Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022 | The Lantern | 3 thelantern.com @TheLantern CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2 Former wide receiver Anthony Gon- zalez said Tressel “changed the tone” of “The Game” because he “understood the importance of the rivalry.” “He had us focused on it year-round, and then certainly the week of, real- ly made sure that it was a special week for us, so we always came in prepared,” Gonzalez said. “He was such an amazing leader not just that week, but across the board. And, you know, one of the things I’m most grateful for in my life is that I got to play four years with coach Tressel, and so he’s just such a special man.” Tressel dominated Michigan, winning eight of 10 against the Wolverines as the 2010 victory was vacated due to NCAA violations. Of those wins, a 2006 42-39 triumph at Ohio Stadium in what was later called “The Game of the Century” to send the Buckeyes to the national championship against Florida, was arguably the most memorable. “At the moment that game is played, it’s the biggest thing going on in the world,” Tressel said. “Regardless if it was send- ing us to the national championship or maybe just getting our program turned around in ’01, so it’s hard to pick one of those wins over the other.” Luke Fickell (2011), record against Michigan: 0-1 After Tressel’s resignation in May 2011, Luke Fickell assumed head coaching du- ties for the upcoming football season. The program was in a turnover peri- od and struggled mightily, carrying a 6-5 record into the Michigan game — their worst record heading into rivalry week since 1999. But that didn’t matter to Fickell. “I remember, you know, there were people coming in just before meetings, or maybe a little late to meetings, I mean, him going off like, ‘What is this? This is Michigan week. Show respect for the ri- valry,’” former Ohio State punter Ben Bu- chanan said. Four of the Buckeyes’ five Big Ten losses entering the Michigan game were by one score, and Ohio State didn’t have much to lose as it was bowl eligible, but nowhere near a New Year’s six berth. Buchanan said he appreciated how Fickell held himself as well as the players equally accountable. He said Fickell “coached hard, tooth and nail until the very end,” centering the Buckeyes with a message to the team the week of “The Game.” “I just remember him saying, ‘Cer- tainly we play for Columbus, we play for Buckeye nation,’ but he’s like, ‘Right now, you can feel a lot of the noise out- side of these walls,’” Buchanan said. “He’s like, ‘We need to play for the men inside this room, you know, inside the Woody Hayes. Play for your brother. Play for one another.’” Buchanan said he believed Fickell, be- ing a Columbus native, influenced how much he cared about the rivalry because “it just hits that much closer to home.” In Fickell’s lone try at the Wolverines, the Buckeyes’ one-point halftime lead was erased in the second half as they were outscored 17-10. Former quarterback Braxton Miller’s potential game-winning drive was stymied with an interception on fourth and 6, snapping Ohio State’s then-six-game winning streak. Urban Meyer (2012-18), record against Michigan: 7-0 Following Fickell’s one-and-done sea- son, Ohio State turned to Urban Meyer, who won two national championships with the Florida Gators, to right the ship. Buchanan said Meyer stepped in, did not care about the previous success at Ohio State and “laid the hammer down” on the Buckeyes. “We had to earn the right to get dressed in the locker room. Like, ‘Hey, who are you? I don’t know you. I need to get to know you,’ — even though we might have been top 10 in the country in punting in 2011,” Buchanan said. “‘Well, I don’t know you, so do these bear crawls, do this.’ You know, you got to prove yourself before you can even get into the locker room to be called a Buckeye.” Meyer’s “prove-it-to-me” attitude car- ried on the foundation Tressel had laid in prioritizing a Michigan game victory, and Meyer dominated the Wolverines, scoring a perfect seven wins in seven tries. Perhaps Meyer’s intensity during the Michigan week was part of the reason why. Buchanan said the Woody Hayes Ath- letic Center would undergo a makeover the week leading up to “The Game” and play one song: LL Cool J’s “It’s Time for War.” “It would have that on repeat over and over, and have our plasma screens just like games in which Michigan defeated Ohio State or just showing some intensi- ty in the rivalry,” Buchanan said. “It was breakfast, lunch, dinner, you eat, sleep, drink the rivalry for that week.” Buchanan noted a more symbolic tra- dition that Meyer instilled in 2012 upon entering the Woody Hayes Athletic Cen- ter, as well. “Coming into the Woody, they would put jerseys down on the ground, and we had to walk on maize and blue jerseys,” Buchanan said. Buchanan said there was all a purpose behind everything the Buckeyes did leading up to “The Game.” “It was just like, ingrained to you just how big this is,” Buchanan said. “It defi- nitely wasn’t one of those things like, ‘Hey, you know, let’s get out there. Let’s give it our best stuff and let the chips fall where they may.’ It was, ‘No, this is The Game. You better win it or else,’ type of a thing.” Meyer coached in some classic Ohio State-Michigan games as well. In 2013, former offensive lineman Mar- cus Hall was ejected for participating in a fight and flipped off the Michigan crowd. Then, in the game itself, former safety Tyvis Powell intercepted Michigan quar- terback Devin Gardner’s pass on a two- point conversion attempt, as the Buck- eyes won 42-41 — a game which Meyer said postgame was “an instant classic.” Then three years later at the ‘Shoe, the infamous “J.T. was short” game — a top- five matchup with College Football Play- off implications — took place. In overtime, former quarterback J.T. Barrett carried a fourth and 1 to the left side of the line and was granted debat- able first down yardage, but the call stood after review. On the next play, Curtis Samuel took a 15-yard carry to the house and Ohio State claimed a 30-27 victory. Finally in 2018, Michigan was in the driver’s seat to win the Big Ten East. However, the Buckeyes played spoiler behind Dwayne Haskins’ six touchdown passes and Chris Olave’s coming out party, in which the then-freshman wide receiver had two touchdown receptions and a blocked punt, as Ohio State won 62-39. Ryan Day (2019-present), record against Michigan: 1-1 Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day has had one of the more rollercoaster starts against Michigan in recent Ohio State head coaching history. Day went to Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 2019, and behind eight touchdowns — four through the air by Justin Fields and four on the ground from J.K. Dobbins — throttled the Wolverines 56-27. In 2020, “The Game” was canceled due to COVID-19 issues within the Wolver- ines’ program — the first time since 1917 that Ohio State and Michigan didn’t play each other in a season. Then last season, the Buckeyes went back up to The Big House where former Michigan running back Hassan Haskins ran for five touchdowns in its 42-27 win Nov. 27, 2021. The loss snapped Ohio State’s then- eight-game win streak and marked the first time since Cooper’s tenure that a Buckeyes skipper hadn’t won his first two renditions of “The Game.” Day said his adrenaline was “going now” on the Tuesday before last year’s Michigan game. Third-year offensive tackle Paris Johnson Jr. said he noticed Day had an increased intensity, not just during the week leading up, but any time the Wol- verines were the topic of discussion. “I feel like that’s just how you have to be during that week. I mean it’s kind of like that year-round, it’s more than just that week,” Johnson said. “You know, whenever we talk about that team, that program, it’s a different type of demean- or.” Day said Nov. 8 the Buckeyes are “working on that game every day of the year.” Johnson said Ohio State has “team up north” periods during practice that’s geared towards getting the right mental- ity for the game. “Just practicing for the style of defense, and then what we’re doing is just about the violence of the drill,” Johnson said. “Then, just that coming off and just at the line of scrimmage, I feel like that’s what it’s about.” Day will get his shot to avenge last year’s loss Nov. 26 when the Buckeyes host the Wolverines at Ohio Stadium for the first time in four years. Day said Thursday on 97.1 The Fan the “No. 1 goal is to beat them.”