Ann Arbor’s Michigan Stadium and Columbus’ Ohio Stadium are two of the biggest and most well-known stadiums in all of college football.
They host two of college football’s most historic programs in Michigan and Ohio State and are venues known by simple nicknames: the Big House and the Horseshoe.
What’s also noteworthy about those stadiums is Ty Johnson has returned a kickoff for a touchdown in both of them.
While Maryland football lost to Michigan 42-21 on Saturday, they briefly had a 7-3 lead, thanks to Johnson dashing 98 yards down the left sideline to find the end zone.
Ninety-eight. Nine. Eight. That's a 98-yard KO return for @TerpsFootball.
Stiff-arm at the end was just a bonus. pic.twitter.com/AWj0dqlfus
— Maryland On BTN (@MarylandOnBTN) October 6, 2018
In Maryland’s 62-14 loss to the Buckeyes in 2017, Johnson took a kick back 100 yards for a touchdown.
This kick return TD was ????.
It also won @TerpsFootbal's Ty Johnson Week 6 @B1Gfootball special teams honors. pic.twitter.com/3qQnCJlevj
— Maryland On BTN (@MarylandOnBTN) October 9, 2017
According to the Sports-Reference.com college football database, Johnson is one of seven players to find the end zone on a kickoff at the Horseshoe since 2000, while Johnson is just the second person to take a kick back in Ann Arbor since 2000.
The only other player to do it in the Big House, Janarion Grant, failed to pull off the same feat in Columbus, which means Ty Johnson is the only player in the 21st century to return a kickoff for a touchdown on the road against Michigan and Ohio State.
While Maryland wound up losing both of these games, it’s still a nifty piece of trivia to know that Johnson scored in two of college football’s most famous venues from a kick off, especially when it’s something that no one else has done in the last 18 years.
