Buckeye: Michigan’s Nobody Confident Ohio State On To Rose Bowl If It Can Avenge 1993 Loss To Michigan

Unbeaten Ohio State is riding high, ranked among the top teams in the nation and within one measly win of clinching a berth in the Rose Bowl as it heads to Michigan.

Sound familiar? It should.

Two years ago, the Buckeyes were 9-0-1, fifth in the nation, and some of the players left the field after the Indiana game with roses clenched in their teeth. Then they went to Michigan and were handed a 28-0 beating that sent them spiraling out of the Top 10 and sent Wisconsin to Pasadena.

Now 11-0 and second in the country, Ohio State returns to Ann Arbor Saturday. No. 18 Michigan is 8-3 and has lost two of its last three games.

The similarities are almost eerie.

Ohio State was confident, even brash, two years ago during preparations for the game at Michigan. The Buckeyes feel the same way this year.

“I’ll guarantee we’re going to the Rose Bowl,” Buckeye flanker Terry Glenn said Tuesday, even though he declined to promise a victory over Michigan. But Ohio State can’t go to the Rose Bowl without a win; a tie or loss and Northwestern will go.

Glenn also said, “I think that year we went up there and lost 28-0, a lot of people put Michigan up there on that pedestal, that we really couldn’t beat Michigan. I think the attitude on this team is, we can beat Michigan. Michigan’s nobody.

“I think we should keep Michigan down here where they belong, just like the rest of them teams. And just go up there and just kick their butt like we did everybody else.”

Added Ohio State center Juan Porter: “There’s so much at stake. The last time we went up there, we got embarrassed. It was the worst feeling I’ve ever had as a player.”

It was particularly painful for coach John Cooper. Frequently maligned and seldom embraced during eight stormy years at Ohio State, Cooper was vilified for the loss - which made his record 0-5-1 against the Wolverines. His wife, Helen, and daughter, Cindy, were in tears as they hurried out of the Michigan Stadium pressbox that day.

By contrast, Cooper is unemotional when he discusses that game.

“I fret about every game that got away,” he said. “I look back and try to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”