It all started in 2001 when Jim Tressel made good on his promise to make Buckeye Nation proud in Ann Arbor.
Tressel got the job done in 2001 with a win in Ann Arbor that set off a run of wins that is unprecedented in the rivalry. Since 2001 OSU lost to the Wolverines just twice, once under Tressel in 2003 and again in the year under interim OSU head coach Luke Fickell. Aside from those two hiccups it has been nearly two decades of frustration for Michigan, but now, this year, it was going to end. Dream coach Jim Harbaugh finally had the missing link, a competent quarterback, to go with the best defense in the nation.
This was the year. Harbaugh and the Wolverines were finally going to put Buckeye dominance to bed. They were so confident that the week of the game Michigan players boldly and publicly guaranteed victory. The Wolverines dubbed their run to a 10-1 record “The Revenge Tour” as they avenged their losses from last year with solid victories, and the last stop on the revenge tour was Columbus where they dreamed they would finally bury their Buckeye demons. It turned out that the dream was just that, a dream, because at the end of this year’s game reality raised its ugly head when the Wolverines looked up at the scoreboard at Ohio Stadium and it read Ohio State 63, Michigan 39.
It was an epic beatdown that saw the OSU offense score more points on Michigan than Ohio State had ever scored before in the history of the rivalry. The previous record was 50, and the 63 points represented the second-most points ever given up in regulation by Michigan to any team, any time, anywhere.
The tone got set early when Michigan’s firsts possession lasted just three plays and netted just one yard. Following Michigan’s punt OSU’s first possession went 57 yards in just six plays culminating in a 24 yard touchdown pass from Dwayne Haskins to freshman receiver Chris Olave to put OSU up 7-0.
Michigan answered that score, but could not cross the goal line so settled for a field goal to cut the lead to 7-3. The Buckeyes again failed to score on their next possession and punted the ball back to the Wolverines. On the second play of the second quarter Michigan kicked a 30 yard field when for the second time the OSU defense stiffened in the red zone. The 7-6 score would be the closest the Wolverines would be for the rest of the day.
Haskins got the Buckeyes on the scoreboard again with another touchdown pass to Olave, this one from 24 yards out to make the score 14-6. The OSU defense got another stop giving the Buckeye offense the ball on the 25-yard line. Fourteen plays later Haskins hit Johnnie Dixon with a 3 yard scoring pass to make it 21-6.
OSU dominated most the first half, but nearly gave away the momentum in the game in the last minute of play of the half. Michigan managed a touchdown with 52 seconds remaining in the half to make the score 21-13. On the ensuing kickoff OSU return man Demario McCall muffed the kickoff and Michigan recovered on the OSU 12-yard line. It took just one play for Michigan to score. The Wolverines two-point conversion attempt failed to make the score 21-19. OSU received the kickoff with just 41 seconds remaining in the half. Starting at their own 25-yard line they marched to the Michigan one-yard line with less than 10 seconds to play. Facing a fourth down at the one they elected to take the chip shot field goal to make the score 24-19 at the half.
The Buckeyes owned the third quarter. They drove to field goal to make it 27-19, then Olave blocked a Michigan punt that was scooped up and returned for an OSU score to make it 34-19. On Michigan’s ensuing possession Jordan Fuller intercepted a pass to give OSU the ball on the Michigan 20. Two plays later Weber scored from two yards out to make it 41-19 at the end of the third quarter.
OSU’s ensuing possession lasted just one snap. On first down Parris Campbell circled his own right end and raced 79 yards down the east sideline, outrunning the entire Michigan defense, to score and make it 48-25. The Wolverines mounted another scoring drive, this one going 86 yards in 13 plays, to make it 48-25. What Michigan had struggled so hard to achieve, a touchdown, the Buckeyes made look easy when they answered with a scoring drive that went 75 yards in just six plays to make it 55-32 with under 7 minutes left to play.
OSU safety Brendon White put the frosting on the cake when on the second play of Michigan’s next possession when he intercepted a pass and returned it to the U of M 19-yard line. Three plays later Haskins found Johnnie Dixon in the endzone for 16 yard touchdown toss to make the final 62-39.
The final score differential did not reflect just how completely the Buckeyes dominated. OSU declined a late score when they took a knee to end the game inside the Wolverine 10-yard line. Michigan’s score total included a gift score that was a result of McCall’s kickoff muff. Offensively, the Buckeyes were more likely to be stopped by their own mistakes than the Michigan defense. Defensively, it was a similar story where penalties and mistakes helped the Michigan cause as much as the Michigan offense.