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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25 Nov 1995: Runningback Tim Biakabutuka of the Michigan Wolverines runs down the field during a game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Ann Arbor Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan won the game 31-23. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Stockman /Allspor
25 Nov 1995: Runningback Tim Biakabutuka of the Michigan Wolverines runs down the field during a game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Ann Arbor Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan won the game 31-23. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Stockman /Allspor /

7. 1995

Final Score: Michigan 31, Ohio State 23

While most remember the 1995 Big 10 season as the year Northwestern went to the Rose Bowl, most people forget that Ohio State was on that same track until they hit the Big House on November 25, 1995 and ran into a freight train named Tshimanga Biakabutuka.

Second-ranked Ohio State came to Ann Arbor with a perfect 11-0 record that afternoon and as it happens in the Ohio State vs Michigan rivalry, the 8-3 Wolverines were looking to play spoiler. Now, Biakabutuka was a solid running back but he certainly wasn’t supposed to be the star of this game. That honor was supposed to go to Heisman hopeful and eventual winner Eddie George. And George did have a nice day with 105 yards and a score, but that was his second-lowest total of the season. Yeah, that’s how good that guy was.

But that day belonged to Biakabutuka and the Michigan offensive line as the junior running back tallied 313 yards on 37 carries, including a score that put Michigan ahead by 16 points with 7:55 remaining on the clock. Biakabutuka surpassed Jamie Morris’ single-season rushing record in the process, all the while leaving the Buckeyes’ defense exhausted and unable to do anything about it. His 313 yards also set an Ohio State opponent rushing record, something that looks good on any Wolverine resumé.

Ohio State did manage to make it a one-possession game at 31-23 but a late interception from a freshman cornerback named Charles Woodson, his second of the day, with 48 seconds remaining on the clock would seal the deal.

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