Saturday’s Stakes Reach Beyond Potential Playoff Berth
There is football of a bit of consequence being played Saturday near the Olentangy River, as you possibly have already heard.
It has been a decade since both Ohio State and their rivals up north entered the regular season finale with legit chances at the national title still intact. When the rivalry last had these stakes, the Buckeyes won 42-39 and earned a shot at the national title. Rather than getting too bogged down in the specifics of what happened subsequently in Arizona, let’s just say that OSU’s beloved current head coach won his first crystal football that night and leave it at that.
Since that 2006 showdown, the two squads have taken very different paths to get back to this point. Ohio State has nine double-digit win seasons in those 10 years, five Big Ten titles, a Rose Bowl win, two Sugar Bowl wins, a Fiesta Bowl win, three national title appearances and one undisputed national crown.
The Wolverines opened the next season by suffering one of college football history’s funniest upsets, hired Rich Rodriguez, failed to reach bowls in back-to-back seasons, hired Brady Hoke, watched his fluky 11-win first season spiral into a spectacular collapse that ended with yet another bowl-less winter and had to resort to giving away tickets with the purchase of soft drinks.
Things finally started to turn around when they hired a fellow with a flair for attracting attention on Twitter, a taste for boogers and the national title-less pedigree worthy of a Bo disciple. The Wolverine fanbase instantly whipped itself into a frenzy, anticipating a reprise that fall of the shocking 1969 upset that kick-started the legendary battles of Woody vs. Bo. Instead they got handed a four-touchdown beatdown, and exited early to the soundtrack of a loud O-H-I-O chant echoing around the Big House yet again.
Things finally started to turn around when they hired a fellow with a flair for attracting attention on Twitter, a taste for boogers and the national title-less pedigree worthy of a Bo disciple. The Wolverine fanbase instantly whipped itself into a frenzy, anticipating a reprise that fall of the shocking 1969 upset that kick-started the legendary battles of Woody vs. Bo. Instead they got handed a four-touchdown beatdown, and exited early to the soundtrack of a loud O-H-I-O chant echoing around the Big House yet again.
Entire article:
http://theozone.net/Ohio-State/Foot...s-Stakes-Reach-Beyond-Potential-Playoff-Berth