It’s always something with Ohio State and Michigan.
The Buckeyes defeated their longtime rival 31-20 on Saturday at the Big House, helping J.T. Barrett become the first Ohio State quarterback ever to go 4-0 against Michigan. Except Barrett didn’t play the whole game — he exited midway through the third quarter after aggravating a knee injury he had been dealing with for most of the season.
Apparently the circumstances of that aggravation are suspect, though: According to Barrett, he actually tweaked his knee pregame when someone on Ohio State’s sideline tried to squeeze past him and bumped him while he was throwing a warmup pass.
“(My knee) just twisted up on me, and I wasn’t able to pop it out again,” Barrett said after the game, via ESPN.com. “… I remember he was wearing something gray, and he just kept walking. I’m pretty sure he got a little nervous.”
Barrett said he didn’t think the contact was intentional but did note that someone associated with Michigan could have caused his injury.
Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer blamed the incident on a cameraman.
“I’m just so upset with myself,” Meyer said after the game. “It’s a non-football injury. Too many damn people on the sideline, and a guy with a camera hit him in the knee. I’m going to find out who.”
Meyer also called for an “all-out investigation” into Barrett’s injury. Video evidence of the incident has yet to surface, but this being Ohio State-Michigan, there’s already speculation of some shady business.
The rivalry lives on.
