Those who know me and have read my articles know that I have a long and deeply religious relationship with THE GAME. For me it started back in 1968 when Ohio State beat TBGUN at home here in Columbus, 50-14 and went on to win the National Championship that year. The following year, 1969 is when the real tone of THE GAME was set in motion for me and many fellow Buckeyes. It was Bo Schembechler’s first year in Ann Arbor as head coach. Even though Bo was new to the University of Michigan, he knew all too well what was at stake having served as assistant coach at Ohio State University under Woody in 1952, and from 1958 – 1962.
In 1969 Ohio State went into THE GAME undefeated and unanimous #1 in all the polls. Rex Kern and others were sophomores and appeared headed toward another Rose Bowl and a probable second consecutive National Championship. The only problem was, Bo didn’t the memo telling him he wasn’t supposed to win THE GAME. TBGUN was supposed to be “rebuilding” and in theory wasn’t supposed to pose any real threat.
Ohio State's 1969 football team was dubbed by the media as the "greatest college football team of all time", with a handful of proven All-Big Ten players and All-Americans, such as quarterback Rex Kern, running backs Larry Zelina, Jim Otis and John Brockington, wide receivers Jan White and Bruce Jankowski, middle guard Jim Stillwagon and defensive star Jack Tatum. Leading up to the Buckeyes' meeting with Michigan, Ohio State had never trailed in a game during the 1969 season, and no team scored more than 21 points on them all season (Michigan State in a 54-21 loss). In addition, Ohio State had not scored less than 34 points in any one game and their closest margin of victory was 27 points in a 34-7 win over Minnesota.
During a game pock-marked by terrible officiating, THE GAME that day for Ohio State was one nightmare after another and the Bucks came up short in a horrific 24-12 upset loss watched in person by a record crowd at the time of more than 103,000 rabid Wolverines. The ten point margin of victory for TBGUN all came in the second quarter, further highlighted by a fierce defensive war in the 2nd half where neither team scored a single point. After this, THE GAME took on a new life of its own. According to the Buckeye gods, this game just simply wasn’t supposed to go down the way it did. For me, to this day, it is still a sore spot and always will be.
In the 1970’s THE GAME became known simply as THE TEN YEAR WAR. During this time Ohio State and TGUN owned or shared EVERY Big Ten crown. No one else even came close. All games were close, with no one taking anything for granted anymore. Then, in 1978 the inevitable happened. An aging Woody lost it one night during a game against Clemson and punched an opponent’s player on our sidelines and lost his job. The shock of his firing quickly became overshadowed by fans wondering what was going to become of THE GAME without him.
A gruff man who I was not familiar with became head coach at Ohio State in 1979. He had the impossible task of following a legend – Woody Hayes. Whatever Earle Bruce may have lacked in public polish and charisma he more than made up for with an intense love of all things Ohio State and especially, THE GAME. Buckeye fans never lost a step of intensity while Coach Bruce was here. In his first year in 1979, Ohio State went undefeated in the regular season and played in the Rose Bowl, losing the game and the national championship by a single point.
In 1987, Bruce was fired just prior to the last game of the season in a highly political and controversial public affair gaffe. He was allowed to finish out the year as head coach and was able to defeat TBGUN in Ann Arbor 23-20. That win in Ann Arbor was our last until 2001 under head coach Jim Tressel. After the 1987 game, Bo Schembechler told Bruce, "I always mind losing to Ohio State but I didn't mind so much today."
Bruce coached Ohio State from 1979–1987. He finished his tour of duty as Ohio State Head Football coach with a 5-4 winning record against TBGUN. Today he is a radio personality, football analyst, a great OSU ambassador and one of the most loyal OSU fans I have ever met. For me, I can say it all when I call Coach Bruce a True Buckeye.
I have met John Cooper. He is a good man, father and grandfather. He loves Ohio State and makes his year around home here with his wife Helen. He succeeded Earle Bruce as Head Coach of Ohio State Football. The year before he took our job he defeated TBGUN in the Rose Bowl, 22-15. That alone was merit enough in the mind of many Buckeyes to get him hired. However, there was a problem in the shadows - one that would eventually grow and overtake the new coach and the program overall.
This problem slowly and steadily became an insurmountable situation for me and most Scarlet and Gray fans – John Cooper was not, nor would he ever be a Buckeye. While he claimed to understand THE GAME, I don’t believe he ever really got it. To this day, Buckeye fans around the world think THE GAME was just an important event for him on the schedule each year. I strongly suspect if he could have taken TBGUN off the schedule he would have done so. He tried everything he could to de-emphasize THE GAME including cancelling Senior Tackle, which under Earle Bruce had become one of the biggest pep-rallies in the world. Nothing worked.
John Cooper’s stock as head coach at Ohio State for THE GAME quickly went into freefall. With every passing GAME and every additional loss, the fans grew more restless. He also grew tighter and tighter every year and between he, the fans and the teams, our collective view of THE GAME degenerated into one of almost viral loathsome. His record in THE GAME was 2-10-1. Regarding the one lone tie, then President Gordon Gee called it the greatest victory in Ohio State football history (?????). Yep – things had gotten that bad! In my opinion, after the 1998 season (where Ohio State was loaded for bear talent-wise but were eventually upset at home by Michigan State) John Cooper seemed to go into a mist and he flipped on the auto-pilot switch. At the end of the 2001 Outback Bowl Ohio State lost to unranked South Carolina and Buckeye Pride was now officially on life-support. The fans everywhere (and perhaps even some Wolverines) had taken all they could and sent Cooper packing.
Enter, Jim Tressel. There was an uneasy combination of feelings surrounding his hiring including desperation, hope, excitement and concern. He said everything right during his interviews and his first press club events but there was a shadow of doubt because he had never been the head coach at a major Div. 1 school. However, he knew all about THE GAME (having been an assistant coach at Ohio State) and to his credit he came up with the one and only perfect statement perhaps anyone in the world could have made at the time. Shortly after being hired in January 2001 he attended a home OSU Big Ten basketball game and spoke at half-time to the anxious and curious fans. Holding the microphone for dear life and dressed impressively in a business suit, he said to the faithful who were holding their collective breaths, “I can assure you that you will be proud of your young people in the classroom, in the community, and most especially in 310 days in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on the football field….”
I was not at the game but watched it on TV. I really can’t remember if he said anything else after that – to me it didn’t really matter because I knew instantly that Buckeye Pride was in the process of being restored. One of my closest friends was at the basketball game and said it was the single loudest moment he has ever witnessed on any basketball court anywhere. Fortunately, Tressel made good on his statement which quickly became a guarantee in everyone’s mind but his.
His first victory in Ann Arbor in 2001 was more like the stereotyped paddle shock given to patients whose heart stops and needs resuscitating. Buckeye hearts and pride around the world had just been brought back from near death. So what could he do to follow that up in 2002? Beat TBGUN again and win the National Championship to boot! With almost one or two clean slices of his coaching hand Jim Tressel had just earned a job for life and Woody would have to clear out a space for Tressel to park his car once they unite in the future.
Back to THE GAME. It was an awesome and heart-wrenching struggle under Earle Bruce where every game was in question, and THE GAME was great every year. The bad blood that transcended THE GAME under Woody and Bo was maintained by Earle. It was perhaps during these years that the rivalry renewed and reinvented itself. Nothing could be taken for granted in any year, just like in Woody’s day.
However, a dark cloud of despair, hopelessness and resignation filled all of the 1990’s under John Cooper. With each year and each defeat, the need to win at least one GAME seemed not much to ask, but was never delivered. My biggest fear during those years wasn’t losing each year as much as I was concerned the rivalry might start to wane and never be the same. Fortunately, that didn’t happen.
Now, THE GAME couldn’t be at a higher peak. Buckeye Pride has been fully restored and a nasty Wolverine coach in Lloyd Carr experienced the same fate as John Cooper for his losses to Jim Tressel throughout 2001-2007 going 1-6. The mojo that rained on John Cooper had been reassigned to Lloyd Carr.
So you may be asking what is the point of all of this? The point I really want to make is just this: throughout the decades and now over a century of THE GAME, arguably the single greatest rivalry in all of sports, nothing every stays the same. Just when it looks like one team is going to permanently step on the other’s throat, THE GAME rises like a Phoenix to show both sides that it will transcend them forever and it has a life all its own. All of the players, coaches and fans wouldn’t want or have it any other way. It is for this very reason that we MUST make sure we take nothing for granted, for that is the surest way for either team to lose any edge it may have at the moment.
THE GAME will endure forever. It is larger than life, larger than any coach, larger than all of the fans combined. It is a rite of passage at both schools for incoming freshman and the source of superbly rich memories for aging alumni. So watch this game this Saturday. You are continually watching history being made. Up next, is simply the next installment.
Pat (a.k.a pjsbuck)
Editorial: 42 Years of What "THE" Game Means to Me
By PJSBuck
November 22, 2010
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