Published November 17, 2007 03:03 am - ANN ARBOR — This is a scary day on the University of Michigan campus. The bully in the sweater vest is in town.
The Game has plenty at stake Buckeyes looking tocontinue win streak in series; Wolverines, Carr just want to save face
JOSH WEIR Canton Repository
ANN ARBOR — This is a scary day on the University of Michigan campus. The bully in the sweater vest is in town.
Since Jim Tressel took over at Ohio State, the Buckeyes are 5-1 vs. their rivals from the north, including three-consecutive wins. A victory in today’s 104th meeting — kicking off at noon in the Big House — would make it four in a row for OSU for the first time since 1963.
The Buckeyes (10-1, 6-1), who had their national title hopes damaged severely in last week’s loss to Illinois, can clinch the Big Ten title and a spot in the Rose Bowl. So can Michigan.
But the days of John Cooper’s 2-10-1 record against Michigan are long gone. Wolverines coach Lloyd Carr reigned supreme then. Now, many think this will be his last Ohio State-Michigan game.
“The only thing on my mind is this game,” Carr said when questioned about his future.
Asked if there was a common theme in the last three losses, Carr didn’t want to talk about the past either.
“This game is about this team,” he said. “Part of the week is the tradition, all the great games, all the great players and coaches. Those things are fine. But the only important thing in our minds is this week. Today, what we do to prepare, what we do to give ourselves a chance to win.”
The Wolverines (8-3, 6-1) are down. They’ve lost four-straight bowl games. They dropped their opener to a team (Appalachian State) from the former Division I-AA. Two of their senior leaders — QB Chad Henne and RB Michael Hart — are battered and bruised.
Carr believes there are two options when one is looking at the sky, flat on his back.
“You can lay down and stay there, or you can get back on your feet and fight,” he said. “And that, to me, is really the essence of competition. You know, there’s going to be days out there where you get beat up. And they’re no fun.
“So, like my dad told me one day after I got beat up: You got to go back on that playground, and you’ve got to fight.”
Carr said he was 11-years old then, that he didn’t want to face his adversary again.
“He was a bully, you know. I was afraid,” the 62-year-old Carr said. “But I did what (my dad) told me, and it was one of the great lessons of my life.”
Carr didn’t say if he won or not. He did say he lost his fear.
Tressel wards off any questions about his dominance of Carr. That being said, Tressel has a hard time picking his favorite win against Michigan.
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