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‘Just doing my job’:: Boren,, PHOTOGRAPHER reflect
on 10 years since rivalry sack photo
Nearly six minutes remained in the
second quarter when Michigan quarter-
back Devin Gardner rolled to his left in
play action.
Ohio State trailed then-No. 19 Mich-
igan 14-10 during the matchup Nov. 24,
2012, and the Wolverines offense took
the field for the first time since taking
the lead on their previous possession.
On first down and 10 yards to go, Buck-
eyes linebacker Zach Boren moved to
his left where he saw an opening along
the right side on the line of scrimmage.
Gardner circled and trotted to his right,
and Boren, who said “I shouldn’t have
been blitzing,” sped forward through the
gap.
“I remember there being a little bit of
a run fake,” Boren said. “It’s one of those
things where I took a chance, went and
made a play. At that point in the game, I
know it was a really tight game and some-
thing, honestly, I was just doing my job.”
Boren sacked Gardner for a loss of 9
yards, standing in the backfield with his
arms flexed and becoming part of a pho-
to epitomizing the rivalry between Ohio
State and Michigan.
“Undefeated” read the headline in the
Nov. 26, 2012, print edition of The Lan-
tern. It accompanied the photo of Boren
taken by former Multimedia Editor Cody
Cousino and led into the game story re-
capping the Buckeyes’ 26-20 win that
completed their 12-0 season under then-
first-year head coach Urban Meyer.
JACOB BENGE
Lantern Sports Editor
Cousino said covering the game and
producing the Lantern edition was a
“huge team effort,” noting that former
Managing Editor for Content Michael
Perriat and Managing Editor for Design
Jackie Storer were among those who
helped prepare the photo and newspaper
for distribution.
Cousino said he remembered how cold
it felt on the field, but as he sat cross-
legged beyond the end zone, he realized
he captured a moment that encapsulated
the legacy of the Ohio State and Michi-
gan rivalry.
“I just remember snapping that pho-
to and knowing that I got it immediate-
ly and knowing it was just a fraction of
a second that he was standing over the
quarterback,” Cousino said. “But I knew
that moment frozen looked as overpow-
ering as it did.”
Boren comes from a family with a foot-
ball background. His father, Mike Boren,
played linebacker at Michigan in the
1980s and ranks No. 9 in program history
with 369 career tackles.
Zach Boren’s older brother Justin
Boren spent two seasons at Michigan
from 2006-07 before completing his col-
lege career at Ohio State from 2009-10.
Jacoby Boren played along the offensive
line at Ohio State in the 2010s.
Zach Boren said he learned the impor-
tance of “The Game” when he was young,
watching his father compete at Michigan
and attending events leading up to kick-
off on Saturdays. When he was offered
to play at Ohio State, Zach Boren said “it
was a dream come true.”
“It was my favorite game to play in ev-
ery single year,” Zach Boren said. “People
come to Ohio State to play in that game
and to win Big Ten championships and
national championships, but that game
just meant so much to me.”
The path toward Zach Boren’s sack in
2012 began with a position change mid-
season.
Zach Boren played running back at
the beginning of his Buckeye career and
entered the 2012 season as one of Ohio
State’s captains and starters on offense.
He said Meyer approached him after
Week 6 about a potential switch across
sides of the ball to linebacker. Zach
Boren, who played the position growing
up, said he was “all for it” because it gave
him a chance to do something similar to
his father.
“It was like one of those things where I
always idolized him and wanted to be just
like him, and so having the opportunity
to go to the defensive side of the ball, I
was all in,” Zach Boren said.
Having become part of a number of
photos that capture the intensity be-
hind the Ohio State and Michigan rival-
ry, Zach Boren said people still ask him
about the play, but he can’t wait to share
moments about his football career — and
rivalry photo — with his children in the
future.
“It’s one of the things that I still don’t
quite understand the magnitude of,”
Zach Boren said. “For them to look back
and be like, ‘Man that’s dad making that
play,’ I’m sure that I will understand it a
little bit more, but right now, I look at it,
and I’m like, ‘Man, it was just me making
a play.’”
After several years around the NFL
following his career at Ohio State, Zach
Boren said he now helps oversee Boren
Brothers Waste Services, which offers
resources such as dumpsters and trash
and recycling assistance, according to its
website.
Zach Boren said he’s “loving life” work-
ing around Columbus and living near his
alma mater.
“I love it. Each and every day is a dif-
ferent day,” Zach Boren said. “It kind
of reminds me of a football team again.
You’ve got so many people doing differ-
ent jobs, and it’s all about coming togeth-
er, and everyone is accountable for what
they do, so it’s kind of the same thing on
the field.”
Zach Boren said he stills attends most
home games at Ohio Stadium, and this
season presents the first matchup be-
tween Ohio State and Michigan in Co-
lumbus since 2018.
Despite Ohio State coming off its first
loss to the Wolverines in 10 years, Zach
Boren said he knows the Buckeyes are
“hungry to change that taste in their
mouth.” He said he “can’t wait” for the
two teams to meet again, where perhaps
a play or moment may become as lasting
as his sack from 2012.
“When ‘The Game’ got canceled in
2020, I just felt like the season wasn’t
even a season,” Zach Boren said. “It’s not
a real Ohio State football season without
that game at the end of the year, so for
that game to happen in Columbus for the
first time in four years, I know it’s going
to be wild.”
CODY COUSINO | LANTERN FILE PHOTO
Down four with six minutes left in the second quarter, Ohio State linebacker Zach Boren
(44) blitzed up the middle and sacked then-Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner (12).
4 | The Lantern | Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022