Marcus Freeman’s Massive Hit in Classic Michigan vs. Ohio State Game – Watch Now

Freeman made a big third down stop as the No. 1 Buckeyes beat No. 2 Michigan

Nov 18, 2006; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes linebacker (1) Marcus Freeman celebrates a defensive stop with teammate defensive tackle (97) David Patterson against the Michigan Wolverines at Ohio Stadium. The Buckeyes beat the Wolverines 42-39. / Matthew Emmons-Imagn Images

Last week brought the anniversary of the last time Notre Dame played in a regular season "Game of the Century" as Nov. 13 marked the 31st anniversary of the 1993 classic between No. 1 Florida State and No. 2 Notre Dame.

Notre Dame of course won that game and looking back I'm fairly sure the buildup and pay off from that game is what led me to be more of a college football fan than NFL fan.

Fast forward almost a decade-and-a-half and there was another late-season Game of the Century.

2006 saw No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Michigan battle the last week of the regular season, before the Big Ten had a championship game. As a result the winner of this was going to the BCS Championship game while the loser would get stuck going to the Rose Bowl.

That game was played 18 years ago on Monday, and to this day remains the most hyped regular season game in probably any sport that I can ever remember.

It just so happens that current Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman played a key role in that game, starting a linebacker for the top-ranked Buckeyes.

When asked in 2023 by Dan Patrick about his most memorable hit/tackle he ever made, Freeman referenced one from this classic game. Check out Freeman's memory below before seeing his huge tackle.

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman teaches form tackling on the @dpshow pic.twitter.com/Ug6NjOddCJ

— Tyler Horka (@tbhorka) August 24, 2023

And as advertised, that big hit by Freeman:

Here’s the hit….and Marcus Freeman knows exactly who he hit despite the pause 😂 #thegame https://t.co/QOUNVlCOqz pic.twitter.com/Tolvn0tJR3

— Matt Freeman (@mattfreemanISD) August 24, 2023

Freeman pauses but of course he remembered it was Steve Breaston who he tackled, as Breaston went on to a solid six-year NFL career.

That tackle ended a Michigan possession in a game that Ohio State wound up going on to win 42-39, holding off a late rally by the Wolverines.

That's one of those games I'll remember sitting and watching forever as my roommate at the time was a die-hard Michigan fan. I was late to the watch-party he and another friend had because I was busy watching Notre Dame dispose of Army on senior day.

Ohio State of course would play in the national championship game against Florida and return the opening kickoff for a touchdown, but get routed the rest of the way as it fell 41-14 to Urban Meyer, Chris Leak, Tim Tebow, and the rest of the Gators.

Also how insane is it that until 2010, the Big Ten wrapped up its regular season the weekend before Thanksgiving?

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