History of Ohio State coach records vs. Michigan: How Ryan Day's dismal 1-4 run compares to Buckeyes greats

History of Ohio State coach records vs. Michigan: How Ryan Day’s dismal 1-4 run compares to Buckeyes greats originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Game kicks off on Saturday afternoon, and there are few rivalry games as heated as Ohio State-Michigan. The Wolverines are looking to notch a fifth-straight victory over the Buckeyes, having won the last four straight from 2021-24.

Alas, one of the biggest criticisms of Buckeye head coach Ryan Day is how his teams have fared against OSU’s biggest rival. Over five seasons, Day is 1-4 against the Wolverines, with his lone win in The Game coming in 2019.

In fact, had the Buckeyes not won it all last season, Ohio State would have likely moved on from Day given his record in the rivalry. Let’s take a look at how Day’s record against Michigan compares to some of OSU’s winningest coaches in school history.

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Ryan Day record vs. Michigan

Day enters Saturday’s game with a 1-4 overall record against Michigan. In fact, Day is 0-4 against the Wolverines at home, having never beaten Michigan in Columbus. The last two games have been decided by one score or less. Here’s a quick look at each of those five games:

2019: 56-27 victory in Ann Arbor
2020: Game cancelled due to COVID
2021: 42-27 loss in Ann Arbor
2022: 45-23 loss at home
2023: 30-24 loss in Ann Arbor
2024: 13-10 loss at home

On Saturday, Ohio State will be looking for its first win on the road in this game since Day’s lone victory over Michigan in 2019.

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Ohio State record vs. Michigan by coach

Michigan holds a 62-6-51 overall edge in the all-time series, which dates back to 1897. Here’s a look at how every Ohio State coach fared against Michigan, courtesy of Bentley Historic Library at the University of Michigan:

Years	Coach	Overall record	Record vs. Michigan
1897	David F. Edwards	1-7–1	0-1-0
1898-1901	John B. Eckstrom	22-4-3	0-1-1
1902-1903	Perry Hale	14-5-2	0-2-0
1903-1905	E.R. Sweatland	14-7-2	0-2-1
1906-1909	Albert E. Herrnstein	28-10-1	0-4-0
1910	Howard Jones	6-3-0	0-0-1
1911	Henry Vaughn	5-3-2	0-1-0
1912	John R. Richards	6-3-0	0-1-0
1913-1928	John W. Wilce	78-33-9	4-7-0
1929-1932	Sam S. Willaman	26-10-5	2-3-0
1934-1940	Francis A. Schmidt	39-16-1	4-3-0
1940-1943	Paul E. Brown	18-8-1	1-1-1
1944-1945	Carroll C. Widdoes	16-2-0	1-1-0
1946	Paul O. Bixlar	4-3-2	0-1-0
1947-1950	Wesley E. Fesler	21-13-3	0-3-1
1951-1978	Woody Hayes	205-61-10	16-11-1
1979-1987	Earle Bruce	81-26-1	5-4-0
1988-2000	John Cooper	111-43-4	2-10-1
2001-2010	Jim Tressel	105-22-0	9-1-0
2011	Luke Fickell	6-7-0	0-1-0
2012-2018	Urban Meyer	83-9-0	7-0-0
2019-Present	Ryan Day	70-10-0	1-4-0

As you can see, just five OSU head coaches had winning records against the Wolverines, in Francis A. Schmidt, Woody Hayes, Earle Bruce, Jim Tressel and Urban Meyer.

Earle Bruce

Earle Bruce is Ohio State’s sixth-winningest head coach of all time, behind Day with 81 career wins. From 1979-87, he defeated Michigan five times. In 1979, Ohio State won 18-15, and the Buckeyes went on to the Rose Bowl. His largest margin of victory came in 1984, beating Michigan 21-6 as the Buckeyes went to yet another Rose Bowl.

The Buckeyes made eight straight bowl games under Bruce, including during the 1981-82 and 1984 seasons with victories over the Wolverines.

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Woody Hayes

Woody Hayes is Ohio State’s all-time winningest head coach, with 205 career victories. Over his 28 seasons with the Buckeyes, he defeated Michigan 16 times, including in years where OSU claimed national titles in 1954, 1957, 1961 and 1970.

Hayes was also part of a legendary string of games, facing off against Michigan’s Bo Schembechler, from 1969-78. The games are known as «The Ten Year War.»

In 1970, Ohio State beat Michigan 20-9, getting revenge for Michigan’s upset over OSU the year prior, which knocked the Buckeyes out of the Rose Bowl.

Hayes won the next four straight games from 1972-1975, which sent the Buckeyes to the Rose Bowl each time. Each of the wins came by six or fewer points. Schembechler won the last three meetings the Ten Years’ War from 1976-78.

Jim Tressel

One of the most successful OSU head coaches in recent years against Michigan was Jim Tressel. He defeated Michigan nine times, including seven straight vs. the Wolverines from 2004-2010, although the 2010 win was later vacated due to the OSU tattoo memorabilia scandal.

Tressel won his first two games against Michigan in 2002 and 2003. He led the Buckeyes to a national championship after OSU’s 14-9 victory in 2002. He then led Ohio State to five straight Big Ten titles from 2005-2009 with wins in The Game. In 2005, Ohio State overcame an 18-12 deficit in the fourth quarter to win 25-21.

In 2006, both teams were ranked No. 1 and 2 for the first time in the rivalry’s long history. Ohio State won 42-39 to clinch a Big Ten title and trip to the BCS National Championship. The Buckeyes came from behind in 2005 to give Tressel his fourth win in the series and assure Ohio State a tie for the conference title. In 2006, the series’s first showdown between #1 and #2 rated teams, OSU held on for 42-39 victory.

Tressel’s 42-7 win in 2008 was the Buckeyes’ largest margin of victory since 1968’s 50-14 rout over Michigan.

Urban Meyer

Meyer, Day’s predecessor, had one of the most impressive performances against Michigan by far. He won a school record seven straight against Michigan from 2012-2018.

In 2013, Ohio State won 42-41 as Michigan’s two-point attempt failed with 30 seconds left. In 2014, despite a 14-14 tie at halftime, the Buckeyes pulled away 42-28. Ohio State went on to win a Big Ten title and CFP National Championship that season.

In 2016, Ohio State was ranked No. 2 and Michigan No. 3. The game went to overtime for the first time ever in rivalry history, with the Buckeyes prevailing 30-27 in double-overtime. The Buckeyes won two straight Big Ten titles during Meyer’s last two seasons in Columbus with wins over Michigan in 2017 and 2018.

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