Tag: Ohio State

The fifth and final installment of this year’s series looking back at the football rivalry between Michigan and Ohio State takes us back to 1995. The larger word had yet to discover the Internet, and Ohio State was on the verge of becoming a national football powerhouse. The Buckeyes were almost certainly headed to the Rose Bowl; the only thing that remained was their coronation in Ann Arbor. 

But a funny thing happened on the way to that coronation. Ohio State had defeated Michigan the previous year, and was feeling very confident leading up to “The Game” in 1995. There’s a fine line between confidence and overconfidence. More to the point, you don’t want to give your opponents ammunition. and the Buckeyes did just that. 

Naturally, Michigan players heard about this. It was an interesting season for Michigan. Lloyd Carr had replaced Gary Moeller as head coach, but Carr was only initially hired on an interim basis. The season started with a wild comeback win over Virginia on the game’s final play, but Carr’s team had been inconsistent. During the week of the game, Michigan tailback Tshimanga “Tim” Biakabutuka assured Carr that he had nothing to worry about; that the team would be ready for Ohio State when the game rolled around. 

Sometimes — most times — those assurances should be taken a fair amount of skepticism, but Biakabutuka was a man of his word. Biakabutuka shredded the Ohio State defense for 313 yards, and freshman defensive back Charles Woodson left his imprint on the Buckeyes with a pair of interceptions, with the final pick salting away a 31-23 win for Michigan. The victory didn’t help Michigan very much in the Alamo Bowl, where the Wolverines lost to Texas A&M. But history has largely forgotten about the low-level bowl game, while the win over Ohio State has become part of the lore of that series. 

Thanks to ABC Sports and youtube poster j bakkar. As always, we own nothing and do not profit from this blog post in any way. The content is provided strictly for the enjoyment of readers. 

The fourth installment of this year’s series looking back. at the football rivalry between Michigan and Ohio State takes us back to 1980. The United States got a needed shot in the arm when the Men’s Olympic ice hockey team upset the Soviet Union and and went on to capture the Goal Medal at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. The Cable News Network, commonly known as CNN, started broadcasting on June. 1, and Rubik’s Cube debuted at a toy fair in London.

On the gridiron, Michigan got off to a slow start, losing two of its first three. The Wolverines violated Bo Schembechler’s rule not to let one loss become two, but once the calendar struck October, the Maize and Blue started to jell on both sides of the ball.

Michigan entered the annual clash with Ohio State with three consecutive shutouts on its resume, determined to repeat that outcome vs. the Scarlet and Gray. From the opening kickoff, the game had the feel of a classic defensive struggle, the kind of game that warmed Schembechler’s heart. Despite committing numerous mistakes, including three interceptions, a missed extra point, and a missed field goal, Michigan emerged with a 9-3 victory thanks largely to a defense that all but shut down the Buckeyes when it really mattered. Quarterback John Wangler connected with wide receiver Anthony Carter for the game’s lone touchdown, but the Buckeyes were threatening with less than a minute to go. On fourth down, Ohio State quarterback Art Schlichter faded back to pass and never saw Michigan linebacker Bobby Thompson, who drilled him for the clinching sack, that gave the ball back to Wangler and the offense, who ran the clock out, giving Michigan the Big Ten championship and a perfect record in conference play.

On January 1, the Wolverines put an exclamation point on the season with a 23-6 win over Washington in the Rose Bowl, but it was that ferocious defensive performance in Columbus that gave the Maize and Blue the Big Ten title.

Thanks to youtube poster WolverineHistorian for the video. As always, we own nothing and do not profit in this blog post in any way. The content is provided strictly for the enjoyment of readers.