Ohio State Football: The Rivalry is the most important thing in the world
Every year on the final Saturday of the regular season, the Ohio State football team and Michigan Wolverines personify the most important thing in the world as a football game.
The Greatest Rivalry in all sports between the Ohio State football team and Michigan Wolverines is more than a game; it’s a lifestyle. When these two hostile neighbors meet for a football game, Scarlet and Gray collide with Maize and Blue in the most hard-hitting and physically demanding game of your life.
Silver striped helmets with Buckeye leaf stickers vs. blue-winged helmets. Across the Field. Vs. Hail to the Victors. Generations of passionate fans roaring in the stands filling either the Horseshoe or Big House. Ohio State-Michigan is the most special game of the year because it transcends the three-and-a-half-hour television time slot.
Ohio State would not be the program it is today without Michigan, and the same is true in reverse. The Game has layers of tradition and sees its history ingrained in all those who have played, coached, or cheered in this great rivalry. Each team’s legacy remains forever tied to the other, which makes The Game so important.
Michigan, affectionately known as The Team Up North, isn’t referred to by its name in Ohio. The rivalry is 24/7/365 in the Buckeye State, and don’t even think about wearing the color blue this week, or you’ll be forced to change. Woody Hayes is most well-known for his five National Championships and disdain for The State up North.
In recent years, Jim Tressel and Urban Meyer amplified his hatred and embedded it within the program’s culture that spreads to all of Buckeye Nation. However, included in the hate is a mutual and abiding respect for the other team, which is its most unique aspect.
Now, Ryan Day is tasked with carrying on the legacy and tradition of upholding the standard of excellence the rivalry demands.
Day’s Buckeyes earned a 56-27 victory in his first season as Head Coach in 2019 in Ann Arbor and will revisit this Saturday. There’s a reason the Buckeye Battle Cry exclaims, “Our honor defend. So we’ll fight to the end. For Ohio.” It’s not just about the eleven warriors brave and bold on the field at a time.
The Game is for the entire state of Ohio and everyone who has ever become a part of the great tradition of Ohio State Football vs. Michigan. Day knows that and will have his team fired up and ready to go.
The build-up to this year’s edition of The Game has a different feeling of excitement and anticipation. The Buckeyes and Wolverines did not meet last year but have done their jobs to enter a Top-5 showdown with everything on the line at 10-1, respectively, this year.
As Urban Meyer used to preach, “careers are made, and legends are born in this game.” The Game is the real one, so who will step up and become the next name engraved in the folklore of Ohio State-Michigan?
Chris Olave can cement himself as a true Buckeye legend with another performance for the ages against the Wolverines. It would be a fitting cap to his illustrious career in Columbus to earn another pair of gold pants with a victory over TTUN.
Honestly, not many people knew Olave’s name until Gus Johnson announced him on a crossing route heading for the end zone in 2018. Then again, on a deep shot to the end zone for his second TD of the ballgame or as he raced through the line to block a punt and send all the momentum Ohio State’s way.
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That’s how it works in this rivalry. Once you make a name for yourself on this stage, you’re never forgotten. I’m looking for C.J. Stroud to add himself to the list against one of the best defenses he’ll see all year. The anticipation is building for the next chapter of the rivalry on Saturday. It’s the most important thing in the world. It’s time for war.