Michigan Football: Is Charles Woodson right about Ohio State game?

Former Michigan football great Charles Woodson has had a lot to say recently, but is he correct about a lack of focus on the Ohio State game?

With everything that Charles Woodson did for Michigan football when he talks, people tend to listen. And they should, he was arguably the greatest Wolverine that has ever lived.

What Woodson did for Michigan football was legendary. He helped the Wolverines win a national championship, have an undefeated season, beat Ohio State two times in three years and win a Heisman Trophy. Not to mention the Big Ten title in 1997.

Woodson had an incredible game against Ohio State in 1997. As a junior, he scored a touchdown on a punt return, got a key interception and caught a pass that set up another score. Simply put, Michigan doesn’t win that game or the national title without him.

Recently, Woodson came out and predicted that Michigan football, which last beat Ohio State in 2011, would end the losing streak this fall. Now, Woodson has some other thoughts on Ohio State. Those thoughts center on why the Wolverines haven’t been successful vs OSU.

Here is what Woodson told the Detroit News recently:

“To be quite honest I really feel like over the years, in recent years, there hasn’t been the emphasis that I’m used to being put on that game,” Woodson said.

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“Every game has been out on the same level of that game and that’s not the way we were brought up, that’s not the way we were raised around here. And we had no shame in saying it.”

Maybe Charles has a point. Urban Meyer makes no bones about how his team focuses on beating Michigan all year round. That’s something Jim Harbaugh should take to heart. But at the same time, Harbaugh also knows first hand how important it is to beat the Buckeyes.

Harbaugh did it in college as the starting quarterback and even though his teams have fallen short, they have played well the past two years as underdogs against Ohio State. Michigan football nearly won in Columbus with a battered Wilton Speight in 2016 and should have if J.T. Barrett would have been ruled down in the correct spot.

Michigan football also had a legit chance to beat the Buckeyes with John O’Korn at quarterback last year. Moral victories don’t count. I’ve said that over and over again. But Michigan football isn’t underestimating the task of beating Ohio State. They just haven’t been good enough yet.

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The game needs to be more important. It should be talked about more. But it’s The Game. If you need to be reminded how important it is to beat Ohio State, maybe you shouldn’t play for Michigan football in the first place.