Ohio State then-sophomore quarterback Terrelle Pryor (2) speaks with former head football coach Jim Tressel during a game against Minnesota Oct. 24, 2009, at Ohio Stadium. Ohio State won 38-7. Credit: Courtesy of TNS
Ohio State has played Michigan 116 times in football, but the 2006 matchup stands above the rest.
In 2006, the Buckeyes and Wolverines were the top-two teams in the country, so the winner of the game could claim a berth in the Bowl Championship Series National Championship.
Jim Tressel, who coached the Buckeyes from 2001-2010 and won a national title in 2002, looked back at this game on its 15-year anniversary.
No. 1 Ohio State was led by senior quarterback Troy Smith, who would go on to win the Heisman Trophy, as well as receivers Ted Ginn Jr. and Anthony Gonzalez and running back Chris “Beanie” Wells.
Tressel said the 2006 Buckeyes, who came into the Michigan game 11-0, had a crucial win over No. 2 Texas early in the season and his players were improving with every game.
No. 2 Michigan’s offense was supplied with future NFL players like quarterback Chad Henne and receiver Mario Manningham.
These potent offensive rosters led to a scoring attack hardly seen between these two teams: The 81 points scored became the highest score in The Game in 102 years, at the time.
“I never know, going into a game, if it’s going to be high or low,” Tressel said. “I don’t know how the chess match is going to work. You just don’t know what the conditions are going to be.”
The game was neck and neck until Ohio State pulled away with a 28-14 lead at halftime.
Michigan quickly battled back with a Mike Hart rushing touchdown, followed by a field goal after Smith threw an interception.
Tressel said while there were concerns over an arm injury Smith dealt with the week before the Illinois game, he was confident his quarterback was ready for the challenge.
“He had been thinking about his senior year Michigan game for a long time, so he was totally focused,” Tressel said. “He’d been preparing a long time for this big one and he was glued into the mood of what he wanted to do.”
Apparently, what Smith wanted to do was throw four touchdowns and 316 passing yards.
Smith’s output was crucial to the Buckeyes’ victory as the Wolverines refused to let up with the score 35-31 and 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Tressel said Michigan’s ability to stay in the game was aided by a hunger for revenge as the Buckeyes won the rivalry in the prior two years.
“It’s hard to beat your rival a couple of years in a row,” Tressel said. “The team that gets beat a couple of times has a resolve that’s very deep.”
Smith would throw one last touchdown to receiver Brian Hartline, who is now the wide receivers coach for the Buckeyes, to give Ohio State a two-possession lead.
Despite both a touchdown and two-point conversion by the Wolverines with two minutes to go, the Buckeyes were able to hang on 42-39.
When Smith kneeled to secure Ohio State’s victory, Tressel said he was glad that Buckeyes near and far could let their feelings out.
“When the game ended, our emotion was finally allowed to express itself,” Tressel said. “I was so happy for our fans. I was so happy for our team.”
However, Tressel said his happiness was short-lived as the mob of students rushed onto the field.
“It was a great feeling,” Tressel said. “But then, all of a sudden, it turned into a survival mode because it got awfully crowded down there.”
The crowd not only stormed the field, but also began to tear pieces of turf from the ground to keep as souvenirs of what would come to be known as the “Game of the Century.”
Ohio State would go on to play Urban Meyer’s Florida Gators in the National Championship Game but fall 41-14.
The Buckeyes have only lost once to Michigan since 2006. They currently have an eight-game winning streak in the rivalry coming into the 2021 edition of The Game.
So the 2006 game was significant, not only because of the score, the rankings and the ground literally being lifted out from under them, but because it showed that Ohio State was on top, Tressel said.
“I think it was an important game for the Ohio State side of the rivalry,” Tressel said. “To prove to everyone that we believe we could be the dominant group in this rivalry.”
