ANN ARBOR — This is a scary day on the University of Michigan campus. The bully in the sweater vest is in town.
Since Jim Tressel took over at Ohio State, the Buckeyes are 5-1 vs. their rivals from the north, including three-consecutive wins. A victory in today’s 104th meeting — kicking off at noon in the Big House — would make it four in a row for OSU for the first time since 1963.
The Buckeyes (10-1, 6-1), who had their national title hopes damaged severely in last week’s loss to Illinois, can clinch the Big Ten title and a spot in the Rose Bowl. So can Michigan.
But the days of John Cooper’s 2-10-1 record against Michigan are long gone. Wolverines coach Lloyd Carr reigned supreme then. Now, many think this will be his last Ohio State-Michigan game.
“The only thing on my mind is this game,” Carr said when questioned about his future.
Asked if there was a common theme in the last three losses, Carr didn’t want to talk about the past either.
“This game is about this team,” he said. “Part of the week is the tradition, all the great games, all the great players and coaches. Those things are fine. But the only important thing in our minds is this week. Today, what we do to prepare, what we do to give ourselves a chance to win.”
The Wolverines (8-3, 6-1) are down. They’ve lost four-straight bowl games. They dropped their opener to a team (Appalachian State) from the former Division I-AA. Two of their senior leaders — QB Chad Henne and RB Michael Hart — are battered and bruised.
Carr believes there are two options when one is looking at the sky, flat on his back.
“You can lay down and stay there, or you can get back on your feet and fight,” he said. “And that, to me, is really the essence of competition. You know, there’s going to be days out there where you get beat up. And they’re no fun.
“So, like my dad told me one day after I got beat up: You got to go back on that playground, and you’ve got to fight.”
Carr said he was 11-years old then, that he didn’t want to face his adversary again.
“He was a bully, you know. I was afraid,” the 62-year-old Carr said. “But I did what (my dad) told me, and it was one of the great lessons of my life.”
Carr didn’t say if he won or not. He did say he lost his fear.
Tressel wards off any questions about his dominance of Carr. That being said, Tressel has a hard time picking his favorite win against Michigan.
“We’ve been fortunate enough to have a decent amount of ones we remember fondly,” Tressel said.
The Buckeyes might not strike fear in the hearts of the Wolverines, but they sure seem to be in their heads.
Ten years ago, it was Ohio State’s David Boston running his mouth while Charles Woodson made him look silly. Woodson ended that game with a rose in his mouth. He ended that season with the Heisman Trophy in his hand.
Last year, it was Ohio State’s Troy Smith on his way to the Heisman Trophy while Hart blew hot air.
A win today would gain the Buckeyes their third-straight Big Ten title. They also can clinch consecutive outright Big Ten titles for the first time in a half century.
“(The) seniors have something special to do here,” Ohio State junior quarterback Todd Boeckman said. “We could make history at Ohio State.”
The Wolverines are trying to avoid infamy.
Sports
The Game has plenty at stake
Buckeyes looking tocontinue win streak in series; Wolverines, Carr just want to save face
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Riverside sneaks past Edgewood
Riverside wrestling coach Scott Blank learned a good deal of what he knows from Edgewood coach Greg Stolfer as a former Warrior great. Thursday, he used a bit of that knowledge to get the better of his old coach as the Beavers bested the Warriors, 31-28, at Edgewood.
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Madison rolls past Geneva
Madison recovered from coming out on the short end of a pin in the first match of the night by taking six of the next seven matches against Geneva and capped the night with pins from their last pair of grapplers in dismantling the Eagles, 49-17.
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Boys tourney returning to county
On Feb. 27, for the first time in 20 years, postseason boys basketball will return to Ashtabula County when the Division II sectional-district tournament comes to Lakeside high school.
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Dragons dump Lakers in drink
Despite the fact his girls have been through a tough season, Lakeside coach Rob Livingston spoke as though he had sensed that better things might be around the corner.
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Mustangs dominate Heralds
In their last home game of the season, the Grand Valley Mustangs rose to the occasion on Senior Night, defeating the SS. John and Paul Heralds, 59-28.
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Clark, Francis help give Falcons Liberty
Paige Clark led an attack that saw three Jefferson players reach double figures and Rachel Francis had a triple-double as the Falcons blasted visiting Liberty, 59-17, in an All-American Conference game Thursday night in Falcon Gym.
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Scholastic Statistics:
WRESTLING
NON-CONFERENCE
Riverside 31, Edgewood 28
at Edgewood -
Scholastic Schedule:
FRIDAY, FEB. 10
Boys Basketball
n Lakeside at Madison
n Conneaut at Edgewood
n Liberty at Jefferson (WFUN)
n South at Geneva
n PV at Bloomfield
n Grand Valley at Southington
n Riverside at North
n Harvey at Perry -
PV prevails
Cody Miller and Zach Campbell knew what they had to do in order for the Pymatuning Valley wrestling team to complete a come-from-behind victory over Jefferson on Wednesday at triangular match at PV.
The pair delivered exactly that and the Lakers pulled off the win, 37-36. -
Eagles bounce back
The Geneva girls didn’t have much time to regroup. But just one day after a heartbreaking defeat, they were able to knock off a strong Perry team on the road, 39-33.
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