Wolverine Watch: Does Deep Hatred Of Ohio State Even Exist?

Jim Harbaugh says Michigan will beat Ohio State or “die trying.” Junior defensive end Aidan Hutchinson insists “I’m willing to die for this” regarding his preparation for the season.

Old-time Wolverines note their successors have died enough on the field against the Buckeyes — 14 out of 15, and counting. They’d like Harbaugh’s crew to stay alive, suck it up, and smack OSU squarely in the jaw.

Do as Emperor Palpatine once commanded: “Let the hate flow through you.”

Alan Mitchell isn’t sure that hatred even exists. He believes, in part, it’s why the wins have dried up.

Mitchell isn’t exactly hollering from row 88 at Michigan Stadium. The former Bo Schembechler wide receiver (1977-80) owns three wins over the Buckeyes, including two in Columbus. He sports three Big Ten championship rings, played in three Rose Bowls, and served as part of the crew that nailed down Schembechler’s breakthrough Pasadena victory in 1980.

He’s been an Ohio resident for the past quarter century. And Mitchell perceives a fundamental difference in how the Buckeyes and Wolverines view each other.

“See, they hate us,” Mitchell said. “I think the young kids nowadays — and maybe I’m wrong — they don’t understand. I live here in Ohio. They don’t like us.

“We have a rivalry against them. But they’re driven by a type of hatred that … I can’t even describe it to you. We understand they’re our rivalry, and our toughest level of competition. But we don’t despise them the way they despise us.”

Okay, there are a few items to unpack here. Some will say, Yeah, there’s another Boomer, talking about kids nowadays. And there might be something to that take. At the same time, when the older Wolverine sports three or four wins over the Buckeyes, it might be worth paying a little attention.

Others will struggle with the whole notion of hating an opponent, period. It conjures up a certain sense of psychosis that Michigan folks believe they’re above.

Nobody should long for Buckeye hate — the sort that has 80-year-old grandmas giving the Michigan team bus the one-finger salute, OSU fans spitting on the visitors, and others attempting to rip the jersey off former defensive lineman Grant Bowman’s mom outside the ‘Shoe.

But in a competitive sense, there is a certain hatred that can be channeled — a burning aversion to losing, an abhorrence toward a particular foe that ramps effort into overdrive.

There’s little doubt Hutchinson possesses it. How many of his teammates do as well? Mitchell sees plenty of Wolverines getting drafted into the NFL, nearly as many as teams like Ohio State and Alabama.

No, they’re not going as high. But the cupboard isn’t bare, many will point out.

To them, it gets back to possessing a less tranquil outlook on The Game, and the Buckeyes themselves.

“I really doubt if we would be 10 years without a win if we had the same type of hatred for them that they have for us,” Mitchell posited. “I don’t know if our last win would have been 2011. We don’t have that same nastiness about the game.

“Now I’ll say, the coaches’ strategic and tactical approach made us vulnerable. But I’m not all-fired certain that we haven’t had the same talent level — maybe not en masse, but there are players that have played for us who are just as capable, skill-wise, as Ohio State players.”

That begs the question. Did players from bygone days feel a different intensity about this rivalry? Many insist the answer is yes. Tough guys like Steve Everitt talk of playing so hard as to reduce foes to tears — on the field.

Mitchell experienced the end of the 10-Year War, and enjoyed a front-row seat for Schembechler’s passion against his former boss. Did they all feel the hatred?

“Yes!” Mitchell insisted. “Yes! It was a different era. It was a different understanding of competition. It was a different way of approaching the game.

“We had a coach that would rival their coach, and wanted to out-do him. The intensity of the game started with Woody and Bo. It was the intense competition they had between themselves.

“Woody used to fire Bo every damn day, because Bo wasn’t afraid to speak up and tell him when he was wrong. It was a competition of understanding the strategic value of delivering a game plan and preparing the teams to play football. That competition between them fueled the competition on the field.”

These days, OSU head coach Ryan Day talks behind closed doors about “hanging 100” points on the Wolverines.

“Yeah, and capable of doin’ it,” Mitchell said, ruefully. “That [expletive] … you tell us you’re going to hang 100 on us? Well, you may score some points, but when you finish the game, reach up and feel the side of your face. You won’t have an ear on your head.

“That’s how we thought. But the kids nowadays, they’re just different.”

The kids have heard that talk. They don’t like it, one bit. And there’s only one way to change it.

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