ohio state played michigan state in their first football game.
ohio state played michigan state in their first football game.
who does ohio state play in their first football game?
michigan state
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on november 18, 2006, ohio state and michigan met for their annual showdown, each carrying an 11–0 record. for the first time in the history of the rivalry, the two rivals faced off while holding the top two spots in the bowl championship series rankings. ohio state won the game by a score of 42–39 and became the outright big ten champion, earning the right to play for a national championship at the bcs national championship game in glendale, arizona. michigan struck first with a touchdown run by junior running back mike hart, but the buckeyes then scored 21 unanswered points, and at halftime, they were up 28–14. thanks to an interception and a fumble recovery by junior defensive tackle alan branch, michigan made it 35–31 ohio state with 14 minutes to go in the fourth quarter. but after appearing to have forced ohio state into a fourth-down situation with six minutes to go, junior outside linebacker shawn crable was called for roughing the passer, giving the buckeyes a fresh set of downs. ohio state quarterback troy smith then passed to brian robiskie for a touchdown, increasing the buckeyes' lead to 42–31 with five minutes remaining in the game. after ohio state was called for pass interference on a failed fourth-down attempt, giving michigan an automatic first down, junior quarterback chad henne found senior tight end tyler ecker for a 16-yard touchdown with two minutes to go to cut the osu lead to 42–37. senior wide receiver steve breaston caught the two-point conversion to bring the wolverines within a field goal. michigan needed to recover the ensuing onside kick, but they failed to do so. the buckeyes ran out the clock for the victory, and a trip to the bcs national championship game. troy smith completed 71% of his passes for 316 yards and four touchdowns, essentially clinching the heisman trophy. ginn caught eight passes for 104 yards and a touchdown. ohio state running back antonio pittman ran for 139 yards on 18 carries for a 7.7 yards-per-carry average. michigan running back mike hart carried the ball 23 times for 142 yards and three touchdowns against a stout buckeye defense. chad henne had 267 yards, two touchdowns, and no turnovers on a 60% completion percentage. neither performance was, however, sufficient to turn the tide in favor of the wolverines. the game was highly touted by espn/abc (there was a game countdown clock for a week before kickoff) and was viewed by the largest television audience for a regular-season college football game since 1993, averaging 21.8 million viewers. the victory marked the first time in 43 years that the buckeyes had won three consecutive games in the series. the game gained even more significance when, on the eve of the meeting, michigan head coach and former ohio state assistant coach bo schembechler died. schembechler was honored with a video tribute at ohio stadium as well as a moment of silence before kickoff.
michigan–ohio state football rivalry