The Wolverine Now

NOV. 21, 2012 THE GAME O Banned From The Postseason, Ohio State Wants To Beat Michigan More Than Ever BY MICHAEL SPATH n Saturday, Ohio State will pay tribute to its 2002 national title team, recog- nizing that Buckeyes squad on the 10-year anniversary of a 14-0 campaign in which they beat Michigan 14-9 to clinch a berth in the BCS national championship game. This season, the Scarlet and Gray are in- eligible for the postseason, stemming from NCAA sanctions that led to the ouster of the championship-winning head coach Jim Tressel. Yet, at 11-0, OSU is raising sup- port from critics still fuming over the BCS formula, and arguing for recognition by the Associated Press. For the Buckeyes to claim a possible AP national title, though, they must finish 12- 0, and to do that they will have to beat Michigan. "You saw last week at Kansas State and Oregon, going undefeated is hard to do," said first-year head coach Urban Meyer, trying to dismiss such talk for now. "We've just talked about winning this game. We're not talking about what everybody is going to think a week from now, two weeks from now. season, there's a lot of stuff on the line, but the Michigan game is big no matter what," senior linebacker Zach Boren said. "I hear some murmurs about an AP title, but we're not going to change our view. If we come out and get a win, then yeah, I'm sure we'll have a lot of opinions about that, but we're sticking to what we've done all year, and that's take each game one at a time. "If we're 0-11, it'd still be a huge game, and that's the way we're looking at it. It's the biggest game of the year no matter what." "The old adage about you can throw the records out the window … I think this is just a pure, intense rivalry," Meyer added. "It doesn't matter who's undefeated, and fighting for what, playing for what." The Buckeyes' road to perfection has In his first season as head coach at Ohio State, Urban Meyer has led the Buckeyes to an 11-0 mark. PHOTO COURTESY OHIO STATE "It's such a credit to this team to be in the position they're in. It's real hard to be undefeated still." For the Buckeyes, meeting the Maize and Blue opposite the line of scrimmage not been easy this year; Ohio State clipped California 35-28 when it scored a touch- down with only 3:26 remaining, barely held on for a 17-16 win over Michigan State, outlasted Indiana 52-49, scored with three seconds remaining (and converted a two- point conversion) to force overtime against Purdue, and added another extra-session win last week at Wisconsin. Ohio State senior linebacker Zach Boren "If we're 0-11, it'd still be a huge game, and that's the way we're looking at it. It's the biggest game of the year no matter what." will actually help with their focus because the motivation for The Game trumps any emphasis on finishing with an unblemished mark and what that could mean later in the season. "It's Senior Day, we are going for a 12-0 But its success in close games is also what makes OSU special in 2012. Ohio State is finding ways to win, whether that means one more great play from sopho- more quarterback Braxton Miller, one more huge stop defensively from sopho- GAME FACTS What: Michigan at Ohio State. When: Nov. 24 • 12:07 p.m. Radio-TV: ABC will broadcast the game. The contest can be heard on the Michigan Sports Network (950 AM in the Detroit area, SiriusXM channel 86). Coaches: Michigan: Brady Hoke with Ohio State 58-44-6, last beat- ing the Buckeyes 40-34 in 2011. Ohio State Notes: OSU is cel- (18-5, second season). Ohio State: Urban Meyer (11-0, first season). History: Michigan leads the series ebrating its 100th year in the Big Ten … Ohio State's first-year coaches are 5-11-1 in their inaugu- ral matchup with Michigan … The Buckeyes will be wearing special uniforms, paying tribute to their 1968 team … Cornerback Bradley Roby is the only defensive player in the country to score a touchdown this season three different ways: a fumble recovery, a blocked punt and an interception return … QB Braxton Miller needs 57 yards rush- ing to achieve the second-best sin- gle-season effort by a Big Ten quar- terback, passing Indiana's Atwaan Randle-El, who had 1,270 in 2000.

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