The cloud of dust starts here

HBO’s latest sports documentary chronicles one of the most intense college football rivalries east of Los Angeles.

It’s titled “Michigan vs. Ohio State: The Rivalry” and makes its debut Tuesday night at 10:30.

The network recently had a premiere of the show on the Ohio State campus, and afterward former Buckeyes lineman Jim Stillwagon, who played on the 1968 national championship team that defeated USC, 27-16, in the Rose Bowl, talked with HBO Sports boss Ross Greenburg about Woody Hayes.

“When Woody recruited me, he called me into his office and said pull up your pants leg so I can see your ankles,” Stillwagon told Greenburg. “I did it, wondering what he was doing.

“Coach looked at my ankles and said, ‘You’re fast. All great racehorses have skinny ankles.’ ”

Trivia time

Who was the sophomore quarterback on that undefeated 1968 Ohio State team. (Hint: As a senior he returned to the Rose Bowl and the Buckeyes were upset by the Jim Plunkett-led Stanford Indians.)

Small world

Bob Baffert has seen a few skinny ankles on real racehorses during his Hall of Fame career as a trainer. A little-known fact about Baffert is that he was briefly a jockey.

“I wasn’t very good,” he said.

Baffert, from Nogales, Ariz., rode at Rillito Park in Tucson and Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico.

Another jockey at those tracks in the 1970s was Louie Gomez, the father of Garrett Gomez, who recently rode two Breeders’ Cup winners for Baffert.

“We were in the winner’s circle at Monmouth Park and I saw Louie there,” Baffert said. “I said to him, ‘Who would have thought here we were riding horses at Ruidoso Downs and in Tucson in the ‘70s and we’d end up in two Breeders’ Cup winner’s circles together here with your boy?’ ”

Giant turnaround

The New York Giants, who play host to the Dallas Cowboys in the second game of a Fox NFL doubleheader today, have won six in a row after an 0-2 start, in large part because of their defense.

And Fox sideline report Pam Oliver may have played a role in the turnaround.

Toward the end of the Giants’ 35-13 loss to Green Bay in Week 2, Oliver delivered this assessment about the Giants’ defense: “I have not seen any kind of emotion, or any kind of leadership. . . . These guys have been dead all day.”

Said Oliver this week: “What I reported during the Green Bay game was an observation based on watching four quarters of lackluster defensive play and a shocking lack of remorse over that poor play.”

The Giants apparently took Oliver’s harsh words to heart.

Readjusted pick

The New England Patriots, who are off this week, are looking stronger in their shot at a perfect season. So Greg Cote of the Miami Herald is feeling a little uneasy about his preseason Super Bowl pick of the San Diego Chargers over the New Orleans Saints.

“Knowing what we know now,” Cote wrote, “let’s make it Patriots over Cowboys, or whichever NFC team is sent onto the field with a blindfold and a cigarette.”

Trivia answer

Rex Kern, who was drafted in the 10th round by the Baltimore Colts but never played quarterback as a pro. He had four forgettable seasons as a defensive back in the NFL, then retired.

And finally

Now it can be told. On the Fox Radio network show former UCLA defensive back James Washington does with Craig Shemon, a regular guest is Tennessee Titans Coach Jeff Fisher, a former USC defensive back.

During some good-natured ribbing last week, Washington let it be known that Fisher never paid up on a bet he made on last year’s USC-UCLA game. If the Trojans lost, which they did, Fisher was supposed to drive around in Tennessee with a UCLA license-plate frame.

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larry.stewart@latimes.com