Ohio State-Michigan: Will Howard eager to write new chapter in The Game

The Buckeye faithful across the state and beyond especially don’t like losing to the Wolverines when the season is on the line.

Ohio State dominated the rivalry with 15 wins in 16 seasons from 2004-19, but Michigan has won three in a row to reclaim bragging rights in a series the Wolverines lead 61-52-6 since 1897.

With one week to go until he gets his one and only shot to lead the Buckeyes to a win in college football’s biggest rivalry, the senior quarterback who grew up in Pennsylvania and spent the last four years at Kansas State spoke like he understands the assignment.

“I can’t wait,” Howard said after leading No. 2 Ohio State to a 38-15 win over No. 5 Indiana. “I’m stoked. I’m fired up. This one is for those guys that came back. This one is for Buckeye Nation. I can just feel it. There’s been that hurt the last three years. This rivalry game is the first game that I heard about when I came here on my visit. That is the first goal we have every single year: Beat ‘The Team Up North.’”

Although Michigan has already lost five games this season after going undefeated and winning the national championship last season, the old adage about throwing out the records has often applied to this series.

The most famous upset occurred in 1969 when Michigan stunned top-ranked Ohio State 24-12 in Ann Arbor, and more recently the Wolverines ruined undefeated seasons for the Buckeyes three times in the 1990s when Ohio State was ranked in the top 10 and Michigan was playing out the string.

Those Michigan upsets in 1993, ‘95 and ‘96 were part of a stretch through 2004 in which the underdog won eight of 12 meetings, and three of the last five games have been upsets after a 13-year stretch in which the favorite won every game.

The Buckeyes (10-1, 7-1 Big Ten) control their destiny in reaching the Big Ten Championship Game: Win, and they’re in, but a loss would open the door for 10-1 Penn State or 10-1 Indiana (depending on tiebreakers) to go to Indianapolis instead if they win their games Saturday.

With several bubble teams in the SEC losing last week, No. 2 Ohio State seems likely to get an at-large bid to the College Football Playoff even if the Buckeyes end the season 10-2, but that is not guaranteed.

Regardless, Ohio State’s veterans figure to have only one thing on their mind this week after about a dozen put off entering the NFL Draft to return to college for one more shot at the Wolverines and playing for championships.

“To be honest with you, I don’t think there’s gonna be much celebrating because everything we’ve worked for since I’ve been here, the agony of defeat from these last three years, has pushed us to this moment we’ve got right here coming up this Saturday,” defensive end Jack Sawyer said Saturday.

This week he will try to avoid being part of the first Ohio State recruiting class to go winless against Michigan in four tries since the 1990 group went 0-3-1. The last to go 0-4 was John Cooper’s first recruiting class in 1988.

“It’s for all the marbles. It’s our last shot to play them,” Sawyer said. “There’s no more going back, so this is what we came to do.”

Despite being 66-9 in six seasons as head coach of the Buckeyes, Day has also been criticized heavily for being the man in charge when Ohio State’s streak was stopped — something else on Howard’s mind.

“I want to win this one for Coach Day,” the quarterback said. “I want to do this for the guys that came back — for Emeka (Egbuka), for J.T. (Tuimoloau), for Jack. All those guys who came back — Tyleik (Williams), Ty (Hamilton) — I could go on. But I want this for them so bad because they’ve been here. I’ve seen it from a distance, and I’m a part of it now and I want this for me, too, but I want this for those guys.

“I want it for Coach Day. Shut up the haters and be able to go out there and say, ‘Man, this is the Ohio State Buckeyes.’ This rivalry means everything, man. We talk about it all the time. It’s all over the place in our building. I’m just honored to be able to be a part of it, and I won’t take it likely. And this is the biggest game of our season, and I’m looking forward to it.”