There are some things that you never want to get used to no matter how often it happens.
For the Michigan Wolverines, one of those things would be their annual loss to Ohio State.
The Buckeyes have now won 15 of 17 matchups this century, and never once did a Wolverine player just sit back and accept his fate.
“It’s the most bitter pill that I’ve ever had to swallow personally,” said Wolverine defensive end Chase Winovich. “Coming here for four years and not beating these guys once, it’s tough. And that’s basically what we set out to do. Hats off to them. Their quarterback goes down and they still find a way to win.”
Michigan has now lost six games in a row to the Buckeyes, as OSU head coach Urban Meyer moved to 6-0 against the Wolverines. Only once in those six games (2015) was Michigan not leading or tied in the second half.
That’s a lot of heartbreak to deal with.
“It’s a little frustrating, but that’s the game of football,” said senior linebacker Mike McCray. “They’re on a run right now against us. Hopefully next year the team next year can change this.”
For the sixth year in a row, the Wolverines now have to point to the future in hopes of finally beating Ohio State because the present has been just as cruel as the past.
“It gets old after a while I think, just saying, ‘Oh, we’re going to get better.’ But at the end of the day, you have two options – you can get worse or you can get better,” Winovich said. “So that’s our mentality. We’re going to get better.”
After the game, every player in the Michigan locker room was distraught, dismayed, and defeated. Each time a loss to Ohio State happens, they try to let it push them forward to an eventual victory, but that boulder never quite gets to the top of the hill before it rolls back down.
Winovich hopes seeing the struggle first hand drives future Wolverines to finally get the job done, because he believes they are as close as they ever have been.
“I told some of the recruits in the locker room today that if anything you should be more motivated than ever to come here to win this game,” he said. “To see our faces in the locker room and how this hurts. And know how close we are. We can taste it. We’re right there. The whole game we’re battling. We’re a few pieces or inches away in my mind.”