'None of the past matters': Despite recent history, Michigan football confident it will finish strong

Michigan football leads the all-time series with Ohio State, 58-51-6, but has lost the last eight to its hated rival. The Buckeyes have blown the Wolverines out in each of the last two meetings (2018 and 2019), putting up 118 combined points.

The Maize and Blue have been ever so close to winning the multiple championships head coach Jim Harbaugh has yearned for since taking the job Dec. 30, 2014, but some heartbreak and back-breaking losses have kept them from advancing to the Big Ten title game and College Football Playoff.

Michigan has had a chance to win its division on the final day of the regular season in four of the last six full-length seasons, but the Wolverines have lost to Ohio State each time, before dropping four of their last five bowl games, some in embarrassing fashion. Gaining steam before fizzling out has become a theme.

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For outsiders, this 2021 game is put into the context of what has happened recently. They expect the same story to unfold, and will believe any other result when they see it. But for those inside Schembechler Hall, they don’t want to hear it.

“None of that matters, and we’re tired of talking,” a fired-up redshirt junior linebacker Josh Ross said Monday. “None of the past matters. We know what happened in the past. We know all of the stuff that happened. But at the end of the day, it’s about right now, having a great week of preparation, attacking it, having great days and having a great game this weekend.”

This 2021 Michigan squad is ‘different,’ the players have said all season, and this is the week they can prove it as 7.5-point home underdogs (as of Monday) to the team from Columbus.

“It means everything,” Ross, a team captain, said. “Not only are we playing our rival in this big game, but it’s a playoff game. There’s a lot on the line, and we know that. It just comes down to how we prepare this week and how we prepare on a day-to-day [basis] and how we approach it and attack it — that’s what wins games.”

Again, there’s been a lot on the line before, and Michigan hasn’t answered the bell. But that’s in the past, Ross said, something he’s disinterested in talking about. Michigan has all of its goals in front of it and is likely to make a New Year’s Six game, at the very least. The players are confident they won’t squander the opportunity for a special finish.

“I think that’s changed because of the togetherness of our whole team,” Ross said. “Just the way we play, the way we play for each other, everything. We’ve got each other’s backs, and that’s the way we play, and that’s the way we approach everything that we do.

“As far as us finishing, you guys will see that part. There’s no need to talk about it, because you guys will see that.”

Last season’s chapter of ‘The Game’ was canceled due to a COVID-19 outbreak within the Wolverines’ program that had nearly 50 players unavailable, meaning Michigan has had two years of waiting for another crack at the Buckeyes.

Former Ohio State quarterback and ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit, who never beat Michigan as the Buckeyes’ starting signal-caller, suggested Michigan would “wave the white flag” and opt not to play the Buckeyes last season, before later apologizing for his remarks. The narrative grew after the pundit’s comments, especially from Columbus, with no basis of evidence or fact.

“It’s B.S., to be honest with you,” Ross said. “That’s the game we always have circled on our calendar and always want to play, and as a Michigan Wolverine, that’s a game you would die for. Honestly, B.S., but it doesn’t matter. This year is what matters.”

With players like Ross leading the way, Michigan won’t lose Saturday for lack of effort, focus or want-to, which gives them more than a chance to walk off the victor.

“I’m hoping to leave it all on the field — not only just myself, but my teammates,” Ross said when asked about what this game will do for his legacy. “It’s been a long ride this whole season. We’re coming down to this game, and it’s a huge game for us. And we’re excited. We’re just ready to go out there and lay it all on the line.”