Hope Boren has a little extra free time this weekend, so she plans to do something she hasn’t been able to in quite a while.
“I’m actually going to get some shopping done this weekend,” she says laughing. “That’s something I’ve never gotten to do this weekend before.”
This weekend, of course, is the Ohio State–Michigan game, the 113th version of college football’s greatest rivalry. Hope Boren says she will watch the game, obviously, but she has some extra time on her hands on the surrounding days this year because it’s the first time in the last decade one of her sons isn’t taking part in The Game.
Hope Boren is the mother of Justin, Zach and Jacoby Boren — the three brothers who spent the last 10 years playing in this rivalry. Zach and Jacoby for four years each at Ohio State; Justin for two years at Michigan and then two with the Buckeyes.
The Borens' story is not a secret. Hope and Mike Boren, the parents, are both Michigan graduates. Mike Boren played football for the Wolverines under Bo Schembechler. Their three sons grew up Michigan fans and their first born, Justin, went to Ann Arbor to begin his college career in 2006.
But when the Wolverines parted ways with Lloyd Carr and hired Rich Rodriguez, Justin opted to transfer to Ohio State. It became kind of a big deal — that doesn’t happen often, don’t you know? — but for the Boren family, it made the most sense. Instantly, the Borens became all Buckeye and they still are to this day. Zach and Jacoby soon followed Justin to Ohio State.
And so from Justin's freshman year at Michigan in 2006 to Jacoby's final year at Ohio State last season in 2015, a Boren played in the Ohio State–Michigan game every year but one. The lone exception was 2008 when Justin sat out due to NCAA transfer rules. He didn't suit up for the Buckeyes in his first season at Ohio State, but he was still part of the team.
Saturday’s version of The Game won’t have a Boren playing in it. There isn't one on either roster.
That’s certainly something different for mom and dad.
“It is weird,” Mike Boren said. “But at the same time, it’s going to be kind of relaxing. It’s not going to be as intense maybe as it is when one of your boys is playing.”
“I can sit and watch the game, cheer really hard and enjoy every minute of it without totally worrying about somebody’s psyche if they lose, somebody screwing up, somebody getting hurt, anything like that,” Hope Boren added. “It’ll be stressful in terms of the fact that you want your team to win, but I won’t have that personal stress.”
That’s something the Borens haven’t had all season, and it took some time to adjust.
“I have a lot of free time now," Mike Boren said. "I used to go to practices all the time; I pretty much never missed a Tuesday practice and now I don't have that."
"I should have had about five more kids and then we wouldn't have this problem."
Hope and Mike Boren both said they plan to tailgate for Saturday’s game — this is Ohio State–Michigan, after all — but neither is sure yet about attending. They’ve been to their fair share of these games when their sons played, perhaps they'll let someone else get the experience this time around.
And while Saturday might be the first time in quite a while The Game will be played without a Boren, there’s a chance the family returns to the rivalry down the road.
“We’ve got one grandson now,” Mike Boren joked, “and hopefully we’ll have many more so we can watch them in 2030 or whatever.”
