The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1541451
DECEMBER 2025 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 29 Marinaro added: "We were just able to blow them off the ball. The first and sec- ond play, we knew right away we could do that. You shouldn't be able to do that against any defense, especially the de- fense of the No. 2-ranked team in the country." 1 9 9 6 MICHIGAN 13, OHIO STATE 9 The Buckeyes' mid-'90s misery con- tinued and intensified only one year later. This time the setting involved Ohio Stadium, and the Wolverines snatching away a game the Buckeyes figured they had in control at the half. Once again, OSU entered the show- down No. 2 in the land. Michigan came in ranked No. 21, on its way to a fourth straight four-loss season that set the stage for running the table in 1997. The Buckeyes came in 10-0, with an offense that topped 70 points twice along the way, and more than 40 on three other occasions before taking the field against the Wolverines. This time around, the 17-point favor- ite Buckeyes built a 9-0 halftime lead, knocking Michigan starting quarterback Scott Dreisbach out of the game with a first-half injury. When the teams took the field in the second half, OSU fans likely expected more of the same from the Buckeyes' defense against backup Brian Griese. Instead, Griese fired a short pass to Tai Streets early in the second half that turned into a 68-yard touchdown pass when defensive back Shawn Springs slipped to the turf. Remy Hamilton added field goals of 44 and 39 yards, and Michigan's defense shut out the Buck- eyes in the second half to shock and si- lence the home crowd. Michigan safety Marcus Ray added the capper, picking off an Ohio State pass in the final seconds, the Ohio native racing back and sliding with the ball near the OSU sideline. Enter Cooper, with the latest edition from The Misery Files. "We did absolutely nothing offensively in the second half," Cooper said. "I'm tremendously disappointed in our of- fense. "We had the ball on their 45 three or four times in the fourth quarter, where a field goal could have won the ball game, and we didn't do anything." Michigan cornerback Charles Wood- son kept his assessment succinct. "I just think we're a better team," he said. Carr, meanwhile, hailed the effort of a team that would supply the core for a national champion run a year later. "It was a players' game, like most of these Michigan-Ohio State games are," Carr said. "It was won on the field by a group of guys who absolutely believed they could win." 2 0 2 4 MICHIGAN 13, OHIO STATE 10 If 1969 represents the grandest, most celebrated Michigan upset of Ohio State in the series, this one certainly qualifies as even more unlikely. After all, the Buckeyes came into their own stadium ranked No. 2 in the land — here they go again — and the Wolverines limped in at 6-5, strug- gling to stay above water. A transition year for Michigan coaching turned into a season-long struggle to generate offense, and a team that almost no one outside of Schembechler Hall thought could hold up in The Game — especially one played in Columbus. And yet somehow, some way, it hap- pened. Michigan's defense rose up to smack the Buckeyes right in the chop- pers. Ohio State fans insist coach Ryan Day played right into their hands by re- fusing to throw more with an offense that tore people up all year. In 60 minutes of jaw-dropping football, the Wolverines injected perhaps their worst dose of that didn't really happen right into OSU veins. The teams played to a 10-10 first-half tie, U-M's Dominic Zvada booming a 54-yard field goal through the deep chill in The Shoe, and Kalel Mullings pound- ing home a 1-yard touchdown run. But surely, an OSU offense that averaged 37.2 points per game with star receivers such as Jeremiah Smith would break loose to embarrass the struggling Wolverines in the second half. The Buckeyes got nothing. Nada. Zilch. They didn't score a point against a defen- sive front led by soon-to-be NFL stal- warts Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant. When Zvada banged through a 21-yard field goal with 45 seconds to play, that old feeling welled up in scarlet and gray. "We're not listening to what other peo- ple are picking or who they think is going to win or what they thought we're going to do or not do," Michigan quarterback Davis Warren said afterward. "At the end of the day, you've got to win the football game. When you get in a game like this, it doesn't matter what anyone else is say- ing. Maybe the Buckeyes were listening to it too much, because I know we were prepared, more than ready to go out there and play our best football, stay focused on what we had to do to win the football game. Man, we did that." ❏ ❱ U-M quarterback Davis Warren, 2024 "When you get in a game like this, it doesn't matter what anyone else is saying. … I know we were prepared, more than ready to go out there and play our best football, stay focused on what we had to do to win the football game." Head coach Sherrone Moore's 2024 squad, led by defensive tackle Mason Graham (55), pulled off an upset for the ages with its 13-10 takedown of the eventual national champion Buckeyes. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL