It’s Been 3,000 Days Since Michigan Beat Ohio State

On November 26, 2011, Michigan beat Ohio State, 40-34.

The loss capped a 6-6 regular season for the Buckeyes and propelled the Wolverines to a Sugar Bowl berth against Virginia Tech.

Wednesday, February 12, 2020 marks exactly 3,000 days since that day, the last time Michigan won The Game.

A number like “3,000 days” can be hard to wrap your head around, especially if you’re a fan of a team that has grown accustomed to beating its rival every 365 days or so.

This seemed like a good opportunity to reflect on just how much The Game, and the world around it have changed in those 8 years, 2 months, and 17 days.

The Rivalry

Since Michigan’s most recent win over Ohio State, the first Big Ten Championship Game in history was played. Bret Bielema and Wisconsin beat Michigan State one week after that Michigan win.

Ohio State has appeared in five Big Ten Championship Games since then, winning four. Seven different Big Ten teams have appeared in at least one, but Michigan has not.

The Buckeyes had never scored more than 50 points against the Wolverines in a single game. And it had been 43 years since 50 points happened.

OSU had just had a 7-game win streak in The Game snapped. It was the longest winning streak for the Buckeyes in series history at the time.

Brady Hoke was on his way to an 11-2 record in his first season as Michigan’s head coach. When Urban Meyer was introduced as the new head coach at OSU three days later, Wolverine fans openly speculated about whether the Meyer vs. Hoke matchup would be “Ten Year War II.”

Also since that last win, the Wolverines have signed seven 5-star prospects (composite) and 35 players from Ohio who have never beaten the Buckeyes.

Michigan has rushed for 881 yards in The Game since their last win, compared to Ohio State’s 2,069 yards. The Buckeyes have 44 touchdowns in those games — Michigan has 28.

College Football

There were still three BCS title games to be played after Michigan’s most recent win in The Game. Oklahoma State narrowly missed out on the 2011 BCS title game, finishing No. 3 in the final rankings.

The College Football Playoff was born three years after the Wolverines’ last victory over the Buckeyes.

Maryland was still in the ACC. Missouri and Texas A&M were still in the Big 12. TCU was a Mountain West school. The Big East was still a football league.

“Clemsoning” was still a derisive term for that program’s consistent ability to choke away winnable games. In fact, the Tigers were only one year removed from a 6-7 season.

Nick Saban had won only one national championship at Alabama.

The members of the 2020 college football recruiting class who will be freshmen this fall were in fourth grade.

Joe Paterno had just coached his final game less than a month earlier.

Ryan Day was the wide receivers coach at Boston College.

Current OSU quarterbacks coach Corey Dennis was a freshman WR at Georgia Tech.

Two days before OSU’s last loss to Michigan, Brian Hartline caught four passes for 77 yards for the Miami Dolphins in a 20-19 loss to the Dallas Cowboys and quarterback Tony Romo.

Five different men have served as head football coach at Kansas.

Trent Richardson and Brandon Weeden were still college football players.

Since UM’s last win, Mike Vrabel went from first-year Ohio State linebackers coach to Ohio State defensive line coach to Houston Texans’ linebackers coach to Houston Texans’ defensive coordinator to head coach of the  Tennessee Titans.

Culture

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 was the top film at the box office.

“Stereo Hearts” by Gym Class Heroes was the top song on the Billboard charts.

Daenerys Targaryen’s dragons were just the size of chickens.

Netflix was still more than a year away from launching its first ever original content, the political drama “House Of Cards.”

The iPhone 4s had just been released a month earlier. The most-expensive version offered a groundbreaking 64GB of storage, and for the first time could record video in high definition.

Shares of Amazon were selling for $182.40. Bitcoins traded for $2.00.

Blockbuster Video, CompUSA, Sam Goody, RadioShack, and Toys R Us stores were all still open the last time Michigan beat Ohio State.

Rookie QB Andy Dalton was starting a new era of pro football in Cincinnati, leading the Bengals to the NFL Playoffs.

Sixteen different quarterbacks have started for the Browns since the Buckeyes last loss to the Wolverines.

At least three U.S. presidential elections will happen between Michigan wins in the series. The 2012 and 2016 elections have already happened, and the 2020 election will go on before the teams play again.

Marvel released 18 movies since Michigan’s last victory over Ohio State — and will release two more before the two teams meet again.

One Final Note

It’s been 5,926 days since Michigan beat an Ohio State team that wasn’t coached by an interim coach and playing shorthanded. That’s so long that even Michigan has a Big Ten football championship in that span.