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The question is put to Jim Harbaugh, like every November.
It was 32 years ago that the young Harbaugh was sitting in front of a television camera, wearing a white shirt and guaranteed that his Michigan Wolverines would beat the Ohio State and win their ticket to the Rose Bowl. As every year since he's in Michigan, someone wanted to know what he remembered from that moment there is more than a half-life.
The following year, Urban Meyer was a young graduate assistant called in a meeting room of the state of Ohio to learn that his boss and mentor, Earle Bruce, had been fired a few days before To face his rival in Ann Arbor. Meyer remembers that just as Harbaugh remembers his guarantee. The Buckeyes won this game and they took Bruce out of the field on their shoulders.
Neither of these two head coaches need to recall the power that shaped the legacy of the game.
"Certainly not [game] Meyer said Monday. "The word" pressure "is absolutely there, so someone says there's no pressure, it's not true."
Every time Ohio State plays against Michigan, it is possible that decisive moments occur. This year, the duel between a pair of 10-1 teams will, for several reasons, feel destined to produce an inflection point, especially for the two high-level coaches who have been tasked with bringing back their annual rivalry to his most beautiful hours of glory.
The first four rounds of Harbaugh vs. Meyer will have produced enough discussion topics to support the narrative story deemed appropriate for their role in the long-running series.
Two of the three games have now featured the top 10 teams competing for a potential spot for the playoffs (he was up to the epic hype!). The Buckeyes are 3-0 against the Wolverines of Harbaugh. Two of these victories are double-digit. (Meyer dominated! Harbaugh could not win when it counted!) Of course, one of those three wins was won after a controversial call in overtime and another was a comeback in the second half against a Michigan quarterback , third. (The Harbaugh team was so close! And they got fooled by referees!)
What perception will remain at the end of this chapter of rivalry? The 2018 meeting – and it's fair to wonder now how many versions of this heavyweight coach battle we'll have – could play a big role in answering this question.
Consider the differences between preparing for this year's Top 10 meet-up and the same Horseshoe game two years ago. In 2016, the mature Meyer dynasty flourished in Columbus and the Harbaugh team was the upstart challenger who was trying to defeat a mighty opponent. The gap widened even more with last year, as the state of Ohio headed for another Big Ten title and the fault of a Michigan attack created a reason to doubt that Harbaugh is bringing back the Michigan to its glorious past.
The roles have almost reversed in the last year. Michigan is the new tyrant of the Big Ten. Ohio State, outsider this week for the first time since winning the 2014 national championship, has the worried look of a tottering empire. A good boost from the Wolverines this week could make it all rain on the floor and amplify the questions about the health of the Ohio State and its head coach with the unique spirit to win.
"It's really a different feeling," said Michigan Karan Higdon said. "We have to make sure we manage our business."
If Michigan does not finally do business in Columbus, these perceptions can easily turn around 180 degrees in the other direction. This Ohio State team has to win only one home game and its quarterback, record to remain an 11-1 group and a favorite to win its third Big Ten title in six years. Meyer, Dwayne Haskins and the rest of the 2018 Buckeyes would suddenly fall into the team that had a year filled with drama and upheaval while finding a way to win the conference she dominated. If they can not be upset this year, then when?
Harbaugh was not interested this week in "peeling the onion" of what this game could mean for the way it is seen by Michigan fans and the rest of the college football world. With a loss, he will be the only coach in the history of the program to have a 0-4 record against the Buckeyes.
With a win, he will give himself a good chance to be the first Michigan coach with 40 wins in the first four years since the early twentieth century Fielding Yost with four unbeaten seasons. And it will be to the advantage of North West not to participate in the college football playoffs. In other words, it will be more or less in tune with the dizzying expectations that had hosted in Ann Arbor in 2015.
It is perhaps a bit unfair that a man's inheritance be subject to such divergent ways based perhaps only on a pass or a questionable place. There have been other defining days in their past and there will almost certainly be more in the future. But Saturday will be, for Harbaugh and Meyer, a major potential hub for the way they will remember.
Statistics and data can be made to paint any image you want. These are moments like these that decide how to use them.
The canvas is tense with anticipation this week. It will be empty only a few more days.
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