Ohio State hasn’t played in a Big Ten championship game since the 2020 season. Michigan is the reason why.
There might as well have been a Block M padlock denying the Buckeyes access to Lucas Oil Stadium each of the past four seasons because a loss in The Game has kept them out of Indianapolis in December.
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Ryan Day has posted an 81-10 record as Ohio State’s head coach, dating back to when he stepped in for a suspended Urban Meyer to start the 2018 season, but he’s just 1-4 against the Wolverines.
Last season, the Buckeyes face-planted against Michigan at home — despite the Wolverines’ revolving door at quarterback and loss of a program-record 13 draftees from their 2023 national championship team — prompting a season-defining, player-led meeting that sparked Ohio State’s own run to win it all.
Michigan has caused Day well-documented anguish.
He was asked Tuesday, four days before this year’s game in Ann Arbor, if it’s fun to be the head coach of Ohio State the last week of November.
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«Fun is kicking ass, and that’s what we want to do on Saturday. So we’re preparing to do that,» Day said. And that’s it. There’s nothing funny about this at all.
«The fun part is winning. We’ll save the fun for being in the locker room and celebrating after the game. But the preparation, that’s what you love. You love the competitive part of this and everything that comes with it.»
Confidence is a necessity this time of year, Day emphasized in his weekly news conference. He wasn’t lacking that as he spoke to reporters.
This year’s Buckeyes are the top-ranked team in the country. On the heels of its first national championship since the 2014 season, Ohio State saw an exodus of talent leave for the draft this past offseason. Additionally, its offensive and defensive coordinators took new jobs. The Buckeyes, however, didn’t skip a beat.
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Under the direction of Matt Patricia, undefeated Ohio State is allowing 7.6 points per game, the fewest of any FBS team this season. On the other side of the ball, quarterback Julian Sayin is completing a nation-leading 79.4% of his passes and is a Heisman Trophy candidate.
Sayin will be up against another first-year starter Saturday in the Big House. Bryce Underwood, Rivals’ No. 1 prospect in the 2025 recruiting class, has quarterbacked Michigan to a 9-2 start that includes a 7-1 mark in conference competition. The Wolverines, No. 18 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, can still reach the Big Ten title game, but they need a victory over the Buckeyes and a loss by either Indiana or Oregon.
Michigan, which won three straight Big Ten championships from 2021 to 2023, is led by Sherrone Moore, who has already beaten Day twice: first in place of a suspended Jim Harbaugh and then as the full-time head coach last season.
«I just know that being a part of rivalries, the other games don’t matter,» Moore said Monday, via On3.
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«Whatever happened in the past doesn’t matter. So all we can do is focus on now. This is a new team, new staff, new players, new coaches. … All we can do is focus on today, and that’s it.»
Day had a similar response Tuesday when he was asked about the lessons he learned from last season’s defeat to Michigan, as well as from the player-led meeting that followed.
While he acknowledged the value of pulling from previous experience, he didn’t dwell on it at the podium. Instead, what stood out more was his message to his quarterback: «Just win.»
Ohio State has ran into trouble against Michigan when it’s tried to out-tough the Wolverines in recent years. Michigan especially dominated the line of scrimmage last season in a 13-10 win at Ohio Stadium.
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Day is well aware of the talent he’ll be facing this week. He shouted out Michigan running back Jordan Marshall, plus the Wolverines’ offensive line, and described edge Derrick Moore and linebacker Jaishawn Barham as «two of the best pass rushers in the country.»
«Talent in all three phases, well coached,» Day said of Michigan, «and so, yeah, we got to make sure we’re preparing at a high level this week and be at our best.»
What Ohio State has done the past four years hasn’t been good enough in The Game. The college football world will be watching Saturday to see if Day can finally have some rivalry week fun.
