Fansided

Ohio State vs Michigan: 10 best games in “The Game” history

By Luke Norris

College Football: Ohio State QB Rex Kern (10) in action, under pressure vs Michigan Thomas Darden (35) at Michigan Stadium.Ann Arbor, MI 11/22/1969CREDIT: Tony Tomsic (Photo by Tony Tomsic /Sports Illustrated/Getty Images)(Set Number: X14544 )
College Football: Ohio State QB Rex Kern (10) in action, under pressure vs Michigan Thomas Darden (35) at Michigan Stadium.Ann Arbor, MI 11/22/1969CREDIT: Tony Tomsic (Photo by Tony Tomsic /Sports Illustrated/Getty Images)(Set Number: X14544 ) /
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COLUMBUS, OH – OCTOBER 29: Brutus the Buckeye leads his team onto the field prior to an NCAA football game between the Northwestern Wildcats and the Ohio State Buckeyes on October 29, 2016, at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, OH. (Photo by Khris Hale/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH – OCTOBER 29: Brutus the Buckeye leads his team onto the field prior to an NCAA football game between the Northwestern Wildcats and the Ohio State Buckeyes on October 29, 2016, at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, OH. (Photo by Khris Hale/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

9. 1972

Final Score: Ohio State 14, Michigan 11

One of a few battles on this list from the “Ten-Year War” between Ohio State and Michigan, and even more specifically between the two head coaches, Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler, the Michigan head coach who had once been an assistant under Hayes at Ohio State, the 1972 version of “The Game” was a classic case of Ohio State willing themselves to a win against a better team that outplayed them all day.

Michigan came into this game at 10-0 and was destined for the Rose Bowl, but the 8-1 Buckeyes had other plans as they welcomed the Wolverines to Columbus in November 1972 in front of 87,040 fans. If you just looked at the stat sheet, you would think that Michigan had run away with this one. Michigan controlled the clock with 83 plays for 344 yards while the Buckeyes only mustered 192 yards on 44 plays. But it was the Ohio State defense that would win this game anyway.

On three separate occasions, the Buckeyes’ defense stopped the Michigan offense cold at the goal line. Each time, a field goal would have tied the game for the Wolverines but Schembechler was insistent on getting the win and it would cost him a perfect season and a trip to Pasadena as Ohio State instead got the Rose Bowl berth and snapped Michigan’s 15-game league winning streak in the process. And to make things even more interesting, Woody Hayes even injured himself with six seconds left to play in an effort to get fans off of the field so the game could be finished.

Just another day for Ohio State-Michigan.

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