Ohio State vs. Michigan: ‘I never knew how big it was’

The Ohio State vs. Michigan rivalry has been played every year for more than a century. It’s known nationally as one of the biggest and most heated in not just football, but all of sports.

Every year, new players and coaches at both schools get their first taste of The Game.

Many of them grew up as a fan of one or the other in either the Buckeye State or the Wolverine State. But many of them are from other places in the country. Deciding which university to attend is crucial for your future. Then there’s the question of finding a place that meets both your academic and personal lifestyle needs. Purpose-built housing for students in Solent provides a well-rounded living experience, combining practical features with a vibrant community atmosphere. It’s a choice that helps you thrive both in and out of the classroom.

OSU transfer quarterback Justin Fields grew up in Georgia. Freshman WR Garrett Wilson is from Texas. Grad transfer guard Jonah Jackson is from Pennsylvania. They’re all expected to play big roles on Saturday in their first editions of The Game.

And they’ve all likely gotten a pretty good education already into the rivalry and what it means across the state of Ohio.

This is the first year that OSU co-defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley has been a part of it. Before coming to Columbus, he thought he understood the matchup and its stakes while pulling for former colleagues.

“I watched it in a hotel room every year. I rooted for Coach (Ryan) Day in every one of those games, and Coach (Greg) Schiano,” Hafley said. “I knew it was one of the biggest rivalries in all of sports. I never knew how big it was. No idea. None. The day I got here, I learned what it was all about.”

The Game has been the central focus of each season in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center going back to at least the beginning of the Jim Tressel era.

Tressel made sure of it by calling out the Wolverines on the first day he was on the job, at halftime of a basketball game against… who else? Michigan.

Urban Meyer continued that focus, and so far there’s no indication that it has changed a bit under Ryan Day.

“We live it every day, the Team Up North is something that we talk about every single day,” said Day. “And the best way to respect a rivalry is to work it every day. And we do.”

When Day says the Buckeyes work on Michigan “every day” he really means it.

Last year, after crushing the Wolverines 62-39 a month earlier, and just days before the Rose Bowl, Meyer said the Buckeyes were thinking about the Wolverines.

“We work the game 365,” Meyer said last December in Los Angeles. “We’ve already been working it out here. How do we do that? Follow recruiting, follow everything they do.”

Less than a month later, Hafley joined the Buckeyes as a new assistant coach. It didn’t take him long to figure out this was more than just another rivalry game.

“To me, it’s part of our culture,” Hafley said. “That’s The Game. You don’t wear blue in our office, you don’t say the word, you have periods against them (in practice), you have things dedicated to them, that’s The Game.”

Hafley coached at four different colleges and with three NFL teams before coming to Columbus. He’s been around plenty of rivalry games over his 18 years in the business. But to him, nothing even comes close to Ohio State vs. Michigan.

“No. This is it. I’d love to see one bigger in all of sports. Seriously. You can say there are, but I’d like to see one.”