COLUMBUS — Pressure for Ohio State's Dan Stultz wasn't booting a walk-off, 34-yard field goal Saturday to lift the Buckeyes past Illinois and into a share of the Big Ten lead.

        Pressure was making sure he didn't put his foot in his mouth and say the wrong thing about archrival Michigan later that evening when interviewed on ESPN Radio.

        “It seems everyone is always looking for someone to say something, but you're not going to get that out of me,” Stultz said, addressing Saturday's noon showdown in Ohio Stadium.

MICHIGAN AT OHIO STATE

• When: Noon Saturday     • TV: Ch. 9.     • Radio: WSRW-FM (106.7) WPFB-AM (910).

        “Up there (in Michigan), it's a big game. Down here, it's a big game,” said Ohio State offensive coordinator Chuck Stobart, who spent seven years (1969-76) in the same capacity at Michigan under Bo Schembechler. “I told our offensive players, I've been involved in Southern Cal-Notre Dame and Southern Cal-UCLA. I've been involved in Pittsburgh-Penn State when it was the last game of the year. I've been involved in Arizona- Arizona State ... but this is the game, period.”

        Why?

        “It's just the way it is,” Stobart said. “It's the way it's been for a long time. There's great tradition: two (states) that border each other; Michigan used to have a lot of Ohio players that made it a real big game, and it's the last game of the year.”

        Ohio State quarterback Steve Bellisari grew up in Florida, but he knows about the game's importance.

        “Most of my family is from Ohio,” Bellisari said. “My dad and brother went to Ohio State, so it's always been a part of my life.”

        Greg Bellisari, a graduate assistant on the OSU coaching staff, was a senior captain and starting linebacker in 1996 when Michigan won 13-9, ruining the Buckeyes' perfect season.

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