No one outside of Schembechler Hall expected Michigan football to beat Ohio State in Columbus in 2024, yet the then 6-5 Wolverines emerged from The Horseshoe victorious, upsetting the Buckeyes, 13-10. OSU went on to win the national championship in the newly expanded 12-team College Football Playoff while the maize and blue shocked the world by upending Alabama (a team many thought belonged in the playoff), 19-13, in the ReliaQuest Bowl.
At the moment, the Wolverines have bragging rights over the Buckeyes, especially since last year’s down year followed a major coaching change after Jim Harbaugh won the national championship the year before.
Recent history favors the Wolverines
The rivalry tends to be cyclical, with Michigan and Ohio State essentially splitting the 70s and 80s before the Wolverines dominated the 90s. But when Jim Tressel took over in 2001, the rivalry shifted toward the scarlet and gray in a big way, with Michigan only getting one win over ‘The Senator’ (2003) before losing seven straight. Brady Hoke got a win over interim head coach Luke Fickell in 2011, but when Urban Meyer came to Columbus, the Wolverines never beat the Buckeyes, with eight straight losses coming to him and one to current head coach Ryan Day (in 2019).
But the Wolverines turned the tide after a down 2020 campaign, which saw Michigan have to cancel The Game (and the preceding Maryland game) due to COVID depletion. The resurgent 2021 team shocked No. 2 Ohio State by winning, 42-27, in Ann Arbor. Self-proclaimed ‘Buckeye Nation’ was sure that it was a one-off victory by the maize and blue and that ‘rent’ would be ‘due’ the next year in Columbus. However, on the back of a strong second-half defensive performance and two long Donovan Edwards touchdown runs, Michigan won that 2022 contest, 45-23. It followed up with a thrilling 30-24 win…
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Publish date : 2025-05-15 20:21:00
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