Ohio State-Michigan rivalry has even higher stakes for this year’s game

Every year, The Game matters.

It’s Ohio State. It’s Michigan.

Little else needs to be said. 

This year, amplify that.

Multiple it.

The stakes couldn’t be higher.

The storylines are endless. 

The blood feud known as Ohio State-Michigan has layers upon layers to it. 

No Jim Harbaugh on the Michigan sideline, the coach serving the final game of his suspension for the Wolverines’ sign-stealing scandal.

Ohio State out to snap two straight lopsided losses to Michigan and hoping to do so with a quarterback, Kyle McCord, making its debut in this famed rivalry.

Last year, Ohio State was still able to sneak into the playoff despite losing to Michigan, which carries a 23-game Big Ten winning streak into the showdown.

The loser this year is likely out, with so many other playoff contenders with similar or better resumes lurking. 

“I think it’s exactly how I dreamed of it,” Ohio State star wideout Marvin Harrison Jr. told reporters this week. “Both teams undefeated. I don’t even know what the rankings are, but this is exactly how I wanted it to be.” 

The two teams do seem headed in opposite directions despite their undefeated records.

Ohio State has beaten its last four opponents, Wisconsin, Rutgers, Michigan State and Minnesota, by a combined 134-32.

Unlike last year’s game, when it was without key skill-position players TreVeyon Henderson and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the Buckeyes are healthy and appeared ready for a game of this stature.

The defense, second in the nation in points allowed (9.3) certainly does, a vastly improved unit than the one that allowed a combined 87 in the two previous meetings with Michigan.

Ohio State has “scars” from those performances, according to coach Ryan Day. 

“It just drives you every day to work harder and to make sure you do everything you possibly can to win the game,” Day said 

Michigan, meanwhile, is trending in the wrong direction.

The off-the-field drama has not helped the Wolverines, it appears.

They struggled the last two weeks against Penn State and Maryland, fortunate to survive those contests against the two best teams they have faced this season.

Harbaugh’s absence sure seems to have been tough for his players to deal with, playing sub-par games the previous two Saturdays.

And, let’s not forget, this team has played an incredibly soft schedule, beating East Carolina, UNLV and Bowling Green in non-conference play.

At least Ohio State faced Notre Dame.

Of course, none of that matters if Michigan prevails again this year. A third straight trip to the playoff would almost certainly follow. 

“Being able to get on top of that rivalry the last two years has been huge, and we don’t plan on being on the other side of that at all anymore,” quarterback J.J. McCarthy told the Associated Press. 

Obviously, easier said than done.

The scandal has rocked the program, creating questions without many answers.

There was a legal battle between Michigan and the Big Ten following the suspension.

Initially, Michigan applied for a temporary restraining order to block the suspension, but that legal filing was later withdrawn.

Offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore has served as the acting head coach in place of Harbaugh. 

“It’s been tough; not just even this game, these last two games,” Michigan running back Blake Corum said. “Coach Harbaugh means so much to this program, but especially to myself and the guys. He’s formed a culture here; he’s a players’ coach. Great guy. We love playing for him; a lot of us would run through a wall for him.” 

They’ll have to win more time without him or this season of such high expectations in Ann Arbor is unlikely to include the playoff.