Chances are you probably have that guy (or girl) in your office. You know the one. Grew up in Ohio, parents are from Ohio, and everyone they know and associate with loves and roots for Ohio State. At some point in their life, probably in the mid-90s, if I were to guess, they decided to be a contrarian and root for Michigan.
They go on and on about the great Jim Harbaugh, they hate Urban Meyer with a passion, and they bring up the “overall record in The Game” in each and every conversation. Be careful, this person will undoubtedly try to sneak Tom Brady or Charles Woodson into a conversation in which they have no business making an appearance.
“Hey, how about that weather?” you might ask.
“Yea, pretty awful, reminds me of a game that Tom Brady, you know, a Michigan alumnus, won back in ’99. Yep, he still managed to throw for over 250 yards, despite the conditions” they’ll say, as though he weren’t battling for his job that year with a guy that went on to throw one more NFL touchdown than me.
Well, Buckeye fans, you may bite your tongue and roll your eyes for the other 51 weeks a year, but not this week. When confronted with the aforementioned water cooler Michigan fan, please feel free to reference the list below. Your time is short (I’d assume… I’m not really sure how water cooler conversations go these days), so I’ve compiled ten quick, easy, and fun retorts for you to use.
Ten Fun Facts About Michigan Football
- In this century (millenium), there have been more United States presidents than Michigan football wins over Ohio State.
- The beloved and untouchable Tom Brady threw for 2,427 yards in his twelve-game 1998 season. Dwayne Haskins threw for more than that by halftime of week eight this year.
- Brady’s career numbers in Ann Arbor brought him to a total of 30 touchdown passes.
The Buckeyes have had three QBs hit that mark in just one season. - You’d have to go back 110 years to find Michigan’s series advantage in The Game. (Worth noting, since this is designed for water cooler conversations… the water cooler was actually invented 110 years ago.)
- Kids born since Thanksgiving in 2003 have seen Appalachian State beat Michigan as many times as they’ve seen the Wolverines beat their rivals.
- The last player to graduate with a perfect 4-0 record against the Buckeyes would be roughly 48 years old today. The last player to graduate with a perfect 4-0 record against the Wolverines would be roughly 22 years old… and graduated this year.
- “The Leaders and Best” have won ten or more games twelve times in the last 30 years. The Buckeyes have won ten or more games in twelve of their last thirteen seasons.
- Since the inventions of Twitter and Facebook, #ThatTeamUpNorth has just one victory over the Buckeyes. But, hey, two victories since Tom created Myspace, so there’s that!
- The last two times the Wolverines came to Columbus as favorites, they left with sixteen-point losses (1994, 2004).
- J.T. Barrett got the first down.
There you have it. Keep this cheat sheet of responses handy and use as needed.
Why is a fan of the maize and blue reading the articles on this website. I am a lifelong Buckeye fan. Not once in those 48 years have I had the desire to read an article, whether in the days of print media or since the advent of the internet, written by someone that exclusively covers football in Ann Arbor. I guess that makes Chris the exact definition of an internet troll. Does Chris expect us to read his comments and suddenly realize we have been cheering for the wrong team all these years? I also don’t suspect that anything I could say about the wolverines would make Chris abruptly change sides to the scarlet and gray. So move along dumbass. You’re not welcome here.
And…J.T. Barrett got the first down!
Why is a fan of the maize and blue reading the articles on this website. I am a lifelong Buckeye fan. Not once in those 48 years have I had the desire to read an article, whether in the days of print media or since the advent of the internet, written by someone that exclusively covers football in Ann Arbor. I guess that makes Chris the exact definition of an internet troll. Does Chris expect us to read his comments and suddenly realize we have been cheering for the wrong team all these years? I also don’t suspect that anything I could say about the wolverines would make Chris abruptly change sides to the scarlet and gray. So move along dumbass. You’re not welcome here.
And…J.T. Got the first down!
That is a typical OSU fan response. This is not “you” against “me”. I don’t have any wins or losses in the series nor do you. You are not OSU and I am not UM. I am just a fan and you are just a guy who writes about OSU.
So, to summarize your point OSU has dominated the series during the Tressel/Meyer era while UM has gone through two of its worst coaching hires in their history. Thanks captain obvious. That is some stellar reporting.
UM has been better team the majority of the remainder of the 115 years of the rivalry. I am always amused by how much OSU fans obsess over UM with their funny names like scUM or Meatchicken or put X’s over the M’s. I get the impression when the series cycles back as it often does that OSU fans (and apparently writers) are going to have a hard time accepting reality and finding value in their lives without the success of the football team they root for.
Sounds like someone’s CPAP mask fell off last night. I don’t believe you’ll rest any better for the next 369 days, at the least.
The troll came out from under the bridge, folks! A scum fan is feeling a teeny, tiny bit of oats because his beloved team isn’t a hapless joke for the first time in YEARS…
Some fun facts, Chris the Troll…
1) your boy Bo complied a 5012 bowl record and didn’t even come close to sniffing a national title.
2) Michigan seems to have lots of shaky “cycles”, particularly in any era even remotely resembling anything “modern” (check out how your clowns fared between 1951-1967, partner. I know, I know, it was just a sixteen year “cycle” of ZERO Big 10 titles and pathetic results…)
3) Your wonderful choice of team reached its height of glory during the presidency of Woodrow Wilson, big boy. UM was just fine so long as the oppnents featured names that ended in “Tech” or “Wesleyan”, when about 40 schools played football. Finally, no one even your PARENTS knew, actually witnessed a UM game during their glory years from 1890-1920 or whatever.
NEVER forget that.
Take your trash elsewhere!
No “you vs me” or reporting at all, just a fun article with a clear OSU bias (hence the reason I’d focus on the good things for OSU and not the bad Cooper years). And, UM hasn’t been better for the majority of the series, just the time prior to 1908. Thanks for the comment!
Whoa there, AJ- the “bad” Cooper years featured more major award winners in the 1990s than any other school, 2 #2 national finishes, and TONS of great players. The only “disappointing” thing during that time was OSU’s record vs clearly inferior scUM teams, which is a heck of a lot better than scUM’s low point of simply being “disappointing”, period. Don’t play their silly pretzel logic game.
Agree, 100%… though our bowl record in those years was less than stellar as well.
Some fun facts for the “but we’re ahead in the overall series” tun fans….
Since the AP poll began in 1936 (the popular choice for the beginning of the modern era in college football):
Outright National Titles: Ohio State 5, tun 1 (last one in 1948!!)
Wins In The Series: Ohio State 41, tun 36
Overall Win %: Ohio State .7441, tun .6966
But you’ve gotta hand it to the tun……1890 to 1920 really was extremely successful for them.
Lol, #10 will anger them the most.
OZ: The beloved and untouchable Tom Brady threw for 2,427 yards in his twelve-game 1998 season. Dwayne Haskins threw for more than that by halftime of week eight this year.
Me: The game was very different during that era. How many yards did Joe Germaine throw for? Brady was 1-1 against OSU.
OZ: Brady’s career numbers in Ann Arbor brought him to a total of 30 touchdown passes. The Buckeyes have had three QBs hit that mark in just one season.
Me: Brady only started for not even a full 2 seasons. Lets compare the OSU QBs with an equal number of starts.
OZ: You’d have to go back 110 years to find Michigan’s series advantage in The Game.
Me: As a late-30 something guy I grew up in the late 80s and 90s. During that time UM was 10-2 from ‘88 – ‘00. Sounds like a series advantage to me.
OZ: Kids born since Thanksgiving in 2003 have seen Appalachian State beat Michigan as many times as they’ve seen the Wolverines beat their rivals.
Me: The Rich Rod & Hoke era’s have been two of the worst in recent UM history. I noticed you didn’t mention the Bo, Moellar, or Carr eras. Isn’t that convenient.
OZ: The last player to graduate with a perfect 4-0 record against the Buckeyes would be roughly 48 years old today. The last player to graduate with a perfect 4-0 record against the Wolverines would be roughly 22 years old… and graduated this year.
Me: Again pointing this one of the worst eras of UM football. Care to talk about the Cooper era?
OZ: “The Leaders and Best” have won ten or more games twelve times in the last 30 years. The Buckeyes have won ten or more games in twelve of their last thirteen seasons.
Me: OSU has been on a historic 30-year run. I’m not sure anyone in that time has been as successful. They’ve also faced some serious sanctions and accusations during that span.
OZ: Since the inventions of Twitter and Facebook, That Team Up North has just one victory over the Buckeyes.
Me: Still pointing to the same era. Are you sure you don’t want to discuss the Cooper era?
OZ: The last two times the Wolverines came to Columbus as favorites, they left with sixteen-point losses (1994, 2004).
Me: There’s the Cooper era!
OZ: J.T. Barrett got the first down.
Me: Highly debatable. There are bad calls all the time. Sometimes teams can overcome a bad call. With two such closely talented teams UM was not able to do so. Such is life.
– Germaine threw for almost 1,000 more yards than Brady in their respective best seasons.
– Germaine split time in his first two years and threw more TDs than Brady.
– I don’t think you understood what I meant by a series advantage. Start at 2018, work backwards… let me know when UM is winning.
– Congrats, Bo, Gary and Lloyd were just over .500 against the Bucks.
– Obviously I’m pointing to the best eras for the Bucks versus the worst, that’s how this works. You have Cooper, we have… everything since… and a lot prior to until you get to the horse and buggy days.
– J.T. got the first down.