The Ten Year War

The Ten Year War was a series of college football games, played from 1969 to 1978, in the Michigan–Ohio State football rivalry that pitted coach Woody Hayes of the Ohio State Buckeyes against coach Bo Schembechler of the Michigan Wolverines. In most contests, the Big Ten conference championship and a trip to the Rose Bowl were at stake, and in some cases, a possible national championship.

The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and Ohio State University in Columbus are separated by just 180 miles (290 km), and had enjoyed a rivalry in football that began in 1897 and had been renewed annually since Michigan rejoined the Big Ten in 1918.

Wayne Woodrow (Woody) Hayes was a former tackle at Denison University, before he worked as a high school coach and enlisted in the Navy. After World War II ended, he was chosen as head coach at his alma mater, where he won two division titles and won 19 straight games before he took over the Miami of Ohio program in 1949, won a Mid-American Conference title, and became head coach at Ohio State in 1951.

While at Oxford, Hayes coached a tackle by the name of Glenn Edward (Bo) Schembechler. Schembechler would graduate from Miami in 1951 and serve as a graduate assistant to Hayes at Ohio State the following year. After stints in the Army and serving as an assistant coach at Presbyterian College, Bowling Green and Northwestern, Schembechler was hired by Hayes to be an assistant in Columbus, where he remained as an offensive line coach until he became head coach at Miami of Ohio in 1963.

While Hayes accumulated five Big Ten titles at Ohio State and won Rose Bowls (and national championships) in 1954, 1957, and 1968, Schembechler coached six winning seasons at Miami, winning back-to-back Mid-American Conference titles in 1965 and 1966, and finishing as runner-up three more times.

Between 1951 and 1968 under Hayes, the Buckeyes won 12 of 18 contests against Michigan, including a 1957 victory in Michigan Stadium, the first game in the series attended by over 100,000 fans. In 1958, Ohio State had a 20–14 lead towards the end of the game. On the final play, Michigan fullback Gene Sisinyak ran the ball from the one-yard line for what might have been a game-winning touchdown, but Ohio State defensive tackle Dick Schafrath hit Sisinyak, forcing a fumble. In the 1968 game, Ohio State won 50–14, outscoring its foe 29–0 in the second half and attempting an unsuccessful two-point conversion attempt on its final touchdown. When asked why he went for two points with an already insurmountable 50–14 lead, Hayes said, "Because I couldn't go for three." The victory gave top-ranked Ohio State the Big Ten title for the first time in seven years en route to an AP national championship.

After the 1968 season, Schembechler was hired to coach at Michigan, a once-proud program that had fallen on hard times. Going into the 1969 season, the Buckeyes had narrowed the series margin to 37–24–4. Thus, the stage was set for the first of a decade of clashes between coach and player.

Ohio State's 1969 team was dubbed by the media as the "greatest college football team of all time", with a handful of proven All-Big Ten players and All-Americans. They were returning national champions, Hayes’ third title as head coach. No team had come within four touchdowns of, or scored more than 21 points on Ohio State all season. The Wolverines were 7–2 and ranked #12, having lost to Missouri and cross-state rival Michigan State. Going into the contest, the Buckeyes were favored by 17 points.