The weekend before Thanksgiving in college football always features one of sports' greatest rivalries, as the Michigan Wolverines and the Ohio State Buckeyes battle for bragging rights and victory over a hated nemesis.
Regardless of the teams' records, there's always a lot at stake when these two square off, but this year's edition featured some additional storylines. For the first time in their 103 meetings, Ohio State and Michigan both entered the game 11-0 and ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the nation, respectively.
On the eve of the game, the Michigan and all of college football lost one of its most beloved figures when former Wolverines coach Glenn "Bo" Schembechler, who suffered from heart disease, collapsed and passed away.
Schembechler was instrumental in feeding the rivalry which reached its peak during the so-called "10 Years War," when he and legendary Ohio State coach Woody Hayes squared off between 1969 and 1978. In their first meeting, Schembechler's Wolverines defeated Hayes and the top-ranked defending national champion Buckeyes 24-12, ending OSU's 22-game winning streak and setting the tone for the rivalry.
The 2006 match-up was another classic, which saw the Buckeyes defeat the heavy-hearted Wolverines by a field goal, 42-39.
This year, the Wolverines breezed downfield on their first possession and took an early 7-0 lead when Michigan running back Mike Hart scored on a one-yard run. The Buckeyes countered with a score of their own on their first possession, when Buckeye quarterback Troy Smith hooked up with receiver Roy Hall to even the game at 7-7.
Michigan's defense, which came into the game looking to stifle the run and preventing big offensive plays, struggled to do either in the first half. Ohio State broke the deadlock when Buckeye freshman RB Chris Wells burst through the Michigan defensive line and sprinted to the end zone for a 52-yard touchdown.
The Wolverines surrendered another score to Ohio State when the Buckeyes executed a perfect play-action fake on second-and-two. Michigan took the bait and Smith threw his second touchdown of the game to Ted Ginn Jr.
The Buckeyes maintained their two-touchdown lead through halftime. Then, in a span of seven minutes into the third quarter, the Wolverines narrowed the gap to four points, when they capitalized on a porous Ohio State run defense and notched their first interception against Smith in his three-career games against Michigan. The Wolverines and Buckeyes then traded touchdowns at the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth, bringing the score to 35-24 in favor of Ohio State.
With less than six minutes left in the game, the Wolverines managed to get back within four points of the Buckeyes and needed a defensive stop. On a crucial third down and long at their end, the Wolverines forced an incompletion but were flagged for a personal foul. A few plays later, the Wolverines gave up another touchdown, going down 11 with under four minutes left.
Undeterred, Michigan quickly drove the field and scored with two minutes left in the game. They converted the two-point conversion to cut the lead to three but failed to recover the ensuing onside kick. Ohio State ran out the clock on successive running plays to capture the game, the Big Ten title and a berth in the BCS national title game in January.
The question remains: who will emerge to spar with the top-ranked Buckeyes?. The Wolverines might still be the nation's second-best team despite their sole loss to the Buckeyes, but they will need some luck to net a second crack at Ohio State. While Michigan's regular season is over, other contenders from the SEC and PAC-10 have a few more weeks to impress the voters and gain some ground in the rankings.
The No. 3 Florida Gators and No. 5 Arkansas Razorbacks both hope to run the table, using a win in the SEC championship game to springboard themselves into the BCS championship. The No. 4 USC Trojans, meanwhile, appear to be the odds-on favorites to take on the Buckeyes in the title game.
The Trojans' win over the No. 17 California Golden Bears on Saturday night helped solidify their No. 3 ranking in the BCS. USC still needs to win out over the No. 6 Notre Dame Fighting Irish and cross-town rival UCLA Bruins to ensure their spot in the final college football game of the 2006 season.
