DeVier Posey running free with less than two minutes left should haunt Ohio State for a while.

“He’s got a bright future,” Fickell said of Miller. “But what you can’t teach is that passion and that desire to be a competitor. In games like this, you look at, ‘Did he throw the ball well? Or did he do something else well?’ Or do you just look at somebody and say they’re a competitor?”

Miller will be under the watchful eye of a man who made Tim Tebow look like more than just a running quarterback. Meyer’s offensive scheme has worked wherever he’s been, and you can picture the marquee now: The tough blue-collar defense of Brady Hoke’s Michigan Wolverines versus Urban Meyer’s greatest-show-on-turf offense.

Brady and Urban. Urban and Brady. Two Ohioans forever tied to The Game, just like Bo and Woody.

Before he exits stage left, at least Fickell leaves us with this pearl of wisdom: “That’s what sports are about, you get knocked down and you get back up.”

Before Woody, Ohio State was known as “the graveyard of coaches,” for ushering out five different head coaches in 11 years.

At 6-6, with sanctions looming, Ohio State is down again. Hoke should extend a helping hand — help Meyer stand and then put up his dukes.

Because knocking down Ohio State when they’re standing tall and proud — on top of the world — will go far in proving just how powerful Michigan really is.

—Rohan can be reached at trohan@umich.edu or on Twitter @TimRohan