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thelantern.com @TheLantern

‘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