The stars are beginning to align for Michigan football and it’s new head coach Jim Harbaugh to begin a new “10 year war.”

After watching part of the national championship game, I let my mind wander back to 1969 when a new coach had arrived in Ann Arbor to take over a struggling Michigan program.

His name was Glen E. “Bo” Schembechler.

The Wolverine were 7-2 and ranked No. 12 that season when it went up against defending national champion Ohio State and legendary coach Woody Hayes.

The Buckeyes, who were undefeated, were coming off Hayes’ third national championship.

Ohio State had beaten everyone by more than four touchdowns and had not allowed any opponent to score over 21 points.

Sound a bit familiar?

When the Buckeyes came to Michigan Stadium they faced a then record crowd of 103,588 fans.

Not many of them gave the Wolverines a chance against powerful Ohio State that November afternoon, but the Michigan pulled off the miracle, winning 24-12, and beginning what was known as the “10 year war” with Hayes and the Buckeyes.

It was the greatest stretch in the history of the rivalry between Michigan and Ohio State.

Over that 10 year stretch, between the “coach” Hayes and the “mentor” Schembechler, it was the Buckeyes who came away victorious more often than not.

During the remainder of that stretch, which ended in 1978, Michigan entered each of those games undefeated. Yet only once did the Wolverines come away victorious.

The rivalry hit its peak in 1973 when the two undefeated teams played to an infamous 10-10 tie.

In a secret vote, the Big Ten decided to send Ohio State to the Rose Bowl instead of Michigan.

Schembechler and Michigan fans everywhere were furious.

It was also during that stretch that Hayes coined the phrase “that school up North,” a phrase all Buckeye coaches have used, including current one — Urban Meyer.

In fact, last week, Meyer was on The Late Show with David Letterman, who tried to bait the coach into saying the work Michigan.

He would have none of it.

Michigan and Ohio State won or shared the Big Ten championship in six of those 10 years.

Schembechler would finish with a 5-4-1 record against Hayes.

While Harbaugh was on point not to rile up his rivals during his inaugural press conference, you can bet he and his staff has already put it in the mind of the Wolverine players how important the final game of the regular season this November will be.

I look forward to another “war” between the Wolverine and the Buckeyes. Those years producted some of the greatest games in the series and because of those games, the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry is the best in college football.

If you want to read about all those great games, pick up “The Ten Year War: Ten Classic Games Between Bo and Woody,” written by Joel Pennington.

 

Scott Novak is sports editor for Leader Publications. He can be reached at scott.novak@leaderpub.com or by calling 687-7702.