Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler are long gone. So too are “three yards and a cloud of dust,” Hopalong Cassidy, Archie Griffin, Elroy “Crazy Legs” Hirsch and Bump Elliot. They are only fond memories to true Buckeye and Wolverine fans.
The clamor for a national championship game and even a four-team playoff format beginning next year has taken the glitter off “The Game.”
Michigan and Ohio State first played football in 1897 with the “Toledo War” still fresh in the minds of some residents of the two border states. It seems Ohio and Michigan both laid claim to a strip of ground that extended west from Lake Erie to the Indiana line. The guns were loaded for the shooting to commence.
The inaugural game was held in Ann Arbor and the series did not start out as much of a contest. Michigan dominated OSU 12-0-2 over the first 14 years of the rivalry.
The Wolverines even won the 1902 contest 86-0 and the series took a sabbatical after the 1912 game. UM and OSU did not resume play until both teams had become members of the Big Ten Conference in 1918.
OSU proved to more competitive and won three of four games from 1918 though 1921. Michigan still holds the edge in wins with a 58-44-6 overall record. OSU has been gaining on UM, however, by winning nine of the last ten contests.
“The Game” was always held at the end of the season and annually decided the winner of the Big Ten championship. The winner earned that…
Continue Reading: The Michigan vs. Ohio State Game Has Become Irrelevant
