Through the Misty Dawn - Editorial

A Day We Will Remember........

Today, the Ohio State Buckeyes take on the Michigan Wolverines for the coveted No. 1 place in the rankings and a place in the National Championship football game. It has been said to be the game of the Century. Both teams remain unbeaten. Television crews will broadcast the game around the world.

Growing up in Springfield, Ohio, not far from the campus at Ohio State, and where I went to colllege, I remember the titanic confrontations between Ohio State and Michigan dating back to the early 1940s. These battles took place in two giant stadiums, the Horseshoe at OSU and The Big House in Ann Arbor.

Names like Vic Janowitz, Alan (The Horse) Ameche (Wisconsin Badgers) and Archie Griffin come to mind. Archie was a two time winner of the Hiesman Award. The other two names that stand out are Woody Hayes, coach of Ohio State and Bo Schembechler, coach of the Michigan Wolverines. Learning yesterday of the death of Bo Schembechler made me very sad. Primarily because we Ohioans had a tremendous amount of respect for Bo as coach of the Michigan team. The accolades being said about him are most well deserved. OSU coach Jim Tressel said, "Bo will now have the best seat in the stadium." Another said, " Woody and Bo will be reunited and watching the game from the same side of the field." This is going to be a great day for Buckeye  and Michigan fans.  Said to be the greatest rivalry in college football, in many respects it will be a sad day as well.

The Horseshoe stadium in Columbus, Ohio now seats over 100,000 people, similar to the Big House at Ann Arbor. When originally built after the depression the "Shoe" seated around 50,000.  It is interesting to note that for the first ten years no more than 30,000 people attended football games in the "Shoe". The arrival of Coach Woody Hayes changed all that and the stadium has since been expanded several times to it's present 100,000 plus capacity.

Both Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler were great coaches who took inordinate interest in their players and their future careers. The list of now successful coaches who worked for both is very long. Woody and  Bo are icons of the highest order who will be long remembered.

As game time approaches pundits and fans recall the outstanding records of both teams. Quarterback Troy Smith ranks sixth in the nation in passing efficiency. Michigan ranks near the top in lowest number of turnovers.  Ohio State has won many games this year by forcing turnovers. Perhaps the most interesting statistic regarding today's game. Michigan has a vaunted defense that allowed no more than 50 yards rushing in all games this season, an incredible statistic. Both teams have previously upset the other more favored team often over the years. Ohio State is favored to win today by six points.

Last year as the season was winding down, pollsters failed to give Ohio State enough credit for improving over the season. I wrote an Editorial stating that fact and scolding the pollsters for ignoring the Buckeyes who defeated Michigan and went on the win their Bowl game. With  most of their offense returning for this year's season, OSU has gone undefeated as expected. Michigan has played a slightly more difficult schedule and remains surprisingly undefeated as well.

Therefore, as a prognosticator, I would have to say because Ohio State has a phenomenal quarterback in Troy Smith who has shown incredible accuracy in passing, both pinpoint and long pass efficiency when needed under pressure, the Buckeyes have the edge. Moreover, Ohio State has a magnificent reservoir of receivers with Ted Ginn and Anthony Gonzales who have made spectacular catches throughout the season. Ginn is also the kick off and punt returner, a speedster quite capable of finding the end zone from anywhere on the field, at any time. Pittman and Wells are the primary running backs for Ohio State. Pittman has been a powerful and reliable running back throughout the year. It is therefore difficult to imagine Ohio State meeting it's match in this contest. 

I am worried about the vaunted Michigan defense that held it's opponents to less than fifty yards rushing per game. Ohio State had better have a few new tricks for this opponent. And,  Troy Smith will have to pass more then 18-19 times for the Buckeyes to come away with the win.

I'm headed for the biggest Plasma TV screen in town to watch this game. Should be exciting and interesting to see what happens. This game could go either way as with most of the OSU-Michigan games over the past fifty years.

Richard Englefield

www.symphonycomposer@aol.com (Click Here)

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