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In the fall of 2019, Davis Warren was just getting back into the swing of things. After five months in the hospital undergoing cancer treatment, Warren was transitioning back to the football field, playing quarterback at The Peddie School in Hightstown, N.J. While battling leukemia, Warren set a concrete goal to make his return by a certain game that season. He ended up playing in the game prior.
Given the uncertainty of Warren’s recovery timeline, though, the Falcons brought in another quarterback during the offseason. As that quarterback ascended to Player of the Year honors, according to then-Peddie coach Chris Malleo, Warren ended up in a more understated role. He played downs and series here and there, but he wasn’t the de facto starter.
At the same time, some 1,500 miles away, Alex Orji was playing safety at Bishop Dunne Catholic School in Dallas, Texas. Orji, one year younger than Warren, spent only one season with Bishop Dunne — coincidentally also called the Falcons — before transferring to his hometown public school in Sachse, Texas.
A naturally gifted athlete, Orji often rotated around positions and slotted in wherever his team needed. He played some quarterback growing up, before he was moved to wide receiver as a high school freshman and safety the following season. It wasn’t until Orji’s junior year at Sachse that he “found his home,” as he put it, back under center.
So, in the fall of 2019, Warren was readjusting and sharing time while Orji was playing primarily on defense. Five years later, both have started at quarterback for the Michigan football team. ***
In one word, Davis Warren describes Alex Orji as “infectious.” Alex describes Davis as “strong.”
Heading into this season without a clear starting quarterback, months of competition culminated in a two-man battle between Davis and Alex. For the first three weeks, Davis started and played most minutes while Alex made sporadic appearances on designed packages. The following three weeks, Alex started and played every snap until midway through Game 6. Graduate quarterback Jack Tuttle briefly took the reins until Game 8 against Michigan State, in which the Wolverines returned right
back to Warren, Orji and their day-one scheme.
Long story short, it’s been a whirlwind of a season for Michigan’s quarterbacks. Both Davis and Alex have earned and lost starting jobs. Their positional battle extended far past August, opening up the possibility of budding animosity and discomfort in the quarterback room.
But for Davis and Alex, through ups and downs, there’s truly been nothing but love and support.
“In most situations where you have two guys fighting for a starting job … there could be tension, and it’s not easy to be a supporting teammate,” Jeff Warren, Davis’ dad, told The Michigan Daily. “I think it’s a testament to both of their character and their love of Michigan and their love of the team. And a testament to what (offensive coordinator) Kirk (Campbell) and (Wolverines coach) Sherrone (Moore) have done to create that atmosphere.”
Despite the situation often breeding tension for others, Davis and Alex didn’t give it a second thought. That possibility didn’t even cross their minds.
“No one really had to teach us to be nice to each other or to support each other,” Alex told The Daily. “The only time we talk about (whether) it’s an effort to support each other is when people ask us or we’re doing interviews.”
Davis, sitting beside Alex, interjected with a laugh and nod of agreement.
“We’re just guys that love football and love each other, nerd out over football trivia and just hang out all the time,” Alex continued. “That’s really who we are. We’re friends when we’re away from football, and we’ll be friends when we’re done playing football, whenever that comes.”
Davis remembers starting his football career as a center. He doesn’t recall being very good, especially since he was playing with kids two years older than him.
He gave quarterback a whirl the following season — his second year playing flag football — after his parents and coaches noticed his raw throwing abilities. From then on, Davis always gravitated toward playing under center. According to Kelsey Warren, his older sister, Davis “always had a football in his hands” — from the sidelines of Kelsey’s soccer games, to the beach, to the airport on ski trips, to hiking trails in British Columbia.
Davis brought a football to the hospital, too. As he fought through the unimag-
inable reality of childhood cancer, the sport helped ignite a light at the end of the tunnel. Whether he was throwing a ball in the hospital’s small walk area, riding the exercise bicycle in his room to stay moving or talking football with some of his doctors, Davis wasn’t ever far from the game.
“I just can’t even imagine having gone through that without him having that prize at the end of it — of going back to playing football,” Terri Warren, Davis’ mom, told The Daily.
And although Davis often shares the more heartwarming and positive parts of his cancer journey, it certainly wasn’t all like that.
“I think it’s important for me to just acknowledge the fact that I did have hard days,” Davis told The Daily. “There were a lot of days that were difficult, and it wasn’t all just smooth sailing. Some of those nights of getting chemo, or not being able to eat, or not feeling good, or having allergic reactions to things — all that stuff still happens, and is something that I’ve learned in terms of counseling kids and meeting kids. It’s important for them to hear those things, too.
“It’s the reality of childhood cancer, and these kids go through it on a daily basis. And the kids that I meet, a lot of them have to deal with things like that. That definitely was still a part of my story.”
When Davis did get back on the football field, even when he wasn’t starting, he was the same person and player he had always been. He has a quiet confidence about him, a quality Kelsey and his siblings noticed from the very beginning. It wasn’t always quiet, though — Davis would “stand with his hands on his hips and walk around like he owned the preschool,” Kelsey recalled with a laugh. Since then, those close to Davis have all become familiar with his calm assurance.
“It’s not false bravado,” Malleo told The Daily. “ … He believes in himself. He knows he’s prepared for the moment, that he’s worked hard. He knew he was going to beat cancer. He knows he’s capable. … He just knows those things, but — going back to being self-aware — he doesn’t have to tell everybody about it.”
Alex, the youngest of three boys, grew up around football. Both of his brothers played, and as he tagged along to all of their games, the sport became second nature.
BABY DUCKS, GRAPHITE DRAWINGS AND BALANCE: HOW MYLES HINTON FOUND PASSION IN FOOTBALL
By Noah Kingsley Managing Sports Editor
Myles Hinton just looks like an offensive lineman.
At a towering 6-foot-6 and 342 pounds, Hinton’s physical presence stands out. So even at points when a love for the game wasn’t keeping him invested, Hinton stuck with football, partially because he knew he fit the bill.
“(I) might as well keep on going,” Hinton told The Michigan Daily. “What else am I gonna do? I’m not trying to do nothing, you know? Might as well keep playing, and then also, I was a pretty big dude my entire life, so why would I not play football, you know?”
Playing football or not, Hinton has rarely done nothing. These days, he’s taking care of four snakes, cooking risotto with steelhead that he caught himself and learning how to play guitar, all while being a starting offensive lineman for Michigan.
Over time, the hobbies themselves have fluctuated. What hasn’t changed, though, is that Hinton never has all his eggs in one basket. He’s multi-faceted, with passions and interests well beyond the massive O-lineman that meets the eye.
“When I think of Myles, he might not have been as much of a cook as he is now, but it was art, it was football and it was certainly fishing,” Tim Hardy, Hinton’s football coach at Greater Atlanta Christian School, told The Daily. “… All of that comes together, and it helps him be him and balances things out.”
In rediscovering his love for football after he was once “lukewarm” and even “didn’t like it that much,” Hinton has needed his other interests. They’ve given him an outlet after rough days on the field and allowed him to thrive in non-football environments as well.
But in Ann Arbor, football is one of Hinton’s biggest passions, too. ***
When he was in seventh grade at Greater Atlanta Christian, Hinton got his first start for the varsity football team. Already roughly at 6-foot-3, 240 pounds according to Hardy, Hinton’s size made him stand out. But because of where the game was played, Hin-
ton reminded Hardy of someone else, too.
“The game was at a school called Westminster,” Hardy said. “… Well, Westminster happens to be the location where they filmed ‘The Blind Side.’ So here’s the irony of ironies: It’s 9 a.m. on Saturday for a 7 p.m. game, and here’s everybody, and then there’s Myles, right? And he’s playing on the field where they filmed ‘The Blind Side.’
“We go stand up our offensive line, and it’s just like, ‘Ah, OK, a little foreshadowing here what’s going on.’ ”
Playing on the same field from the movie, Hinton reminded Hardy of the protagonist from “The Blind Side,” Michael Oher. The
similarities are certainly there.
Both Oher and Hinton stand out because of their size. Both are talented offensive linemen. And both were highly coveted recruits out of high school with offers from many power conference schools, including from Ole Miss, where Oher ultimately attended.
But there’s one more similarity: “The Blind Side” doesn’t tell Oher’s full story, and football doesn’t tell Hinton’s — even when he was in high school.
In addition to developing on the gridiron, Hinton was also developing as an artist at GAC. Hinton had been drawing since he was about 6 years old and took some classes along the way, but GAC was a different environment as a true college preparatory school.
Art was one of Hinton’s passions, though, and the effort he put into it set him up well. Hinton vividly remembers seeing a specific Instagram post of a graphite eye drawing back when he got his first phone that inspired him and drove him to become a better artist.
“I was like, ‘That’s awesome, I want to do that. I want to be able to draw that well,’ ” Hinton said. “So I just kept on drawing, kept on trying, kept on doing different things trying to get better at it. It took years … but I finally kind of feel like I got there.”
According to Hardy, Hinton did get there. In addition to being the highest-rated football recruit in his class, Hinton was one of the best artists the school had ever seen.
Sydney Hastings-Wilkins/DAILY
BROTHERLY LOVE AND PLAYING TO THE WHISTLE: MAX BREDESON’S SCREW-LOOSE MENTALITY
By Rekha Leonard Managing Sports Editor
With two older brothers, Max Bredeson was always trying to keep up.
Four years younger than his middle brother, Ben, and six years younger than the oldest, Jack, Max was the little guy in the midst of their brotherly roughhousing. When the boys played “WWE trampoline,” Jack and Ben would tag team and double bounce Max to send him soaring off the trampoline. When Max graduated to tackle football and got his pads for the first time, Jack and Ben bounced him back and forth between them, pummeling him over and over.
Max never backed down, though. If he saw Jack and Ben wrestling on the living room floor, he threw himself right in the mix, launching off the couch to join the scrum. Max would try to choke them and push them around, and his brothers pushed right back, never going easy on him.
“He kind of got beat up a little bit, but it was all in good fun,” Mike Bredeson, Max’s dad, told The Michigan Daily. “They always took him as their age group, and Max always just kind of got the brunt of it. But long run, all three of them love each other, and he respected them.”
Growing up as the youngest brother toughened Max. He wanted to keep up with his brothers, so he acted just like them — to the best of his ability as the youngest child.
His upbringing also kindled his adventurous side. He was dragged around to his brothers’ baseball and football games, and sometimes he got a little bored. At one baseball game in particular, Jack was pitching, so his parents were attempting to watch the
game while simultaneously keeping an eye on the rambunctious 7-year-old Max.
“Next thing you know, the announcer for the ball game said, ‘Hey, whose child is up on top of the flagpole?’ ” Mike recalled.
Of course, it was Max. He was independent and unafraid, “a little monkey” who wanted to climb everything. One moment he was at his parents’ side, and the next he was 20 feet in the air.
“He was just goofing around, being a kid,” Mike said. “He didn’t want to watch the game, obviously, and he climbed up this, I mean, it was like 20 feet up in the air, and I’m sitting there, like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ I said, ‘Max, get down here.’ ”
Max spent much of his childhood climbing up in the air, wrestling on the ground — and the rest on the football field. ***
From the very beginning of his football days, Max was a menace on the gridiron. Starting with flag football in early elemen-
tary school, Max was so serious about his game that he was eventually kicked off the flag team and moved up to tackle football early — a fitting move for a kid who always wanted to keep up with the older kids.
One play in particular, when Max was around 7 years old, closed the door on his time playing flag football. On a kickoff, the coach told Max to block, and Max took that assignment to heart. He blocked so hard that he pushed his opponent all the way to the sideline, buried him into the ground and landed on top. Seeing this unfold, the other kid’s parent came over and started yelling at Max, saying ‘You can’t do that.’ But Max was unfazed — he was laser focused on his task.
“Max looks up at them, he goes, ‘I play to the whistle,’ and then he walked away,” Mike said. “Because he was with his older brothers and just knew that mindset of playing hard, they moved him up to tackle football then. Because they were like, ‘This
kid can’t play flag football.’ ”
So Max finally got his pads, and he put the relentless energy he used fighting his brothers to good use on the football field. But with that ferocity came hardship as well, namely in the form of injuries.
In high school, Max played quarterback, but he wasn’t a drop-back-and-pass kind of player. He went 110% on every play, and he sought contact. He dealt with a number of injuries as a result, including a broken collarbone and blown-out knee, all of which devastatingly forced him to watch from the sidelines.
The injuries also hindered Max from showing off his skills to college recruiters and meant he was unable to attend camps where he could develop and prove himself to different coaches. But Michigan was different. The Wolverines knew Max long before going to college was even on his radar.
When Max was about 12, Jack was already enrolled at Michigan as a pitcher on the baseball team. And Ben, an offensive lineman, was being recruited to the Michigan football team. Though the Bredesons hail from Hartland, Wisc., once Jack became a Michigan man, he converted the whole family.
So Max spent much of his teen years going to Ann Arbor, visiting his brothers nearly every weekend. He went on Ben’s recruitment visits, too, and while Ben and his parents talked to coaches, graduate assistants would “babysit” Max. They took Max to Michigan Stadium, threw a football with him and gave him the full Michigan experience.
TONY ALFORD AND THE ‘UNCONDITIONAL’
RELATIONSHIPS THAT HAVE DEFINED HIS CAREER
By Charlie Pappalardo Daily Sports Editor
If you were to ask Tony Alford about the defining characteristics of his 49-year career in the game of football, it would take him a long time before he mentioned
has spent, by his calculations, all but six years of his life completely immersed in football. From a ball boy for his father, to a standout running back at Colorado State and then a successful position coach at eight different universities and two high schools — 49 years of Alford’s life have been centered around football and his relationships
From season to season, on the whims of staff overhauls, standout years and on both sides of the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry, Alford has been just about everywhere the game of football could have possibly taken him. He has been on staff for blue bloods like Notre Dame, Ohio State and Michigan. He has made a name for himself as one of college football’s top recruiters, and he has been the position coach for dozens of future successful pros, including Ezekiel Elliot, J.K. Dobbins and
But throughout his lifetime in the sport, and the highs and lows and hirings and firings, what has been most important to Alford has almost nothing to do with his accolades. For Tony Alford, his career and life’s work is best defined by the people who have impacted it, and the people
Because if you ask enough people who have coached with, or been coached by Alford, it won’t take long before someone
And if you ask Alford about the coaches who have guided him and the players whom he has guided, it won’t take long before he
shows a similar level of emotion. Because for Alford, being a coach isn’t solely about being a mentor, and football isn’t merely a game of wins and losses. It’s a game defined by father-son relationships.
The same people who get choked up talking about Alford are the ones whom he considers to be father- and son-like figures in his life. And everything he says is true of them, they say is true of him.
For example, Alford doesn’t define Dobbins by his success in the pros or his career stats, but he views him first and foremost as “literally like my son.” And when Alford talks about his former coach and coworker Steve Loney, what comes to his mind first isn’t how Loney got him hired at Iowa State or their record there. What Alford first remembers is how when he was “acting like an idiot” in college at Colorado State, Loney took him into his home for weeks and let him sleep on his couch.
It’s those relationships — the ones that become almost familial and have lasted throughout his life — that have truly defined his career. And it’s those relationships that have kept him in love with football season after season.
“The games come and go, the wins and losses come and go, but I’m a firm believer that these relationships stick,” Alford told The Michigan Daily. “No one’s gonna care how many games we won or lost, they’re not gonna say ‘Tony Alford, he was a good coach because he did this or that.’ But what matters is the relationships.
“When (Iowa State fullback Joe Parmen-
tier) can speak highly of me 25 years later. When JK Dobbins calls and says, ‘Hey coach I’m having a baby and I want to fly out to come see you.’ When (Michigan running back) Donovan Edwards calls me at 11:3012 at night and says ‘Coach man, are you doing OK? I’m just checking on you.’ Those are the things that matter to me. Those are the things that are long lasting. And the day that that doesn’t become important is the day that I can’t coach anymore.”
Because Alford’s success hasn’t merely coincided with these relationships — it has been defined by them. The coaches he considers second fathers and the players WWwhe considers “literal sons” are what have brought fulfillment to his coaching career. And those relationships, the familial ones, don’t dissipate based on which side of the Michigan-Ohio border he is currently standing upon.
***
Despite the fact that Tony Alford had been fetching footballs since he was five years old for his Dad — a high school football coach — he’d never seriously considered a coaching career until he graduated from Colorado State. He’d only ever wanted to be a player.
But Alford didn’t catch on in the pros, and by his early 20s he imagined that his career in football had come to its conclusion. However, his father and Rams head coach Earl Bruce — also a former Ohio State head coach — had other plans.
Holly Burkhart/DAILY
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Scarlet & Gray
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TYLER MORRIS AND MAKING GOOD ON FAMILY SUPPORT THROUGH FOOTBALL
By Noah Kingsley Managing Sports Editor
Tyler Morris’ relationship with football goes back to his very beginning. The junior wide receiver for the Michigan football team recalled a time when the sport was in his life well before he ever picked up a football. Morris probably doesn’t remember anything from that period of his life, but he knows this:
“The first thing I ever wore, straight out of the hospital, had a football on it,” Morris told The Michigan Daily.
Right away, Morris’ parents put him into sports — or at least into sports clothing. That would become a common theme throughout Morris’ childhood, as he was constantly encouraged to play sports by his parents, who were looking to keep him busy.
“I played a lot of sports growing up,” Morris said. “Like, I talk to my parents, pretty much what it was is they just had us busy all time of the year. … I asked my mom why, she was like, ‘Really, just to keep you busy. You were 6, 7, years old, you don’t have nothing else to do.’ ”
So Morris’ childhood became a seasonal affair: football in the fall, basketball in the winter and spring, and track in the summer. While football was always Morris’ primary sport — his dad played growing up, it was on every Saturday and Sunday in his house, and Morris remembers always playing with his daycare owner’s son — any sport that could keep him busy was a good sport for Morris to play.
With so much of his time invested in
sports, Morris says he never had time to get in trouble growing up. Instead of unstructured time alone, he was always busy with one practice or another while his parents worked hard to support him in those sports.
“They were always just really involved,” Morris said. “Just understanding, my parents, my dad’s from the city, my mom’s from a farm in Iowa. They don’t really come from much, but they worked real hard to even be able to get us into a good neighborhood and just be able to do the stuff we were able to do growing up.
“I don’t want that to be something that they did all that for no reason.”
His parents’ sacrifices drove Morris through years of different sports as he worked hard to improve at them, just like
The mature outlook that Morris has on football today showed up in high school, too. Racki calls him a “teenager of few words,” but what Morris didn’t say in words came through in his play. He was focused and driven with a high-level attention to detail, and it began to show.
By the second or third week that Morris practiced with the Roadrunners, he forced Racki to eat his words.
“I see this kid making incredible catches against an incredible defense, because we won the Class 7A state title that year,” Racki said. “I’m like, ‘Who is that?’ They’re like, ‘That’s Morris.’ Like, oh my god. And then he would do it again and again. I admitted I was wrong, and before the summer ended that week, I said, ‘Tyler, welcome to varsity.’ ”
his parents worked hard to make playing those sports a reality. And when he got good enough at football — thanks to his family’s support — to earn a spot at the prestigious Nazareth Academy for high school, he wasn’t going to let that opportunity go to waste.
When Morris showed up for his first day of summer camp as a freshman at Nazareth, some of the Roadrunners coaches saw a spot on varsity for him right away. Varsity head coach Tim Racki wasn’t so sure, though.
“That year we had a loaded team, and these coaches are telling me that he’d have a spot on varsity,” Racki told The Daily. “I said, ‘No way.’ I said, ‘We’re loaded.’ I said, ‘We’ll be able to develop him on the lower levels.’ ”
By making the varsity team so early in his career, Morris made good on the work his family had put in to get him to Nazareth in the first place. He earned the opportunity to put his name out there at an established high school football program, and set himself up to play at the college level.
During his time with the Roadrunners, Morris also reconnected with future Wolverines quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who he had played with on the 7-on-7 circuit. The pair became a dynamic duo for Nazareth, with chemistry that Racki compares to Chiefs stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. Morris could always find the soft spot to get open, and McCarthy would always know where he was even if he broke from his route.
Lucas Chen/DAILY
Mason Graham was dominating the field. He was big, fast, athletic, and he used his physical gifts to his advantage, running over his opponents to rush to the ball. But the other parents didn’t like it, so Mason’s coaches suggested he take his talents elsewhere.
Because he wasn’t playing football. He was playing soccer — and he was 4 years old.
“He wasn’t shying away from contact,” Mason’s dad, Allen, told The Michigan Daily.
“So some people recommended, said, ‘Oh man, he’d be a great football player.’ ”
Mason admits he “didn’t really have a concept of soccer” at 4 years old, so at 5 years old, he transitioned to football — and then rugby and baseball and basketball. He was a natural, multi-sport athlete, always moving and a “handful to watch” as a kid.
Just like he was the biggest 4 year old playing soccer, he was advanced for his age in plenty of other ways. While his three siblings started walking when they were about a year old, Mason started at 9 months. Then,
before he should’ve been, he was riding scooters and bikes and doing flips into the pool.
He was a “crazy” kid at times, according to Allan, and he was certainly athletically gifted. As anyone would, he liked when people noticed and acknowledged him for those gifts. But he never sought out the attention.
“Don’t get me wrong, he liked the attention, he liked that people noticed him or that he was doing good at something,” Allan said.
“But he wasn’t posting stuff on social media. He wasn’t a ‘look at me’ guy. He just wanted to be one of the guys always, to be part of the team. He didn’t want to be singled out.”
Mason never pushed for recognition. He was always focused on his team first and foremost — and he had plenty of teams to focus on.
***
Former Servite High School football coach Troy Thomas has a philosophy that all of his athletes should play multiple sports. He believes that kids shouldn’t limit them-
WITH QUIET CONFIDENCE AND HUMILITY, MASON GRAHAM IS MEMORABLE FOR WHAT HE REPRESENTS
By Rekha Leonard Managing Sports Editor
selves too early and should develop their general base of athleticism first.
For Mason, who played his high school football under Thomas, that philosophy led him to the wrestling team.
“I’ve coached a lot of tough kids, and none of them are tougher than the wrestlers,” Thomas told The Daily.
Mason had never wrestled before high school, but just like with every other sport he’d tried up to that point, he picked it up naturally. And by expanding his base of athleticism through wrestling, he took his football skills to another level.
“It was kind of a double win for him,” Servite wrestling coach Alan Clinton told The Daily. “He was working on making sure that his football skills got better … and the football coach told him, ‘You got to go see Coach Clinton if you want to get good at this.’ And so, of course, he immediately sprinted over and took on to it. And of course, you see what the results have become, him being there at Michigan. It turned him into quite a football player.”
For a defensive lineman like Mason, wrestling and football go hand in hand, and having a high school wrestling background isn’t uncommon. As Clinton proudly noted, the kids who want to become really good football players tend to show up at wrestling practice.
And Mason certainly subscribed to the trend. That’s why he sprinted over to Clinton to join the wrestling team. That’s why he put so much energy into a new sport he knew nothing about until his freshman year of high school.
“I think he’s very smart, and I think he cares,” Thomas said. “He pays attention to the details. I think he uses his brain as much as his brawn to be successful. I think he’s very hard working. He does extra. Wrestling is not fun unless you’re pinning the guy — that’s about the fun of it. But most of wrestling is really hard, and he did it because he cares and he wanted to be great.”
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WHERE MICHIGAN LEGENDS ARE MADE
By Lys Goldman Daily Sports Editor
Desmond Howard knew he had to do something.
It was Michigan-Ohio State, after all. To that point in the 1991 season, the redshirt junior receiver and returner had made a habit of imitating Barry Sanders after every touchdown. Howard would calmly hand the ball to an official before turning around to celebrate with his teammates. Though he doesn’t quite remember exactly how many touchdowns he scored that year — it was 23 total — he does remember doing “the Barry Sanders” every time.
Until that late November afternoon in Ann Arbor, that is. For this game, The Game, Howard’s classic celebration just didn’t feel right. He wanted to do something special, something big. So he settled on a backflip.
Leading up to The Game, Howard spent hours practicing his backflip. If he had enough space and time to turn around at the 1-yard line and flip across the goal line, that was Howard’s plan.
And late in the first half, he got the perfect opportunity. It couldn’t have been scripted any better. Catching a punt behind the Wolverines’ own 10-yard line, Howard broke to his left and turned on the jets. He outpaced and outmaneuvered every Buckeye on the field, creating just the time and space he needed to do a backflip into the end zone.
But as he crossed Ohio State’s 20-yard line, then the 15, then the 10, Howard talked himself out of it. It was too risky. At the same time, he didn’t want to revert back to the tried and true Barry Sanders move. He thought, “Man, I gotta do something. This is Ohio State!”
So he went off script.
And he created one of the most iconic moments in the most iconic rivalry in college football.
“The Heisman pose seemed to be a great Plan B,” Howard told The Michigan Daily with a chuckle. “It seemed to be a great Plan B, the way things have turned out.”
Now, the moment borne from Howard’s Plan B is intrinsically woven into the fabric of Michigan-Ohio State. But Howard himself wasn’t always tied to the rivalry, despite his roots in Cleveland, Ohio. A big Dallas Cowboys fan, he lived for Sunday afternoons and Monday nights. The only part of college football he recalls paying close attention to is the Rose Bowl.
As such, when Howard was deciding where he’d continue his football career
post-high school, playing in The Game wasn’t top of mind. Michigan stood out for two main reasons. First, he’d get to play for Bo Schembechler — a “living legend at the time,” as he put it. And second, he’d likely get a chance to play in the Rose Bowl.
The Wolverines recruited the state of Ohio especially well back then, so Howard’s perspective as a Buckeye State native wasn’t necessarily uncommon. As he learned the ins and outs of Michigan football, from both teammates and coaches, the rivalry began to take its meaning.
“I played for one of the architects who made the rivalry what it was when it first began,” Howard said. “That was Bo and Woody. And I played for Bo. So, it’s like, yeah, this is serious. This ain’t no ordinary game, and we’re not gonna pretend like it is. This one here, it’s personal. So when you play for the architect, and then when he retired, his disciple, so to speak, Gary Moeller, picked up where Bo left off. He understood it, he been there for the whole time.”
Howard went undefeated against Ohio State. Michigan finished first in the Big Ten all four years of his college career, and his dreams of playing in the Rose Bowl came true — three times. He started slow, redshirting his freshman year and recording just nine catches the following season. But the intricacies of his career aren’t quite what most people remember about Howard and his legacy as a Wolverine.
They remember his extraordinary, electrifying, unforgettable punt return and Heisman pose during that noon game, Thanksgiving weekend of 1991. ***
Jake Butt knows he had a good career at Michigan.
The numbers back him up: Butt holds program records for most career receptions and yards by a tight end. He was also a twotime All-American, two-time Big Ten Tight End of the Year and John Mackey Award winner.
Growing up in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio, Butt learned the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry as a “way of life.” The majority of his elementary school classmates wore scarlet and gray, but the smattering of Michigan fans proudly donned maize and blue, too. The rivalry was fully integrated into his childhood — and he was squarely on the Buckeyes’ side.
As Butt began looking toward college football opportunities, though, he decided to test enemy waters. In 2011, his junior year of high school, Butt took a recruiting visit to Ann Arbor for the Michigan-Ohio
State game. The Wolverines won, but the result wasn’t quite as memorable as Butt’s encounters with fellow recruits. He noticed some of them scoffing that Ohio State was losing to the Wolverines, despite supposedly being there as Michigan’s guests.
“I remember that pissed me off,” Butt told The Daily. “I was like, ‘That’s just disrespectful, for some of these guys to take advantage of Michigan like that, to come up for a visit.’ And I remember how it made me mad. And that was the moment for me where it was like, ‘Oh, that makes me mad. Oh, wait a second…’
“That showed me what side I was on. From that moment in time, it was very revealing and clear to me that I was going to be a Michigan Wolverine for the rest of my life.”
The Buckeyes didn’t offer Butt. The Wolverines, on the other hand, didn’t just offer him — they pursued him. And as he found himself frustrated with fellow recruits on the sidelines in Ann Arbor, Butt realized that his decision was already made.
When he started his Michigan career in 2013, relishing the opportunity to play in the rivalry that grew up with him, Butt’s history with his hometown team only added fuel to the fire.
“I remember my freshman year, before the first (Michigan-Ohio State) game, Brady Hoke comes up to me in practice on Wednesday,” Butt said. “And as we’re warming up, he whispered in my ear, he’s like, ‘Remember, they didn’t want you.’
“Spite is a very good thing in the sport of football. So I always say this — some people interpret it however they interpret it — I bleed maize and blue. I love the University of Michigan. I would do anything for the University of Michigan, it gave me the best years of my life. But I felt disrespected that Ohio State didn’t think I was good enough to play there. And that was always a chip on my shoulder.”
But over his four years as a Wolverine, through four games against the Buckeyes, Butt never beat them.
The record-setting and award-winning tight end knows he had a good career at Michigan. Many would even call it great. But he never won The Game, and that will always be part of his legacy.
“That missing piece is extremely important,” Butt said. “You look at Jim Harbaugh and, of course, he won the National Championship, right? But the career-changing moments, and the difference, is the ability or inability to beat your rival in that game specifically.”
Jared Wangler knows the rivalry inside and out.
The former Michigan fullback was raised in a house divided — his dad, John, played quarterback for the Wolverines, and his mom, Lorraine, was a cheerleader for the Buckeyes. Although Lorraine tried her best — the first fight song Jared learned was the Buckeye Battle Cry — Jared always gravitated toward the maize and blue. He grew up in a suburb of Detroit, close enough to Ann Arbor that he experienced and revered the Michigan game day atmosphere. As a six-year-old, it felt like “the biggest thing ever.”
And throughout his football career, from third grade to college, Jared’s loyalties never wavered. When the Wolverines offered him during his senior year of high school in 2013, he didn’t think twice.
“Part of the dream growing up is to be able to play in that game, and the significance of it,” Jared told The Daily. “There’s just so many legends that have played in it. … Unfortunately, I was 0-for-5 as a player in any of those games. So looking back at it, it was ultra-frustrating, but we did feel like we were a part of the class that came back and helped put us back in the position for success.”
Both Jared and his brother, Jack, who played wide receiver at Michigan, never beat the Buckeyes. John, on the other hand, won three of his four games against Ohio State. Jared thinks John “takes it easy” on him and his brother, knowing that it can be a sore subject.
Through his five years on the Michigan roster, Jared was never a starter. He appeared mostly on special teams, and his football career didn’t stretch past college. Shortly after graduating from Michigan, he founded Valiant Management Group — the Wolverines’ NIL management company — keeping him close to the program, albeit in a very different capacity.
But even with a unique path, his outlook feels familiar.
“Many careers are defined around what you do in the game against Ohio State,” Jared said. “You look at some of the Michigan greats, the biggest moments of their careers were when they stepped up against Ohio State and made that impact. And then you look at some players where they may have had really good college careers at Michigan, but if they went and had their best performances against Ohio State, they’re recognized forever amongst Michigan circles and vice versa at Ohio State.”
Ohio State’s independent student voice since 1881
By Sam Cipriani
Asst. Sports Editor
Every year, Ohio State begins its season with three simple goals: beat Michigan, win the Big Ten Championship and bring home a national title.
within the program, however, this year’s senior class has yet to achieve a single one.
Safety Lathan Ransom is one of the few Buckeyes on the roster to accomplish any of these feats.
Ransom was a member of the 2020 roster as a freshman, during which he helped the Buckeyes to a Big Ten Championship and a College Football
But Ohio State failed to complete two of its three goals, as the Buckeyes didn’t play Michigan due to the
By Noah Weiskopf Sports Editor
“It’s four quarters, it’s 60 minutes of football on one Saturday of the year that determines so much for the other 364 days,” CBS Sports national college football analyst Josh Pate said.
The Ohio State-Michigan rivalry is perhaps the most hotly contested and highly anticipated game every college football season; year after year, fans circle the date on their calendars, eager to see scarlet and gray clash with maize and blue.
There’s no doubt the rivalry is famous across the nation. But where does it rank among all sports, not just at the university level?
Joel Klatt, FOX Sports’ lead college football analyst, said the Buckeyes and Wolverines’ long-standing feud outshines any other.
“This one takes the cake,” Klatt said. “To me, it’s the best rivalry in sports.” Pate agreed.
“College football, to me, is the greatest sport in the world, so if Ohio State and Michigan is the most intense rivalry within the greatest sport in the world, then I call it the best rivalry in all of sports,” Pate said.
BUCKEYE SENIORS READY TO BREAK 3-GAME LOSING STREAK AGAINST MICHIGAN
COVID-19 pandemic and were later defeated by Alabama in a 52-24 blowout national title loss.
this year, as the Buckeyes have already
class since 1988 to not earn the coveted “gold pants.”
“It’s a huge motive; in fact, that’s one of our three goals that we have every year and that we haven’t achieved in the last couple years,” Ransom said.
“We’re treating every game like a playdestiny.”
motivation to beat the Wolverines.
Alabama transfer center Seth McLaughlin will face Michigan for the second straight season, but with different stakes.
While still a part of the Crimson
Tide, McLaughlin fell to the Wolverines 27-20 in a heartbreaking loss in-
dia Jan. 30 after transferring to Ohio the opportunity to right his personagainst Michigan, where he was unable
“You know, playing them in the Rose Bowl, that clock on the wall 302 days kind of means something to me after playing in that game,” McLaughlin said.
Despite the undeniable animosity toward “That Team Up North,” Mc-cess pressure, as he treats every game as a must-win.
Laughlin said. “I just attribute it to just, that’s what I want to do; I want to go out there and win games, and I want that to be my legacy, to come in here and win a lot of ball games for the school.”
Senior defensive tackle Ty Hamilton -
ning is everything.
“I just want to win,” Hamilton said. win.”
Though Hamilton said it would be amazing for the Buckeyes to win out driving goals, he noted it’s just football when all is said and done.
“I feel we just set out to accomplish [our goals],” Hamilton said. “I’ve been here for a while, I played in tons of big games here and just at the end of the day, football is football.”
FOOTBALL ANALYSTS JOEL KLATT, JOSH PATE PREVIEW ‘THE GAME’
In the past three years, Ohio Statefeats to “That Team Up North.” But this year’s game, scheduled for noon Nov. 30, could lead to the Buckeyes’ redemption.
For one, Michigan isn’t the powerhouse it’s been in previous years, Klatt said.
“For Ohio State, this team is a national championship-caliber team,” Klatt said. “Michigan is not.”
This doesn’t mean the Buckeyes won’t be tested, Pate said. Michigan has three years of momentum on its side, and “The Game” serves as the Wolverines’ Super Bowl, he said.
“For Michigan, it’s the Ohio State
“You can’t see anything past it. And so, they will absolutely throw everything they have at Ohio State. You will not have seen a lot of what they throw at you. That doesn’t mean it’s gonna work because if it did, they would’ve already default position that they’ve already won the last three.”
Buckeyes’ key players heading into The Game
This Ohio State roster is more talented than its recent predecessors.
pecially for the running back duo of Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson. Pate said he believes that if
both rushers can get going and play complimentary football, Ohio State will win The Game.
sively to where the defense respects both facets; it doesn’t mean the stat sheet has to be even, but if the defense has to respect both facets, Chip Kelly can do more than enough to win every game they play,” Pate said. “So, it’s more than just circling one player. It’s the tailbacks, it’s what it takes to get them going — that’s my biggest focus.”
Klatt said what makes Ohio State
there isn’t just one player who opponents can target to slow down the at-
“They really have four superstars on their team,” Klatt said. “With [Jeremiah] Smith, [Emeka] Egbuka, Judkins and Henderson, you can’t take away one of them, or else the other three can
ard is also a great player, and Carnell Tate is a good player, Brandon Inniss is a good player.”
Klatt said the defensive line and safety Caleb Downs are his biggest considerations heading into The Game.
“I think that the three most important players are the two [defensive] tackles, Tyleik Williams, Ty Hamilton and
Caleb Downs,” Klatt said. “I’ve always felt teams have to be built front to back and inside out, so the interior has to be strong. If the tackles play well against the run and push the pocket up, then it makes everybody better, and Downs is tackling well like he normally does.”
Expectations
eyes’ game plan against Michigan to echo back to the Nov. 2 Penn State showdown, which ended with a 20-13 win for the Buckeyes.
“They rely on man coverage; they rely on their athletes to be great. I would be shocked if they didn’t do something similar,” Klatt said. “In particular, when you look at the wide receivers from Michigan, I don’t think that Ohio State is gonna feel any sense of panic or apprehension in terms of playing man, which can focus most of the attention on the tight end, who I think is a good one: Colston Loveland.” State to get back to its winning ways, asthe fourth quarter to be the kind of environment in the stadium, or even in your living room at home, where you get to sit back a little bit and you get to bask in it instead of sweating it.”
Some fans may be concerned about Ohio State’s ability to keep its foot on the gas, especially if the Buckeyes are up big late in the game. Pate said in his mind, there’s no doubt it will be full throttle.
“You pull out the knife, and you thrust and you take no prisoners. You’ve got to deliver a message that order has been restored, that was a blip on the radar screen, but things are back to the way they’re supposed to be,” Pate said. “It’s gotta be emphatic; if you can make it emphatic and no doubt, you just salt the earth.”
-
SANDRA FU | PHOTO EDITOR
Senior wide receiver Emeka Egbuka (left) and FOX college football analyst 45-0 victory against Purdue Nov. 9.
‘THE GAME’ EXPECTED STARTERS
OHIO STATE OFFENSE
QB Will Howard 18 Downington, PA Gr.
RB Treveyon Henderson 32 Hopewell, VA Sr.
WR Emeka Egbuka 2 Steilacoom, WA Gr.
WR Jeremiah Smith 4 Miami Gardens, FL Fr.
WR Carnell Tate 17 Chicago, IL So.
TE Gee Scott Jr. 88 Seattle, WA Gr.
LT Donovan Jackson 74 Cypress, TX Sr.
LG Carson Hinzman 75 Spring Valley, WI Jr.
C Seth McLaughlin 56 Buford, GA Gr.
RG Tegra Tshabola 77 West Chester, OH Jr.
RT Josh Fryar 70 Beech Grove, IN Sr.
OHIO STATE DEFENSE
LE Jack Sawyer 33 Pickerington, OH Sr.
DT Ty Hamilton 58 Pickerington, OH Sr.
DT Tyleik Williams 91 Manassas, VA Sr.
RE J.T. Tuimoloau 44 Edgewood, WA Sr.
LB Sonny Styles 6 Pickerington, OH Jr.
LB Cody Simon 0 Jersey City, NJ Gr.
CB Davison Igbinosun 1 Union, NJ Jr.
NB Jordan Hancock 7 Suwanee, GA Sr.
FS Caleb Downs 2 Hoschton, GA So.
MICHIGAN OFFENSE
QB Davis Warren 16 Manhattan Beach, CA
WR Kendrick Bell 12 Kansas City, MO
WR Tyler Morris 8 Bolingbrook, IL
LT Myles Hinton 78 John’s Creek, GA Sr.
LG Josh Priebe 68 Niles, MI Gr.
C Greg Crippen 51 Northborough, MA Sr.
RG Giovanni El-Hadi 58 Sterling Heights, MI Sr.
RT Evan Link 71 Burke, VA So.
Walter “Ted” Carter Jr. President, The Ohio State University
MICHIGAN DEFENSE
DE Derrick Moore 8 Baltimore, MD Jr.
NT Kenneth Grant 78 Gary, IN
DT Mason Graham 55 Mission Viejo, CA Jr.
LB Josaiah Stewart 0 Bronx, NY Sr.
LB Jaishawn Barham 1 District Heights, MD Jr.
LB Ernest Hausmann 15 Columbus, NE
CB Jyaire Hill 20 Kankakee, IL
FS Quinten Johnson 28 Washington, DC Gr.
Bold = Lantern and Michigan Daily editors’ Players to Watch
THE LANTERN’S PREDICTIONS
HOODIE OFF, RIVALRY ON: WILL HOWARD’S JOURNEY TO ‘THE GAME’
By Noah Weiskopf Sports Editor
It was early January, and frigid Howard arrived in Columbus for his
“I had, like, a Rhoback blue hoodie on,” Howard said. “I didn’t even really think about it. It was one of the only things I had brought on my visit.”
Then, realization set in: Blue and scarlet don’t get along. So, Howard took the cold wasn’t for him, as a T-shirt in
the middle of winter just wasn’t going to cut it.
I’m gonna put it on,’” Howard said. But inside the walls of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, that wasn’t acceptable.
“I didn’t realize how truly hated said. “That s*** runs deep.” set in for Howard and the last time
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he wore blue — the color of his room at home and his favorite color growing up. Since that moment, he said he and his teammates are reminded of their hatred for The Team Up North daily.
Howard said his initial visit also overlapped with now-starting center Seth McLaughlin’s, who transferred from Alabama.
The night of their visit, Howard said he and his family, McLaughlin, McLaughlin’s mother Suzy and girlfriend Sara Skoglund, head coach Ryan Day went out to dinner.
McLaughlin had lost to the Wolverines in the Rose Bowl just days before.
Even at dinner, it was unacceptable
the Michigan game,’ and Coach Daysorry.’”
Dinner continued.
“Later on, she did it again,” Mcbeen the Michigan game,’ and [Day] say Team Up North here.’”mitting to the Buckeyes, Howard watched Michigan beat Washington in Championship.
“Even me at the time, I didn’t really know much about the rivalry, but I was out there and see those guys and take them down.’”
Then, once Howard stepped foot on campus, he unlocked a whole oth er level of the historic ri valry.
The team does one rep of “Team Up North abs” for each day there is until “The Game.”
“I remember it being in Janu ary, and it was like 290-something days away from The Team Up North game,” Mc Laughlin said. “We’re having to do almost 300 reps of abs for that ferent, and there’s a con stant, year-round focus on that game.”
Not to mention, multiple countdown clocks around the athletic center remind everyone how many days there are leading up to The Game.
It’s impossible to forget, “it’s everywhere,” Howard said.
Outside of the athletic center’s walls, it’s the same all throughout campus.
more than I thought,’” Howard said.
The atmosphere in Ohio Stadium is electric for any game, but for The Game, Howard knows it will be inten-
“I know that one’s just gonna be different,” Howard said. “Late November, it’s gonna be cold. It’s gonna be a battle.”
Laying eyes on an Ohio State-Michigan matchup, even if only from the stands, was an item on Howard’s bucket list growing up, he said.
“I remember always saying to my to go to a Michigan-Ohio State game at some point in my life,’” Howard said. “Here I am; I’m gonna be the quarterback for Ohio State. It’s wild, man. A year ago, I was telling my family that it’s just crazy how things happen.”
Now that Howard understands the rivalry on a personal level, he’s left with no choice but to win The Game.
“You can feel the hunger, that the fan base is starving for this win,” Howard said “It’s been a while. We’re tired of hearing the Up North fans and all the BS that they’ve been saying.”
He can’t wait for The Game to come – especially a hopeful win.
“This city is gonna go crazy, I know,” Howard said. “It’s gonna be a fun day. We’re going to have to take care of business, but with a win, this town is gonna erupt. I know it’s gonna be a hell of a day for us.”
SANDRA FU | PHOTO EDITOR Graduate quarterback Will Howard (18) celebrates after sliding to gain against Penn State at Beaver Stadium Nov. 2. The Buckeyes beat the Nittany Lions 20-13.
SANDRA FU | PHOTO EDITOR
Graduate transfer quarterback Will Howard enters Ohio Stadium before his Buckeye debut Aug. 31. Ohio State defeated Akron 52-3.
By David Skovira Lantern Reporter
The 120th meeting between Michigan and Ohio State, slated for Nov. 30, will be critical for the storied rivalry’s future.
Michigan is seeking a fourth straight win, which would consequently derail Ohio State’s aspirations for a Big Ten title.
Meanwhile, the Buckeyes hope to quiet critics of head coach Ryan Day and compete for a national championship.
Despite their (5-5, 3-4 Big Ten) record, the Wolverines can make this year’s installment of “The Game” competitive.
strong run game to control the clock. Its running back duo of Kalel Mullings and Donovan Edwards consistently provides speed and power for the Wolverines.
The duo has accumulated 1,177 yards and 10 touchdowns through 10 games, forming one of the top back-
In the passing game, Colston Loveland is the Wolverines’ primary target, as the 6-foot-5, 245-pound tight end leads the team with 49 catches for 523 receiving yards and four scores.
Loveland’s size and athleticism create a mismatch for most defenders, which is key for move the ball down the
Quarterback play could be another crucial factor for Michigan, with both Davis Warren and Alex Orji having the potential to start, as they have split time throughout the season. Warren is a better passer, but Orji’s ability to run makes him a dynamic weapon.
Johnson, however, can challenge Smith.
Johnson’s ability to shut down top receivers will be imperative to Michigan’s success. If he can neutralize Smith, Ohio State’s passing game will
Michigan’s defensive line also has a major opportunity against Ohio State’s Simmons out for the season, Michigan must take advantage of this weakness.
Defensive ends Josaiah Stewart and Mason Graham are essential to putting pressure on Howard. The duo has com bined for 10 sacks through 10 games this season, and their ability to dis rupt Ohio State’s protection will make drives.
The Game is always unpredictable, and Michigan has the tools to make it a close one. If the Wolverines execute their best game plan, another upset over Ohio State is not out of the ques tion.
HOW STRUGGLING MICHIGAN COULD COMPETE WITH OHIO STATE
Ultimately, the Wolverines must play disciplined, mistake-free football to keep their four-game win streak
In six games, Warren has thrown completing 90 passes on 146 attempts. On the other hand, Orji has thrown for just 148 yards on 23-of-44 passes in nine games.
and scramble situations. If he plays
State’s struggles against mobile quarterbacks.
Orji is also the Wolverines’ third-leading rusher, racking up 227 yards and a score through 10 games. Defensively, Michigan needs to focus on stopping Ohio State’s run game, as Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson provide a potent one-two
If Michigan can force Ohio State vital for the Wolverines’ defensive line to stop the run early.
If Michigan succeeds in halting Ohio State’s run game, it will force quarterback Will Howard to make plays for the Buckeyes, leaving the rest to the Wolverines’ secondary.
Ohio State’s receiving corps, led by Jeremiah Smith, is deep and talented. The team features three wideouts who’ve recorded over 450 receiving yards through 10 games with Smith, Carnell Tate and Emeka Egbuka. Michigan junior cornerback Will
CARLY DAMON | ASST. PHOTO EDITOR
Ohio State graduate quarterback Will Howard (18) drops back to pass in the No. 4 Buckeyes’ 20-13 victory over the No. 3 Penn State Nittany Lions Nov. 2 at Beaver Stadium.
DAVID GURALNICK | DETROIT NEWS VIA TNS Michigan defensive lineman Mason Graham celebrates after sacking Minnesota quarterback Max Brosmer during the second quarter.
CALEB BLAKE | LANTERN FILE PHOTO Senior running back TreVeyon Henderson (32) blasts by teammates toward the end zone during the Spring Game April 13, 2024.
JACOB HAMILTON VIA TNS Michigan Wolverines running back Kalel Mullings (20) greets fans after Michigan football defeated Michigan State 24-17 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Oct. 26 2024.
CARLY DAMON | ASST. PHOTO EDITOR Star wide receiver Jeremiah Smith (4) walks back to the line of quarter of Ohio State’s contest against Iowa. The Buckeyes would go on to defeat the Hawkeyes 35-7 Oct. 5.
DAVID GURALNICK | DETROIT NEWS VIA TNS Michigan tight end Colston Loveland is tackled by Oregon defensive back Kobe Savage during the third quarter.
CARLY DAMON | ASST. PHOTO EDITOR Junior running back Quinshon Judkins (1) scores a touchdown against the Western Michigan Broncos Sept. 7.
DAVID GURALNICK | DETROIT NEWS VIA TNS Michigan running back Donovan Edwards is tackled by Michigan State defensive back Ade Willie during the second quarter.
CALEB BLAKE | LANTERN FILE PHOTO Then third-year running back TreVeyon end zone for a touchdown. No. 2 Ohio State lost to No. 3 Michigan 30-24 at Michigan Stadium Nov. 25, 2023.
ONE LAST RIDE: OHIO STATE STUDENTS REFLECT ON RIVALRY EXPERIENCE
By Jayla Vanhorn Lantern TV Sports Producer
Every fall, Daria Smith wakes up at 6 a.m., her heart racing with excitement.
She quickly slips into her comfy, oversized J.T. Barrett jersey and Ohio State sweatpants, while the delicious from the kitchen, thanks to her father’s cooking skills.
With a strong sense of purpose, she moves through the house, turning on on, it also lights up her parents’ Ohio State-themed basement.
Finally, she settles onto the couch, joining her four family members all decked out in Buckeye apparel, as they eagerly listen to the voices of ESPN College Gameday.
The Canton, Michigan natives are all set for “The Game.”
“That is probably the most stressed I am out of the 365 days of the year,” Smith said. “I feel anxiety from the moment I wake up.”
at Ohio State, said she now has the chance to share her passion for Ohio State football and dislike of the Wolverines alongside other Buckeye fans.
Not all Ohio State students, however, share the same experience with the well-known rivalry. For some, this may with The Game as undergraduates at the university.
Aiden Howard, a fourth-year in biology, said he has never experienced a Buckeyes win versus Michigan since his academic tenure began at Ohio State in 2020.
Notably, he did attend the rivalry game in 2019 — Ohio State’s latest victory against the Wolverines — and said it was a day he’ll never forget.
“The most electric I’ve ever heard the ‘Shoe was on a fourth down,” Howard said. “Michigan was punting, and Ohio State blocked it and returned it
for a touchdown. That place went bananas.”
Born in Orlando, Florida, Howard said he grew up as a Buckeyes fan because his father’s side of the family resided in Ohio. Since returning back to the state as a child, all he’s known is Ohio State sports, and he now feels proud to be a third-generation Buckeyes fanatic.
Howard said his love for the team -
cial student section of Ohio State Athletics — in his second year as a leader of the organization’s football committee.
munication technology, shares a similar level of enthusiasm for the rivalry game. Like Howard, Schrader’s uncle was a student at Ohio State in the 1970s, which inevitably caused him to become a devoted fan of the university’s sports teams, he said.
Schrader said his family often gathered at a friend’s place in the small town of Waverly, Ohio, to watch The Game. It soon became a family tradition.
“As long as I can remember, Satur-ing Ohio State football,” Schrader said.
Now that he lives in Columbus, Schrader said his family will travel to join him and partake in local festivities ahead of The Game.
Schrader said he attended dozens of Ohio State football games in his youth, but never one against Michigan. He’ll now get the chance to experience that home, but in a jam-packed stadium of 100,000-plus fans.
“I’m really excited to actually experience it in person,” Schrader said. “Because, I mean, like I said, when I was younger, I would plan my whole week around it.”
Smith said she will also be in attendance. Though this will not be her
event.
“This is really one of the main reasons why I wanted to come to Ohio State: so I could be a part of this day, be a part of the culture,” Smith said.
A love that began with her mother graduating from the university has now been passed down to Smith — a passion she holds dear. And though it may be hard for some to grasp, there is a community in Columbus that truly gets it, Smith said.
“I think that’s what makes the game so great, especially when it’s in Columbus,” Smith said. “You get to be around people who love Ohio State football just as much as you.”
backgrounds, these three students share a common bond that will tie them together now and always: their love for Ohio State and their excitement for the rivalry.
“I think it’ll be bittersweet and very redeeming as a senior, to just -
ard said. “Regardless of where I go for medical school and afterwards, I’m always going to be a
SCAN TO WATCH TBDBITL’S RIVALRY EXPERIENCE ON LANTERN TV AND
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COURTESY OF DARIA SMITH, AIDEN HOWARD, JAKE SCHRADER
Daria Smith (left), Aiden Howard (center) and Jake Schrader (right) are all students at Ohio State and grew up being connected to the rivalry between the Ohio State and Michigan football teams.
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By Daria Smith Lantern Reporter
“The Game” is not just a pivotal weekend for Ohio State’s football Stadium Nov. 30.
Even the restaurants and bars located around the university spend weeks preparing for one of the most renowned rivalries in all of college football.
One of those establishments is The O on Lane, formerly The O Patio and Pub, which originally opened in 1994. For owner Ed Gaughan, the rivalry runs far deeper than just
as a local business owner
”It’s great to be part of one of the biggest traditions in sports over the course of not only the last three years, but over the course of the last 30 years being on campus,” Gaughan said. “We’ve been able to be a part of the community, the tradition and culture that this game brings to the Columbus community and the alumni.”
Gaughan said the Michigan game is unlike any other game on Ohio State’s schedule, and The O on Lane begins preparing weeks in advance to guarantee it’s fully ready for game day.
“That game is like a holiday week for Columbus,” Gaughan said. “Preparation is everything, from ordering inventory, ensuring we have extra food and extra alcohol and making sure that there are extra employees since we are open for longer.”
Unlike most Saturdays — during which
as 5 a.m. for the restaurant’s 11 a.m. opening — the Michigan matchup calls for an even more prompt arrival in the run-up to a 5:30 a.m. opening.
“Essentially, we’re open all but a couple hours from Friday till Sunday,” Gaughan said.
“We open at 5:30 [a.m.], but we have to have employees there by 4 a.m., kind
Though The O on Lane is known for the rivalry game, the 5:30 a.m. opening time is partially attributed to special breakfast items that are served throughout the morning.
opening up early and doing breakfast burritos and the egg specials would be
breakfast item because normally for a noon game, people start rolling around at like 8:30 [a.m.], but for the Michigan game, it all starts around 5:30 [a.m.]”
As far as traditions go, The O on Lane takes part in the classic campus tradition of crossing out the letter “M” whenever possible, but Gaughan said it also has a few of its own.
“We have Michigan logo stickers in our bathroom toilets — every ‘M’ around our place, as well as around campus, is crossed out,” Gaughan said. “There’s no blue anything in the place, whether it is all the way down to a marker or someone’s shirt, and we take it as seriously as everyone else takes it.”
Abby Ravine, a bartender at The O on Lane who has worked for Gaughan since 2016, said when it comes to working the last Saturday in November, fans’ passion is what makes The Game singular.
HOW CAMPUS RESTAURANT THE O ON LANE PLANS FOR ‘THE GAME’
“I think The Game, especially when it’s a home game, brings a lot of togetherness and excitement for Ohio State,” Ravine said. “Sharing in the rivalry and knowing how much this game means to our football team and fans, we just try to give them the best experience and make everyone excited about being there.”
Despite the amount of preparation put into making sure the establishment is ready for The Game, Gaughancluding unpredictable weather and be -
“You always have to bring in extra people to make sure you’re being more vigilant about any little thing that happens throughout the day, whether something breaks or something is not working properly,” Gaughan said.
When it comes to watching The Game and witnessing the community it brings together, Gaughan said it’s simply fun to be around people who share a common passion, and this year, he’s hoping the Buckeyes break the Wolverines’ three-game winning streak.
“It’s just fun being with everyone that’s happy about the same thing, passionate about the same thing and upset about the same thing when things don’t go our way,” Gaughan said. “But this year, we are hoping everything goes our way and everyone can celebrate together.”
‘THE GAME’ TRADITIONS
CARLY DAMON | ASST. PHOTO EDITOR
WHAT A FOURTH STRAIGHT RIVALRY LOSS WOULD MEAN FOR THE BUCKEYES AND RYAN DAY
By Conor Finn Lantern Reporter
Ifourth consecutive loss to Michigan would mark a seismic shift for Ohio State football.
reinforce the intense scrutiny of head coach Ryan Day and cast a somber shadow over the class of 2021, whose members may graduate without ever earning their gold pants. For a program grounded in dominance over its archrival, another defeat could signal a crossroads moment, challenging the Buckeyes’ position in college football’s upper echelon.
Adding fuel to this metaphorical from the powerhouse of recent years. The defending national champions
as disappointing road defeats to Illinois and Washington.
Still, as history has shown, none of that may matter; the rivalry runs too deep, and the Wolverines could very well give Ohio State a highly competitive game.
The last time Michigan beat Ohio State four times in a row was from 1988-91. These were considered slump -
tations were not close to those of teams in the last few years.
John Cooper, Ohio State’s head coach at the time, had a career 2-10-1 record against Michigan and certainly hasn’t gone down as a Buckeye legend. But coaches like Urban Meyer (7-0), Jim Tressel (9-1) and Woody Hayes (16-11-1) will forever be cherished for their triumphs over the Wolverines.
So, that leaves Day.
In 2019, Day took the reins of dominance over Michigan from Meyer,
tor Brian Hartline and hiring his former mentor Chip Kelly.
To make matters worse, Day was forced to replace running back coach Tony Alford, who left Columbus to head to Ann Arbor. Subsequently, the Buckeyes brought in Carlos Locklyn
pening after the Buckeyes’ third straight loss to Michigan, fans can bet that even more — and potentially more
After last season’s 30-24 loss, Day
“We’re all disappointed. We know what this game means to so many people,” Day said. “And, to come up short is certainly crushing, not only just because you invest your whole year in it, but we know at Ohio State what this game means. And so, there’s a locker room in there that’s devastated.”
Many wonder if this legacy will remain in the minds of Ohio State fans for years to come, reminiscent of Coo -
Even if these Buckeye classes have racked up countless wins, impressive stats and multiple College Football matter if they can’t beat “That Team Up North?”
For many fans, it just doesn’t.
crushing the Wolverines in Ann Arbor, Michigan 56-17. Since then, it’s been heartbreaking losses in three straight years for the Buckeyes, with some fans even calling for Day’s termination.
A fourth straight loss to this year’s Michigan team would raise more doubt about Day’s ability to lead Ohio State to a ninth national championship.
To avoid another loss, Day made following last year’s crushing defeat,
they lose again.
But how much fault can realistically be placed on the coach?
The class of 2021 features star players Jack Sawyer, J.T. Tuimoloau, Emeka Egbuka, TreVeyon Henderson, Denzel Burke and a longer list of current starters.
These players have yet to earn the cherished golden pants, awarded to Buckeyes who defeat Michigan.
In the lead-up to the top-three matchup in Ann Arbor last year, Day said he and his team have scars from recent Michigan dominance.
“That drives you every day to work harder and to make sure you do everything you possibly can to win this game,” Day said.
As the rivalry looms again, the pressing question is whether Day and his team can bear another one of these turning point for the program’s future against Michigan.
RECORd IN ‘ThE GAME’
But right now, the long-term -an swer in response to a tumultuous season is not more tumult. It’s letting Moore ride this out.
And there won’t be a satisfactory answer to be found.
Regardless, as you watch three tosioner Roger Goodell’s hand on the you might think, “How on Earth did a team with that much talent struggle so mightily?”
And then, after a couple of seasons, feel free to advocate for whatever drastic measures you like.
For now, the best thing to do is give Moore the opportunity to build his team in the portal and on the -recruit ing trail. Give him a few years of grace for the imperfect situation he -inherit ed. See if he can turn things around.
Until 2021, Harbaugh was winless against Ohio State, 1-5 in bowl games and yet to make the College Football was 2-4 and widely considered to be on the hot seat. Ask yourself: Would an overreaction have been wise then?
If you think back to the Harbaugh era, it wasn’t all sunshine and roses.
The answer to this lost year, as -un satisfying as it may be, is time.
So the appropriate response to Michigan’s lost year is not drastic acmanding that both of his coordinators be let go, and it isn’t begging mega-dohigh school quarterback.
Three games into the season, with struggling with ball security, Moore pulled the plug on his tenure and in his stead. Orji guided the -Wolver stagnated again, and Moore -respond ed by starting Michigan’s third quarterback of the season, graduate Jack Tuttle. He lasted one game before three quarterback changes in, Moore announced that the Wolverines were back to square one, and would start Warren for the remainder of the -sea son. Since his reinstatement, Warren has been the least of Michigan’s problems. He’s been imperfect, but he’s maintained ball security and -pi Moore and the Wolverines just stuck it out with Warren from the start, they might be in a much better place now. That situation is reminiscent of the and Moore both were given a team with depth issues that was never going to be last year’s group, and was never going to win a national -cham pionship. Anyone who thought -oth from the start.
ful to look back at what, in retrospect, was Moore’s biggest mistake — his decision to bench senior quarterback Davis Warren.
And to illustrate this point, it’s use -
This is not the time to gut Michigan’s a team that had a great run but won’t be back.
While criticisms of Moore are fairdency for overreaction. From many, a sense of doom seems to have taken over that in one year Moore has shown that he never can, nor will, take -Michi gan back to the heights that Harbaugh guided it to. That’s an unfair criticism.
So in 10 to 15 years, when looking back at a team with this much highend talent and ability, justifying this season and that the Wolverines barely scraped a path to bowl eligibility — assuming they manage that — will be nearly impossible.
With that, it’s fair to say that -Michi gan has never had this much pedigree on the same team.
The caliber of many of the players weekend is not just impressive, but it is genuinely unprecedented. Currently, the Wolverines are projected to have a program record of between round of the NFL Draft come April.
to secure even bowl eligibility. With a .500 record and four losses in theirtaneously true about the Wolverines. Michigan, less than a year removed from an undefeated season and a -na tional championship, is amid one of its most disappointing seasons in retime, the Wolverines have, quite possibly, the most impressive collection of high-end talent in the country.
M idway through November, the Michigan football team has yet
There is no other way to spin this year other than as a disappointment — a year of missed potential and -wast ed opportunity. And there’s a million things to blame. You can start with the fact that Michigan didn’t go after a quarterback in the transfer portal and gave itself a low ceiling from the get-go. You could make the valid assertion that outside of their premier players, the Wolverines lack depth. Or you could even address the elephant in the room, andily solved in the transfer portal or on the recruiting trail. And being -hon est, Michigan shouldn’t have trouble selling itself to recruits and transfers even given a down year. The Wolverines are a blue blood program, Moore has built up an impressive arsenal of NIL money and things at Michigan would have to be really, really bad before it lost its appeal. But the last point, the one about coaching, is where I urge you to be cautious. It is true, and I have noted, has shown signs of weakness and -in congruity — both within games and in terms of roster construction.
