Remember When: Jim Tressel Fulfills a Promise Made 310 Days Prior

Ohio State football was in a bad place at the conclusion of the 2000 season. Head coach John Cooper's program was struggling in the classroom, appearing in court with alarming regularity, looking undisciplined on the field and failing to stack enough wins - specifically against Michigan and in bowl games. 

All of that came to a head in a season-ending 24-7 loss to South Carolina in the Outback Bowl on January 1 as the Buckeyes racked up roughly 47 personal foul penalties, allowed Ohio native Ryan Brewer to carve them up for three touchdowns and generally looked like a rudderless program to cap an 8-4 season. 

Cooper was let go the next day and the search began for his successor. Names like Glen Mason, Fred Pagac, Jon Gruden (of course) and Mike Belloti, among others, were bandied about but just over two weeks later, on January 18, 2001, Jim Tressel was announced as the 22nd head coach in Ohio State football history with a 5-year contract worth $4.6 million. 

A fair amount of OSU fans weren't blown away by the hire, questioning if Tressel could make a successful leap from the I-AA ranks where he powered Youngstown State to four national titles. But even those who approached the hire with caution were elated Tressel was an Ohio guy and had served as an assistant coach at Ohio State for three years before heading to YSU. That meant he understood the importance of The Game and holy smokes was that needed after Cooper, for all his great teams, could only muster a 2-10-1 mark against the Wolverines (not to mention a 3-8 record in bowl games). 

And of course even the lukewarm fans jumped fully onboard after Tressel addressed the crowd at halftime of Ohio State's basketball game that night saying, "I can assure you that you will be proud of our young people in the classroom, in the community, and most especially in 310 days in Ann Arbor, Michigan.”

Game. On. 

So 310 days later, sporting 6-4 record, Tressel's boys headed to Ann Arbor to take on an 11th-ranked Michigan squad (8-2 overall, 6-1 B1G) needing a win over the Buckeyes to advance to the Rose Bowl. About 310 days and three and half hours later, Ohio State fans were indeed proud of Tressel's young people. 

The OSU defense hit the ground running as Mike Doss intercepted a tipped John Navarre pass at the UM 42 on Michigan's opening possession and returned it all the way to the UM 4-yard line. Two plays later, tailback Jonathan Wells waltzed into the end zone giving Ohio State a 7-0 lead with not even five minutes gone in the opening quarter. 

A few possessions later, after Tressel initially planned to punt from the UM 46 on 4th-and-1, his players and assistants urged him to go for it. The typically conservative head coach followed their lead, dialing up an off-tackle run for Wells. Tressel's offense paid off his gamble as Wells found a seam and raced 46 yards for a 14-0 lead with 14:02 left in the second quarter. 

The OSU defense would continue harassing Navarre, who began hearing boos from the home crowd especially after interior defensive lineman Tim Anderson intercepted his pass at the UM 39 with 6:35 left before halftime. Ohio State would capitalize on the turnover five plays later with Wells again finding the end zone, this time via an 11-yard jaunt, to make it 21-0 good guys with 4:34 left before intermission. 

Following some inept offense featuring quick punts and turnovers from both sides, Michigan took possession at its own 20 with 1:06 left and on a 2nd-and-14 play, the snap to backup quarterback Jermaine Gonzales sailed wide and into the end zone before Gonzales poked it through the back of the end zone for a safety pushing the score to 23-0 at halftime. 

Sitting on a big lead on the road, with a quarterback making his first career start in Craig Krenzel in place of suspended Steve Bellasari, Tressel Ball mode was in full effect over the final 30 minutes. 

Ohio State ran no more than four plays on all nine second half possessions, totaling 39 yards on 29 snaps. Seven possessions ended with a successful punt, one ended in a blocked punt, and another, following another Navarre interception, ended with a 33-yard Mike Nugent field goal after the Buckeyes marched -7 yards in four plays thanks to a pair of 15-yard penalties. The offensive stall wasn't solely due to Tressel's "win the surest way" playcalling as Wells left the game in the third quarter giving the Buckeyes no good option at tailback and an untested Krenzel under center. No matter, the three points from Nugent with about six minutes left in regulation gave OSU a 26-13 lead they would not relinquish. 

An 11-yard Marquise Wallker touchdown grab with 2:47 left cut the lead to 26-20 but Michigan wouldn't get the ball back until just 20 ticks remained on the clock (at its own 20). Dustin Fox intercepted Navarre's desperation heave with :03 left - Ohio State's fourth pick on the day - setting off a wild celebration in front of what was then the second-largest crowd in the history of the Big House and the second-largest crowd in NCAA history.

While the 26-20 win wasn't the sexiest edition of The Game, it was certainly one of the most important as it entrenched Tressel in OSU lore and kickstarted what became a 17-2 run against Michigan through the 2019 season.