Column: This foursome in “The Game” is as dominant as it gets

Michigan has won four straight games against Ohio State. Oddly enough, this might be the best of them all. In 2021, Michigan upset the monkey, ending an eight-game winning streak for the Buckeyes. They proved in 2022 that it was no coincidence. It was fate on the way to a national championship in 2023. This year, no one thought Michigan could win the game. Except Michigan.

Now they have won the game. They’ve taken on this rivalry in a way we’ve only seen a few times.

The Buckeyes dominated for much of this century, with the series from 2012 to 2021 and the series before that from 2004 to 2010. But before that, Michigan had its run. After the 10 Year War, Michigan dominated much of the 80s and 90s. However, they only won four games in a row once, from 1988 to 1991. Throughout the rivalry, each team had a run, but mostly it was back and forth.

Ohio State had a four-game winning streak from 1960 to 1963 and Michigan had its own winning streak with a national championship from 1945 to 1948, with one tie before two more straight wins followed. Ohio State won four straight between 1934 and 1937. Before that, Michigan dominated the rivalry from the beginning until the 1920s.

In this era of college football, this win feels extra special after Ohio State University’s dominance. Jim Harbaugh and many of the players who led the 2021-23 season left Ann Arbor with mission accomplished. Sherrone Moore took over and while we were hoping for continuity, the truth was that a reboot was needed. That’s Sherrone Moore’s program now, but that continuity was on display Saturday.

In 2021 it was the snow. In 2022, it was just a few bad plays. In 2023 it was Stallions. This year there are no excuses. Ohio State must accept what Michigan believes and knows. They just want to win more.

“I don’t think we ever say just don’t lose,” Sherrone Moore said after the win. “We just talk about how to win and what we have to do to win. Never think about the loser factor. Our boys never had the idea of ​​losing in their minds. They walked into the meeting room on Monday and were like, “It was just like we were 11-0 because they knew how important the week was and what they needed.”

The work takes place all year round.

“We worked 365 degrees for this game and we will continue to approach it that way. We will never stop thinking about this game. We’re going to play, and this is no disrespect to the other players, but this.” The game is the most important game of the year and always will be.

Moore and Michigan recently acquired the No. 1 recruit in Bryce Underwood. The dynamics on the field are increasing. On the field, Michigan beat Michigan State in a down year and now they have beaten Ohio State for the fourth straight time.

This was the rivals’ chance to conquer Michigan, and they didn’t. This is as dominant as it gets.

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