyes peered downfield, he chucked a pass to an open Robiskie near the middle of the field. It fell incomplete but Crable decked Smith into Ohio State's bench after the throw. Officials whistled him for roughing the passer for the high blow, which resulted in an automatic first down.
Smith hit Robiskie in the corner of the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown three plays later to make it 42-31.
Wells: “Watching Troy overtake that drive and hit Brian Robiskie on what is essentially the game-winning touchdown kind of sealed the deal for us, was incredible. That was the moment like, 'we got this. We're walking out of this game with a victory.'”
Laurinaitis: “It's kind of one of those things that you knew it was going to be one of those games that after the first quarter, you sensed that it was going to come down to that last drive. But to be honest, I trusted Troy Smith over Chad Henne.
“Really in that game, the most memorable thing was Shawn Crable hit Troy really late and extended the drive and gave us a chance.”
Michigan obviously disagreed with the call but again rallied to remain within striking distance. Henne led an 11-play, 81-yard drive that ended with a touchdown pass to tight end Tyler Ecker after a pass interference call on 4th-and-16 kept it alive. Breaston scored the 2-point conversion to make the score 42-39.
Needing an onside kick, Rivas booted the ball straight into Ginn's waiting arms. Pittman iced the game on a 3rd-and-2 with a 6-yard run over the left side of the line. The clock eventually ran out and Ohio State was headed to the national title game.
Celebrate, Celebrate, Celebrate
Fans rushed the field, some wanting to snatch a piece of the Ohio Stadium turf as the game represented the final one that the historic venue would have natural grass. Others wanted to pose for photos. All wanted to celebrate the huge victory over the archrival, the win against the No. 2 team in the country and the fact the Buckeyes punched their ticket to the desert.
Laurinaitis: “I didn't really feel like [we won] until the end. Didn't know how everything was going to play out. I didn't really believe it until the fans were rushing the field, to be honest. And that was the last game with grass. The turf was terrible. I remember people were ripping it up. Whenever you have had bad turf, both teams had to deal with it. Whether it was an advantage or not, I'm not really sure. I remember earlier in the game Troy rolling out and Lamar Woodley falling and thinking, 'Goodness, it probably is because of the turf.'”
Datish: “It's certainly memorable. I've tried to do a better job in this in my life since but I did a terrible job of thinking about the next play, next play, next game, next, next, next, next, next. Never really absorbing what's going on.
“But I did, it was my last game senior year and Coach Tress told us, 'this is the last time you're going to do this. Might as well take it in a little bit.' I didn't do a very good job of it but at the end right after we got that first down, we were all on the field, taking a breath and looking around and seeing, absorbing what was happening around us. You can just feel it.
“I've never felt anything like that. I don't think I'm going to ever feel anything like it again. It was just really, really, really cool.”
Wells: “I had never seen anything like it, being a young kid, being a freshman, coming to Ohio State, you dream to play in a game like this. But for everybody to rush the field and I'm watching people carry chunks of grass off of the field, it was surreal. Now that it is the 10-year anniversary, when I think back, I go 'Wow. I was actually a part of that game.' I actually played a role in my team winning that game, I can't believe it almost. At the time I kind of felt the same way. It was surreal.”
Lasting Legacy
Ohio State and Michigan have not met as the top two ranked teams in the country since Nov. 18, 2006. The two storied programs are scheduled to meet as No. 2 and No. 3 on Saturday at Ohio Stadium, nearly 10 years to the day from the epic battle that unfolded between them as No. 1 and No. 2.
Michigan believed it deserved another chance to play the Buckeyes in the BCS National Championship Game even though they had lost. Whether or not that would happen wouldn't be decided for another few weeks with conference championship games on tap.
“I guarantee if we play them again, it would be a whole different game,” Hart said after the game. “We should have got them the first time around. We didn’t. So if (we don’t get another shot), that’s our fault. But if we played them again, it would be a whole different game. Guarantee that.”
It never happened. Ohio State played Florida—which was coached by Urban Meyer—for all the marbles in early January, while Michigan faced off against USC in the Rose Bowl. Neither Big Ten team won their respective postseason games but each will forever have that faithful day where their conference reached its peak with them on the field in Columbus.
The legacy of the game resonates to this day from all those involved.
Laurinaitis: “I think it was just kind of surreal because of all the build up. But it went super fast, for sure. I just remember looking back and saying, 'This thing here was an epic game.' I still like watching the HBO documentary on the rivalry because it ends with that game. I think just the fact we knew we were heading to Phoenix for a chance to play in the dance, the crowd rushing the field, it was just one of those moments that we knew no matter what happened there were going to be pictures taken of it. Crazy.”
Datish: “The most profound thing I remember is relief. We were all celebrating and Tress came up to me, gave me a hug and I said, 'Coach I'm so sorry. I almost lost the game for us.' He said, 'Don't worry about that. We won the game, we did what we needed to do. No matter how it happened, it happened. What are you going to do about it?' I was feeling relief because I was feeling horrible.
“It's emotionally and physically draining. It is. Because everything that leads up to it, the pressure, the family obligations. I had so many people coming to that game, you're trying to get people tickets, doing this and that. You're focusing on anything but what you really need to focus on and try to accommodate people. Everybody had uncles, sisters and other people that come out of the woodwork to try to go that one.”
Tressel: “I think whenever you get to the end of the exhaustive battle, which a game like that is and a regular season is, I just think there is a certain sense of your emotion is kind of drained.
“You're just sapped. I remember talking to both Bo's and Woody's staffs over the course of years when everyone was criticizing them a little bit that they had been the ones representing the Big Ten for so many years in a row and they would lose in the Rose Bowl. I remember them talking about the fact that unless you understand the Ohio State-Michigan game, you can't understand that, because it was bigger than life. Once we got to Ohio State and there became a BCS, you'd think we would have understood that Ohio State-Michigan game, that 1 vs. 2, was big but there is something bigger on the horizon. I'm not sure we understood that. Maybe by adding this Big Ten Championship Game, it adds a little sense of reality in between.”
Ohio State and Michigan meet on Saturday with a shot to both make the College Football Playoff and a chance to play for the Big Ten Championship on the line. Michigan's path to the conference title game is clear—win and it is in. The Buckeyes must win and hope Penn State loses to Michigan State. But even if that doesn't happen, they look like they can be one of the top 4 teams when it is all said and done.
Even 10 years after one of the most memorable contests in The Game, however, the next battle between Ohio State and Michigan is all that matters once it begins on Saturday.
Datish: “The thing that is unique about the Michigan game and I think anybody who plays in it will tell you, it's probably the cleanest football game you'll play in. Because everybody is playing so hard and so focused. And you also do not want to be the guy that gets the personal foul for doing something really stupid. Every mistake, every block, everything is just ultra-magnified. It's really a game when people can become legends or goats.”
Tressel: “Like these guys on Saturday, 2 vs. 3 is huge. Ohio State vs. Michigan, 2 vs. 3 is huge. The good thing is they're going to have to go play the next weekend if they win. I think that will help them. I think the world's changed enough that you live and learn. I remember listening to those guys, saying 'I don't care what we did.' They had accomplished what they wanted to accomplish. They beat their rival. That's what they lived for.”
