Have you ever wondered what it would be like to take a snap, drop back in the pocket, and try to make a perfect throw right on the money. Sounds easy? Now add in 400 pound men with the opposite jersey on trying to drive you into the ground. If it still sounds easy, then try doing this in front of 112,118 screaming fans. However, there is one more catch. What if the 112,118 screaming fans weren’t screaming? What if they had nothing to scream about? What if their spirits had been crushed because they know the final result of the game will be exactly what they don’t want. They know they will lose. Well that’s the life of Tate Forcier and the Michigan Wolverines. His life is exactly the opposite of Terrelle Pryor’s. Not because of the 400 pound men are gone, no they’re still there. The difference is that at Ohio State, fans don’t come to watch a football game, they come to interact with it. So when you take the snap while playing in the Horseshoe, you can’t even hear yourself think. So ask yourself this, is it harder to play at the Big House with 112,118 fans who don’t participate in the game? Or would it be tougher to perform to perfection on a daily basis before 106,033 fans who never stop yelling throughout the game.


If you don’t know by now, I have been talking about the Big House and the Horseshoe. Yes, the Big House has more seats, yet the Horseshoe is much louder. The Buckeyes have won 5 straight Big Ten championships mainly because of their home field advantage. Ohio State did not lose a single conference game at home this year, while the Wolverines are currently on a 7 game skid and just lost another game, at home, versus their arch rivals.


Many ask, how do you get 100,000 people to all be on the same page, and yell a chant at the same time? Well, this is mainly due to the marching band. A good marching band will get the crowd on its feet, and inspire them even when things look bleak. While Michigan fans boast that they have one of the best bands in the nation, they are sadly mistaken. Ohio State’s marching band tops them all. Michigan’s band has one main attraction, similar to Ohio State. The “Block M” is the big thing at the Michigan. Now maybe this sounds cool at the moment, but its nothing compared to the tradition at OSU. Michigan’s band is famous, but only in Michigan. I guess that is where things are truly different between the two schools. Ohio State’s famous “Script Ohio” is probably the most famous, and well known symbol of a college band. People come to see this performance and it is truly once in a life time. “Script Ohio” is only made better by the dotting of the i. This is where one of the tubas has a life time chance to be the dot on the lower case i in the word Ohio. It is almost magical to watch the performance, under the lights, and in a game that has so much meaning.

Now, there is still another reason why it would be way harder to play at the Horseshoe rather than the Big House. As most people know, Michigan has the school colors of maize and blue. What you may not know is that Ohio State’s school colors are scarlet and gray. What would be a tougher environment to succeed in? Would Michigan’s massive stadium, that doesn’t have any passion be hard to play in? I think playing at Ohio State, in front of 100,000 screaming fans would maybe be a little harder. Not only are they screaming, but there is also the best band in the nation getting them more and more fired up. Wait, because this is where the school colors set in. If you’ve ever been to the Big House then you should know that it is not very coordinated. Nobody wears the same thing, unlike Ohio State. At the Horseshoe everybody wears scarlet. And I mean everyone. I remember going there a few years ago and I never saw one person not wearing the school colors. The game was very organized and everyone was on the same page.

In conclusion, I feel that the Horseshoe is much harder to play in. The Big House is a tough place to play, but no where near that of Ohio State. At Ohio State the colors, the tradition, and the excellence are what set the standard for everyone else in the college football world. I guess that is what separates them from the rest… and Michigan.