Living History: Urban Matches Yost at 6-0 in The Game; Harbaugh Catches Rodriguez at 0-3

By 11W Staff on November 25, 2017 at 3:50 pm
ohio state and michigan coaches
40 Comments

The 2017 Ohio State-Michigan game delivered an extra bit of history.

This afternoon when the Buckeyes defeated the Wolverines 31-20, Urban Meyer became the first coach in the series to win his first six games since Michigan's Fielding Yost did it from 1901-1906. Yost started 9-0 against the Buckeyes, so Meyer has a way to go to catch him. Jim Tressel (5-1) and Francis Schmidt (4-2) have the next-best starts to their tenures in Columbus.

Yost and Woody Hayes are tied for the most wins in the series at 16 each.

Conversely, prior to today, Rich Rodriguez was the only coach in Michigan history to start out 0-3 against Ohio State. He was fired after the 2010 season and never got a fourth opportunity. Today Jim Harbaugh joined him as the second Wolverines coach to reach 0-3 in The Game.

Here's how Meyer's start compares historically with coaches on both sides who coached at least six games in the rivalry:

OHIO STATE-MICHIGAN COACHES @ 6 GAMES
COACH YEARS SCHOOL RECORD
FIELDING YOST 1901-1906 MICHIGAN 6-0
URBAN MEYER 2012-2017 OHIO STATE 6-0
Lloyd Carr 1995-2000 MICHIGAN  5-1
JIM TRESSEL 2001-2006 OHIO STATE 5-1
FRITZ CRISLER 1938-1943 MICHIGAN 4-1-1
BENNIE OOSTERBAAN 1948-1953 MICHIGAN 4-1-1
EARLE BRUCE 1979-1984 OHIO STATE 4-2
FRANCIS SCHMIDT 1934-1939 OHIO STATE 4-2
WOODY HAYES 1951-1956 OHIO STATE 3-3
JOHN WILCE 1918-1923 OHIO STATE 3-3
HARRY KIPKE 1929-1934 MICHIGAN 3-3
BO SCHEMBECHLER 1969-1974 MICHIGAN 2-3-1
BUMP ELLIOTT 1959-1964 MICHIGAN 2-4
JOHN COOPER 1988-1993 OHIO STATE 0-5-1

The six-time B1G Leaders/Eastern Division champions (tiebreakers and postseason bans be damned!) play Wisconsin this Saturday in Indianapolis for the conference title. Meyer is 1-1 in that game.

40 Comments
View 40 Comments