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In the history of the game, the 1968 Michigan-Ohio State duel stands the test of time – and sets itself apart from the fans of both teams – as one of the defining moments of this rivalry.
It was Buckeyes coach Woody Hayes who, after a 50-14 victory over the Wolverines, attempted to convert two points at the end of the fourth quarter. He legitimately replied that both sides knew this rivalry perfectly:
"Because I could not go for three."
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This answer remains a flash point that has helped to elevate this rivalry to its current state. The final chapter, 50 years later from that moment, will take place on Saturday noon when Michigan No. 4 will travel to No. 10 Ohio State in a battle for supremacy in the Big Ten East. It's a match that will continue or break the last cycle of The Game, which is decidedly one way in favor of the Buckeyes since 2001.
The Wolverines have had their share of dominant streaks, but still seek to break the Buckeyes series in the 21st century. They enter the game as a four-point favorite, ending the Ohio State's 51-game series as a favorite team.
"I think they should be favored by the way they play," Joel Klatt, an FOX analyst, told Sporting News. "It's been their best chance in a while, but the odds are two-way, but it's the best chance for Michigan to win a road race in this series.
"That being said, I will not help them much," Klatt said. "Ohio State has a lot of talent and, in this game, it looks like a lot of rivalry games, and I hate to say it because it's so cliche that no matter what you've done up to now . "
But let's go back to this two-point conversion – we mistakenly thought it had ended in an unbalanced victory – and how it helped to make the rivalry today. It starts with the Buckeyes, who used this victory to win the national title '68 under Hayes.
"In my opinion, and I use this in all of my presentations, I use the word transformational," said Ohio State historian SN Jack said. Park. "It was a totally transformational season.The 1968 season changed the football of the Ohio State in many ways."
Perhaps more importantly, this marked the beginning of the best chapter of this rivalry – "The Ten Years War".
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Park gets the Ohio State winning percentage on one of its many worksheets: .675 from 1890-1967 and .787 from 1698-2017. The Buckeyes are 10-1 this season and hold a 27-21-2 advantage over Michigan in the last 50 meetings. This 1968 match was the most recognizable moment, when Hayes posted his success against "this northern team".
"Before Michigan and the Ohio State, there was no particular coolness," said New York Times author John U. Bacon. "That's when the tingling begins." (Ohio defenseman Jim Otis) or another player threw the ball into the stands after a touchdown, which you've never done before. time – it really shocked Michigan.
The Wolverines reacted by hiring Bo Schembechler, a former assistant to the state of Ohio. In 1969, Michigan's No. 12 defeated No. 1 in the state of Ohio 24-12, and the ten-year war was born. Bacon recalled how this upheaval coexisted with the two-point conversion of 1968.
"Woody Hayes in 1980 was at a banquet and someone asked him:" What was your best team? "Said Bacon. "He said" 1969 "and he did not blink …. Then he turned to Bo and told him:" Damn, you'll never win a bigger match. "You know what? He was right."
This match of 68 led to two separate cycles in this rivalry: the ten-year war between Hayes and Schembechler who saw Michigan beat 5-4-1 against the Buckeyes, and another nine-year stretch between Schembechler and the # 39, Ohio coach Earle Bruce, produced six of the first 11 clashes in this rivalry.
Schembechler had a 5-4-1 lead over Hayes, but gave the Buckeyes a 10-9-1 advantage over the next nine years against Bruce, who was 5-4 against Michigan. This culminated in the team meeting in 1987, when Bruce was fired the week of the game. His players wore "Earle" headlines for the match and the Buckeyes won 23-20.
Schembechler then told Bruce the last thing you would expect from a hated rival:
"I always mind losing to Ohio State," Schembechler told Bruce. "But it did not bother me so much today."
Looking back, it seems almost impossible that this rivalry could match these incredible series of competitive games. Since then, schools have dominated rivalry in turn.
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Michigan took command of the next phase from 1988 to 2000, a sequence in which Schembechler, Gary Moeller and Lloyd Carr combined to get a 10-2-1 record against the former coach of the United States. Ohio State, John Cooper, and notably victories in 1993, 95 and 96., all matches in which Ohio State came in undefeated.
Desmond Howard (1991) and Charles Woodson (1997), winners of the Heisman Trophy, distinguished themselves by returning legendary kicks to the Big House. Howard's "Heisman pose" and Woodson's overall performance, which marked Michigan's last national championship in 1997, are the highlights of this cycle.
"For me, more than anything else, that's what Desmond Howard and Charles Woodson did in this game," said Klatt. "These are the most iconic moments of my mind."
It is also an area in which Cooper's teams recorded a 43-7-1 record in 1995-98 – but three of those defeats were recorded by the Wolverines.
When the state of Ohio hired Jim Tressel in 2001, the rivalry was again moved, this time in favor of the Buckeyes. Tressel, who was formerly the Youngstown State coach, knew – and prioritized – the importance of beating Michigan from day one, which his predecessor Cooper did not know. It has become the focus of the current dominance of rivalry in favor of the Buckeyes.
Tressel and his current coach Urban Meyer have since combined a 15-1 record against Michigan since 2001, the Wolverines' last win in 2011 against interim coach Luke Fickell.
"Under Tressel and Urban, players trust their absence," said Park. "Some of John Cooper's teams were far superior to those in Michigan and we lost."
Ohio State also won the iconic match of that period, a 42-39 victory when the teams clashed in the No. 1 match against No. 1. 2 Game of the Century in 2006. The success of the Buckeyes, combined with Michigan chess, also contributed to a lull in rivalry.
Jim Harbaugh was hired in 2015 after his predecessors, Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke, had a record 1-6 in the seven years prior to his arrival. Harbaugh's first season as a Michigan coach also doubled the last national championship season in the state of Ohio. This decision was compared to that of the hiring of Schembechler in 1969. Which, of course, leads to the present.
In three years, Ohio State's state of rivalry has not wavered. Meyer is 3-0 against Harbaugh, and the highlight of this era, to date, is the 2016 game in which the Buckeyes won 30-27 in doubles in overtime.
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This year, however, should be an even bigger moment, given the stakes. Harbaugh tries to avoid a 0-4 record against Ohio State, and the Wolverines control their fate of the Big Ten championship and college football playoffs.
Ohio State is not desperate for a win in the series, but Meyer's three-game suspension early in the season, combined with what would be his first loss against the Wolverines, would undoubtedly lead to discontent in the match schedule. first time in a long time.
"If Michigan wins this year, even if we do not know it for another five or ten years, it will be seen as the dawn of a new era," Bacon said. "It's unclear how long Urban Meyer will do, there are rumors, Jim Harbaugh seems to be clearly enjoying himself and seems to be in the long run."
Park nevertheless believes that it is Michigan to break this cycle. And since the Wolverines have not won at Columbus since Cooper's last game in 2000, it's easier said than done.
"Nobody wants to lose, but if you lose three out of 18 instead of two out of 18, it's not like the world is going to end," Park said. "For Michigan, the game is much more important.If they lose and that Harbaugh has a record of 0 to 4 and that they have won one of the last 15 games, I think the pressure is much stronger in Michigan. "
In this regard, this game could be the next critical moment, such as 1968, 1969, 1987, 1991, 1997, 1997, 2001, 2014 or 2016. All of these factors have elevated the rivalry into its current status. The dynamic with Meyer and Harbaugh, the big stage – perhaps bigger than it has been for years – and the era of social media could combine to produce that moment.
But for a new cycle to begin, the Wolverines must do what the 1969 team did.
"For this rivalry to be what it was," said Bacon, "Michigan must win one like this."
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