Then Bo came to the rescue, much as Jim Tressel did in relief of John Cooper. In 1969, the Buckeyes not only came into Bo’s debut as Michigan’s head coach as defending national champions, but they were also ranked No. 1 in the nation and were riding a 22-game victory streak. But the Wolverines, 7-2 at the time, pulled the mighty upset, 24-12.

That single performance was like Marlon Brando taking the Broadway stage for the first time in “A Streetcar Named Desire.” From that moment on, Bo was a star. And the Michigan Wolverines were now HIS Michigan Wolverines. They would no longer have to slog uphill to catch Hayes and his program. They were suddenly both on equal footing.

Although he never won a national championship, that was a mere technicality. Those were the days when the system set up to determine a champion was even more flawed than it is now. In fact, in four of his first six seasons at Michigan, Bo’s teams did not lose more than one game and yet didn’t appear in a bowl game because in those days Big Ten teams weren’t allowed to appear in any bowl if they didn’t win the conference and go to the Rose Bowl. It was a different time.

Also the national champ was a beauty contest because the national polls determined the winner, and the Wolverines weren’t always the prettiest. Bo took his style cues from Hayes -– a rugged running game, dominance at the line of scrimmage, stout defense. The forward pass was considered a trick play under Hayes, like the Statue of Liberty or the Flea Flicker; Bo had a little more regard for it than that, but only a little.

Yet under Bo the Wolverines went to the Rose Bowl 10 times. He was 194-48-5 as Michigan’s head coach, and he never posted a losing record. He was even immortalized in “The Big Chill” – albeit in the briefest of cameos -- as the former maize-and-blue school chums watched a Michigan-Michigan State game.

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Since he retired as head coach after the 1990 Rose Bowl, Bo had gone on to other endeavors — he was Michigan’s athletic director his final two years as head coach, and later worked for the Detroit Tigers before settling in to an advisor emeritus position at the school -- but he always cast a giant shadow over the program. He was a commanding presence as Gary Moeller succeeded him, and remained so when Lloyd Carr took over in 1995.

Until his heart stopped beating on Friday, Bo was the closest thing a college football program had to a significant other.

Actually, that’s incorrect. Contrary to news reports, his heart is still at Michigan, strong as ever.