Was cold. And with snow. And the players had the flu. And what happened in the dark was destined to come to light. And it was just a few plays. And the quarterback was the problem. And there were a few more plays. Yes Yes Yes.
Whether from Ohio State fans or coach Ryan Day himself, there wasn’t an excuse the Buckeye contingent didn’t like when it came to losing to Michigan football.
Yes, the rivalry was lopsided from 2001 to 2019, but that has been the nature of the Game. Michigan won big in the early years of college football, then OSU figured things out and dominated from 1952-1968. Then the 10-year war happened. In fact, after Bo Schembechler took control of the Wolverines, until Jim Tressel took control of the Buckeyes in 2001, Michigan beat Ohio State 19-11-2. So, it can be said that rivalry is cyclical.
But something funny happened on the way to this decade we currently find ourselves in. What began to be seen as Monroe’s southern birthright in the country quickly swung in Michigan’s favor as the Maize and Blue won three consecutive victories.
When Ryan Day took over Urban Meyer’s machine in 2019, he only knew how to win in the rivalry. As offensive coordinator in 2018, he oversaw The Game’s biggest rout in modern history. In his first year as head coach, everything felt pretty similar. Behind closed doors, Day proclaimed that the Buckeyes would ‘hang 100’ on Michigan – which may have happened had they played, given how depleted the Wolverines were due to COVID (Michigan canceled the Maryland game the week before, although self-proclaimed ‘Buckeye Nation’ like to wear their tinfoil hats when discussing the circumstances surrounding the cancellation).
To some extent, it appeared that Day had found some repentance after the series of beatings over the past three years. “Well, it’s easy to say it’s one or two pieces, but that’s not really the case,” Day told reporters at Big Ten Media Days on Tuesday.
But he can’t help it. He can’t understand why things didn’t go his way. He doesn’t understand.
A Big Ten Media Days SiriusXM interview surfaced in the days following his turn with the general media, and Day is being criticized in the comments and quote tweets. Although he said in the podium sessions that it wasn’t just a few plays, he went on satellite radio and basically said, well, it was a few plays, and OSU should have won the game — at least in 2023.
“Every year, you have to look at it and figure out what it was,” Day said. “You look at the early years and try to identify exactly what was going on in that game — and make changes. And you look at this game and try to identify, OK, where we were in that game. And why didn’t we end the fourth quarter the way we wanted?
“So you look at all these different things and make the decision, OK, how far apart are we? Are there big changes that need to be made or not? It was a very good team, but we still should have won the game. And we didn’t.”
Ohio State never led the game last year. And the previous two years were blowouts. But last year, despite the game being closer than in the previous two iterations, Michigan still led wire to wire (there was a brief tie), but had its arm tied behind its back. Head coach Jim Harbaugh was suspended by the Big Ten, and the Wolverines had their offensive coordinator and offensive line coach, Sherrone Moore, pull triple duty, serving as interim head coach. They also lost their best striker, Zak Zinter, with the game in doubt.
Sometimes close losses are just how the cookie crumbles. In fact, before Jim Harbaugh took over, Michigan lost most of its recent contests to the Buckeyes by slim margins. 2016, 2013, 2012, 2006, 2005, 2002 and 2001 were all one-point Wolverine losses. In most of them, Michigan did enough to win — but didn’t.
This is how rivalries change. Tressel took over in 2001 and has won close games for OSU against Lloyd Carr every year except 2004 and 2007 (Michigan won in 2003).
Furthermore, Day doesn’t seem to understand how or why Michigan has won the last three years. While there have been open accusations and insinuations that it all comes down to Connor Stalions and his alleged sign stealing scheme, the reality is that Michigan won in the trenches.
In 2021, the Wolverines have rarely passed in the second half, opting to run the ball up the middle with impunity. The defense was aggressive and kept quarterback CJ Stroud on his toes, but Stroud still had an incredible day, statistically, otherwise. Michigan’s defense, led by current NFL head coach Mike Macdonald, had a strategy to get the Buckeyes off balance enough that they settled for field goals instead of touchdowns.
In 2022, Day got restless and took surprising shots instead of going for it on fourth and short – multiple times. Michigan capitalized, wearing down the Buckeye defensive line. And when they were tired, Donovan Edwards scored two dagger-like touchdowns of 75+ yards.
In 2023, Ohio State was better in the trenches for much of the game, but not when it mattered. Starting with Blake Corum’s touchdown after Zinter’s injury, Michigan ran roughshod over the Buckeyes on offense, while defensive pressure forced quarterback Kyle McCord into a missed throw, resulting in Rod Moore’s game-sealing interception.
And Day still apparently hasn’t resolved his issues. His playing style does not exude resistance, especially in attack. The defense was greatly improved under Jim Knowles, but opting for a vaunted passing attack instead of a steady running game (led by an elite offensive line) made Ohio State’s brand of football less complementary than its northern counterpart. He may have gotten star Quinshon Judkins in the transfer portal, but the only offensive lineman he brought in from the transfer portal is the only one Michigan fans can mention by name, in Seth McLaughlin, due to his horrible failures as a center. Alabama in the pink bowl.
If Day wants to get a lead on Michigan again, he needs to see what his predecessor, Urban Meyer, did. Meyer had elite offensive lines along with elite running backs. The Buckeyes ran more than they passed in Meyer’s first five years, had a balanced year in 2017, and then Day took over the offensive duties in 2018, and running the ball became an afterthought. That year, the Buckeyes ran half as much as they passed, were more balanced with a dual-threat quarterback (Justin Fields) the next two years, but returned to unbalanced stats with CJ Stroud and Kyle McCord.
Maybe Chip Kelly, the new offensive coordinator, will change things and find balance. At UCLA, that was the case. But given his mental lapses in The Game, how long before Day goes back to making panic decisions and abandoning the run again in favor of a sexy passing game?
Day made changes, yes. But he didn’t prove he learned any kind of lesson. He hasn’t grown along either line, continues to prioritize five-star wide receivers in recruiting and can’t understand why Ohio State has been robbed of his birthright for the past three years.
We will see if 2024 will be four.
