Tuesday, May 31, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Tressel's departure will rekindle rivalry in'The Game' ile making the one- Wijfmile or so trek from our parking spot to The Horseshoe, I saw plenty of Michi- gan fans sprinkled throughout the ocean of scarlet and grey. Usually one would expect their lives to be threatened, P called every name in the ' book and TIM berated with ROHAN jeers and taunt- ing - this was the greatestrivalry in all of sports, right? Well, thanks to Jim Tressel, the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry had turned into a joke in recentyears - when Lloyd Carr's teams lost it was at least competitive, and then with Rodriguez, itcgotugly. Now, Michigan fans weren't worth Ohio State fans' time any- more. The Buckeyes knew they were going to win ina few hours. It would've taken a cruel and sadisticperson to pile on, ontop of the mess Rich Rodriguez had already created for those people. It was about everything that produced the records, though, when Rodriguez marched his 7-4 Wolverines into Tressel's slaugh- terhouse last November. The truth is: Ohio State was bigger, faster, stronger and better prepared than Michigan the past three years. The Wolverines didn't stand a chance, not with Tressel in charge. With Tressel's resignation coming early Monday morning, the tides may be turning in the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry - those fans might not have such a pleasant stroll to The Horseshoe in two years. With Tressel gone, this is Michigan's chance to make the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry great again. Tressel improved to 9-1 against Michigan that afternoon ina game that his Buckeyes led bythree scores athalftime. His teams out- scored Rodriguez's squads 100-24, and this loss allowed those Michi- gan fans to miss the traffic and head home early. Tressel's teams routinely pushed around Rodriguez's spread-option offense and 3-3-5 defense, and even had a quarter- back (Terrelle Pryor) better suited, perhaps, to play in Rodriguez's scheme. The Ohio State coach made it clear from the start that beating Michigan was going to be a priority of his. Tressel was facing a similar hill to climb than Brady Hoke faces now - the Wolverines were 10-2-1 in their last 13 games against the Buckeyes before Tres- sel took over in 2001. The pendulum swung towards Ann Arbor. "I can assure you," Tressel said at the time of his hiringin 2001, "that you will be proud of your young people in the classroom, in the community, and most espe- cially, ih 310 days in Ann Arbor, Michigan on the football field." He understood that the first thing he had to do was beat Michi- gan. Everything else he wanted to accomplish would follow. It was obvious Tressel was a great coach and a better recruiter. In his first season, 310 days after he was hired, he beat Michigan 26-20 in the Big House. Craig Krenzel made his first start of his career and Ohio State entered the game with a 4-3 record in Big Ten play. The Buckeyes were the underdogs against the No.11 Michigan Wolverines. But Tressel coached Ohio State to a 23-0 half- time lead and then held on to win. That's whatgood coaches do: they bring the most out of their players and win games they're not sup- posed to from time to time. Although, 2004 was the only other year under Tressel in which the Buckeyes could have been con- sidered decent-sized underdogs in the rivalry. The pendulum swung towards Columbus. Rodriguez's teams never had that win-when-you're-not- supposed-to trait. The Buckeyes always had a chance with Tressel there. The first step in beating Ohio State was the changing of the guard that took place in Janu- ary when Brady Hoke took over. His players break their huddles screaming "Beat Ohio," during spring practice, more than six months before they playthe Buck- eyes. He refers to the Buckeyes as FILE PHOTO/Daily Former Ohio State footballcoach Jim Tressel announced his resignation Monday. "Ohio," and his feelings about the rivalry seem genuine. For now, the pendulum stays in Columbus until Hoke proves he can beat Luke Fickell's Buckeyes. Anyone who knows the Michi- gan-Ohio State rivalry knows it is based on each team having a peri- od of dominance. But had Tressel not known about Pryor's and his cohort's wrongdoings, then it would've been harder for Hoke to end Ohio State's current seven- game winning streak in the rivalry - the longest it has ever had. "The head of the scarlet and grey Demon has been cut off," Michigan's best defensive player, nose tackle Mike Martin tweeted on Monday. With Rodriguez's failings and the prolonged drought against Ohio State, Michigan is desperate for a swing in the pendulum. As The Columbus Dispatch points out in the upper left corner of its Ohio . State sports page - the counter remains even if you are reading about the men's or women's bas- ketball teams - that, as of Monday, it has been 2746 days since Michi- gan last beat Ohio State in football. In Brady Hoke's office it is counting down: 180 days, so-many hours and minutes and seconds until Nov. 26, when he gets his first turn to beat "Ohio." His chances got a lot better on Monday. - Rohan can be reached at trohan@umich.edu. Jim Tressel resigns amidst scandal, NCAA allegations By STEPHENJ. NESBITT DailySportsEditor Ohio State announced the resig- nation of embattled football coach Jim Tressel on Monday. Tressel, who posted a 106-22 record in 10 seasons in Columbus and guided the Buckeyes to the 2002 national title, saw his job security wane in the wake of an ongoing NCAA investigation into the program for multiple viola- tions. During his tenure, Tressel's Buckeyes had unparalleled suc- cess against Michigan, going 9-1, including a current stretch of sev- en-consecutive victories. Tressel will be replaced by interim head coach Luke Fickell for the 2011 season. "After meeting with University officials, we agreed that it is in the best interest of Ohio State that I resign as head football coach," Tressel said Monday. "The appre- ciation that Ellen and I have for the Buckeye Nation is immeasurable." In March, President E. Gordon Gee and Athletic Director Gene Smith both voiced their support for Tressel, who then admitted that he withheld information con- cerning ineligible players in 2010. "I'm just hoping the coach doesn't dismiss me," Gee joked at a press conference March 8. Initially, Tressel was given just a two-game ban with a $250,000 fine - five of his players, includ- ing star quarterback Terelle Pryor, were previously given six-game suspensions for their part in sell- ing memorabilia to a local tattoo parlor, as well as receiving dis- counted tattoos - Tressel asked that his suspension be increased to match his players.' Tattoo-par- lor owner Edward Rife was then under investigation for drug traf- ficking. The program came under increased heat when The Colum- bus Dispatch reported a suspicious connectionthat Ohio State football players and families shared with Columbus-area car dealers. The Universtity's director of compli- ance is currently investigating 50 separate car sales to Buckeye ath- letes. Tressel's hot seat grew hotter and the fever pitch surrounding Ohio State football heightened this week when former Buckeye wide receiver Ray Small told The Lantern - the Ohio State student newspaper - that he saw the sell- ing of memorabilia and car deals as commonplace for Buckeye ath- letes. "I had sold my things but it was just for the money," Small said. "We had four Big Ten rings. There was enough to go around." Finally, after more than sixth months of investigations and a battery of NCAA allegations detailing that Tressel "permitted football student-athletes to par- ticipate in intercollegiate athlet- ics while ineligible" and "failed to deport himself ... (with) honesty and integrity," Tressel has called it quits. He finishes as the No. 2 coach in Big Ten history in terms of win- ning percentage (.828). Although the NCAA has not yet released its penalties against Ohio State, which are expected later this g fall, Smith and Ohio State are try- ing to look beyond the Jim Tressel era, one that will be remembered forever in Buckeye lore - for bet- ter and for worse. "We look forward to refocus- ing the football program on doing 4 what we do best," Smith said. "We look forward to supporting Luke Fickell in his role as our football coach. We have full confidence in his ability to lead our football pro- gram."