michigan Fan forgot they were live and did this
Michigan football fans see endless possibilities for the 2023 season — and fear Ohio State ruining them
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The newer fans speak from Michigan’s dark period, when the closest it came to winning big was not close enough. Knox was still in school when the Wolverines hired coach Jim Harbaugh, and he could feel the excitement building as Michigan stacked 10-win seasons.
“But no big wins,” he said. Not while he was in school.
Instead, Knox watched inside the stadium as former Michigan punter Blake O’Neil mishandle the snap that cost Michigan its 2015 loss against Michigan State. He watched his friends fake their bravado when OSU came to town, “but we always knew what was coming,” Knox said.
Year after year, those same fans walked out of Michigan Stadium wearing frowns. He saw it so often that he expected it.
“A bad bounce happens, it’s like, Ok, here we go,” Knox said.
Beginning two years ago, however, the ball took a funny hop. Michigan mastered a gruff, physical identity that contrasted perfectly with their rivals’. The Wolverines pushed Ohio State into the visitors’ locker room in 2021, after which Knox sprinted around the stadium high fiving his fellow Michigan Men.
Fans like Knox and Mary Brooks, who brought her son Austin to Saturday’s game, recognized their old nerves on the faces of Ohio State counterparts.
“Ohio State has the feeling that we’ve had,” Mary said.
She’s right. After two straight losses, OSU must live with two maize-and-blue Big Ten title banners hanging over its program. Their coach, Ryan Day, faces the same pressure that Harbaugh once faced amid his losing streak to Urban Meyer.
But when both teams made the College Football Playoff last season, Knox saw a twinge of fear in his friends’ faces. They were scared to see a Michigan-Ohio State national title game. “They were happy with their win,” Knox said.
Or maybe they were afraid of the loss.
Knox says he wanted to see Michigan meet OSU for the title before the semifinals. How many times do you get to beat your rival for the biggest prize, he asked.
Then he watched the Buckeyes play their best game of the season against Georgia. “I feel like they were picturing Michigan in that game,” he said. And he realized why his friends didn’t want to see Wilson’s Big Two play a rematch.
The possibilities behind that would-be title game are what made it so scary. Same goes for this season.
Michigan has everything to play for. But one bad bounce, and the Buckeyes could ruin everything again.
“I’m kind of honestly worried about next year,” Knox said. “I feel like we’re in a really good spot with JJ but I feel like (Ohio State) might have that mentality of wanting to play here and show us up?
“I’m a little bit worried. I’m looking forward to it, but I’m worried.”