Michigan keeping Ohio State on its mind

If Rich Rodriguez had any doubts about how big the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry was when he stepped on campus, they’re gone now.

Rodriguez was asked Monday about the appearance of Ohio State decals on some of the tackling dummies the team was using during the first day of practice.

“I don’t know how they got on there,” Rodriguez said. “Did somebody from Columbus put that on there? I don’t know where that came from.

“No, I think we’ve had some stickers on there. I think if you go down to Columbus, they’ve probably got a lot of Michigan stuff in their hall of fame deal. They kind of promote them a little bit, and that’s a pretty big game for us, too. So we got reminders. We got reminders of them and we got reminders of Michigan State and Notre Dame and everyone else on our schedule.”

The Wolverines have lost five straight games to Ohio State, including a 42-7 loss last year. This year's game is Nov. 21 in Ann Arbor.