The Ohio State-Michigan rivalry doesn’t just divide fan bases. It splits recruiting battles, too, and a few players wound up choosing the wrong side of the fence.
That’s especially true for three names Ohio State wanted badly, only to watch them head to Michigan instead. One of them is the most recent example, and the others are reminders that the Buckeyes have had to live with a few painful misses over the years.
Jordan Marshall is the latest one. The Cincinnati native committed to TTUN over Ohio State in 2024, and the explanation he gave at the time looks a lot less funny now.
Since then, the results have not exactly backed up the choice. He watched Ohio State win the national championship in 2024, then saw the Buckeyes beat Michigan at home last year.
Marshall also never turned into the kind of star in Ann Arbor that Michigan hoped for. He didn’t run for 1,000 yards last season, and now he’s set to be the starter again next season.
He’ll also be in Columbus for the first time as a starter, which is not exactly the kind of stage that feels friendly for a Michigan back. There’s even a real chance the Buckeyes could blow out the Wolverines.
Donovan Peoples-Jones is another one that stings. Michigan landed a five-star receiver in the 2017 class, which is not something that happens often.
He picked the Wolverines over Ohio State, but that came just before Brian Hartline took over as the wide receivers coach. At the time, Zach Smith was still in charge, and that situation was not exactly helping the Buckeyes.
If Peoples-Jones had gone to Columbus, he might have had a better path to a bigger NFL payday. His best season at Michigan produced 612 receiving yards and eight touchdowns, and Ohio State was still churning out elite receivers during that stretch. He also never beat the Buckeyes in college, which probably didn’t help his mood about the decision.
Then there’s Desmond Howard, the one player here who probably doesn’t spend much time second-guessing himself, even if he still should have been a Buckeye. He was an Ohio native, and Ohio State knew exactly who he was. Instead, he crossed the state line and went to TTUN.
That happened during the early part of John Cooper’s run as Ohio State’s head coach, when he was trying to recruit more nationally. If the Buckeyes had focused more heavily on Ohio, Howard could have ended up in Columbus and won the Heisman there. Instead, he became one of the most disliked figures in the rivalry.
Ohio State has not lost many major recruiting battles to TTUN, and that’s part of the reason Jim Tressel, Urban Meyer, and Ryan Day have been able to keep the edge in those fights.
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