Michigan

Some notes on the pre-game and the post-game

The game (sorry, THE GAME) is always Thanksgiving week, which makes it a little weird. When you’re in school, you get a chunk of days off and it becomes a haze of food and booze (for the young kids, their booze is watching endless YouTube Shorts). A little turkey, a lot of sides. Some interesting political conversations. You’ll probably run into some high school classmates if you go to High Beck’s on Wednesday or Friday nights. In my working and family life, it’s become even more disjointed – the kids are off school, but I’m sometimes working. The actual day of Thanksgiving is kind of hectic, though if you’re not on the hook to cook anything or need to drive a long way, it can be super-chill. We have ordered pies from fundraisers the last couple years and gotten off easy. And then there’s the push and pull of those that want to watch the NFL all day vs. those who think that idea goes against what it means to be thankful with their families. (Or they just don’t like football, no need to be high-minded about it).

As a Buckeye fan, I can’t say I’m ever ‘excited’ about the Michigan game. And thinking about 2021-2024, I’d been… dreading it? Feeling some trepidation? A little trepidatious? Maybe Coach Day is no longer in his head and is ready to get the monkey off his back. He won the natty last year and can relax and crush The Team Up North. Sure, Michigan’s true freshman QB might be a year or 2 away from being great (or even ‘good,’ amirite!). And, sure, the Buckeye defense might be so good that it doesn’t matter what the ‘game plan’ is. I had these thoughts before the game. The Buckeye pundits on the radio were pretty confident and all picking the Bucks to win. But they’ve been (understandably) confident for almost every game of Ryan Day’s (and, for that matter, Urban Meyer’s) tenure.

Indeed, why would you pick against the Buckeyes? Coach Day is 82-10. That’s an 89.1 win percentage. Sports Reference does a ‘best win percentage’ list with a 10-year minimum head coaching record. Ryan’s only at 8 years, but 89.1% would put him first on the list, ahead of Knute Rockne (88.1%). And yes, my Northeast Ohio friends, I know Coach Kehres at Mount Union is the real leader (92.9%).

So, let’s get into it. What’s his worst loss? Not to flagellate ourselves, but to illustrate how good we have it! Aside from last year, even the Michigan losses were to good Michigan teams. And, let’s remember, they were flagrantly cheating the whole time! Jim Harbaugh was banned from college football for 10 years for the sign stealing bullshit! That’s a lifetime ban for an old guy!. Anyway, Ryan Day’s losses:

1. 2019 – #2 Bucks in the Fiesta Bowl vs. #3 Clemson. 23-29. National semi-final. A game famous for Buckeye fans because of one of the worst calls ever made. And a crushing loss against a very good Clemson team. But that game was a toss-up. I would have loved if we won. We need to be honest though. If we had beaten Clemson, facing LSU in the title game would have been a test, to put it mildly. Joe Burrow AND Justin Jefferson AND(!!) JaMarr Chase would have killed us. It would have been nice to have the opportunity, but be realistic, people.
2. 2020 – National Championship game. #3 OSU, #1 Bama. Final score: 24-52. Alabama was a buzzsaw. Mac Jones, Najee Harris, Devonta Smith. Smith won the Heisman and was unstoppable. We were underdogs, and for good reason.
3. 2021 – 2 losses.
   • A loss at home – #3 Buckeyes lost to #12 Oregon at home. This one was a disaster at the time but is lower in the loss rankings than I would have guessed. CJ Stroud’s 2nd start. He might have been a little injured. He played the next game vs. Tulsa, then sat out the next game vs. Akron. After that he looked awesome and ended up 4th in the Heisman voting. Oregon finished 10-4 on the season and ranked 22nd.
   • A road loss to #6 Michigan. We were ranked #2. CJ played great. Michigan quite suspiciously knew all of our plays. Our run defense was a little suspect though.
4. 2022 – 2 losses.
   • #2 Bucks lose at home to #3 Michigan. 23-45. 2 loooong runs from Donovan Edwards in the 4th quarter turned a tight game into a blowout. And again, suspiciously, UM seemed to know our plays.
   • #4 Bucks lose to #1 Georgia 41-42 in the national semi-final. This is the loss that probably hurts the most. We played great most of the game. Marvin Harrison Jr. gets hurt. No one thinks TCU would have given us much of a game in the championship. Just missed a title. In retrospect, it’s hard to call a loss to the #1 team a bad loss. But at the time, missing a field goal, as the ball dropped on the new year, was super-shitty.
5. 2023 – 2 losses
   • #2 Bucks lose on the road at #3 Michigan. 24-30. We cut it to 3 with 8 min left but couldn’t play enough D down the stretch.
   • #7 Bucks lose in the Cotton Bowl to #9 Missouri, 3-14. This one matters the least to Buckeye fans. Coach Day told Kyle McCord that we’d be looking for someone in the transfer portal for the 2024 season. So, Kyle left before the bowl game and was immediately grabbed by Syracuse. The 2-headed monster of Lincoln Kienholz and Devin Brown couldn’t get it done, although I liked a couple things I saw from Lincoln. We were leading 3-0 at the beginning of the 4th quarter, but we couldn’t get there.
6. 2024 – 2 losses (but also, a national championship).
   • #2 Bucks lose on the road to #3 Oregon, 31-32. A close game on the road against a good team. Will Howard slid a second too late to kick the game winner. We were good. They were good. We got revenge in the playoff. It’s fine.
   • #2 Ohio State loses at home to unranked Michigan. This was the worst loss until we won the championship. I heard some talking heads recently saying this game was the worst thing that could have happened to Michigan:
     • Now they have Sherrone Moore for an extra couple years, even though he’s been suspended for cheating a couple times. And might not be a good coach.
     • And he’ll probably ruin Bryce Underwood’s career.
     • Conversely, it may have been the best thing for Ohio State and Ryan Day.
     • UM planted the flag. We got pissed about it. People got pepper sprayed.
     • We won 4 straight games in the new expanded playoff and won the title.
     • Ryan Day: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Game (or something, I don’t know). We haven’t lost since.

Recap: Worst Losses, in order, with relevant notes:

1. 2022 Georgia – National Semi-Final. Georgia was #1 and cruised to a championship
2. 2024 Michigan – Home Game. UM was unranked. We were favored by a million. Mitigated by a NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP.
3. 2022 Michigan – Home Game. UM ranked third, they lose in National Semi-Final.
4. 2023 Michigan – UM ranked third, went on to win the championship.
5. 2019 Clemson – National Semi-Final.
6. 2021 Michigan – Road game. UM ranked 6th.
7. 2021 Oregon – At home, Oregon ranked 12th.
8. 2024 Oregon – On the road, Oregon ranked #3.
9. 2020 Alabama – Championship Game against one of the best goddamn teams of all time. Also, this was the Covid season, so who the hell knows?
10. 2023 Missouri – Our QB left, Mizzou ranked 9th.

Feel free to yell at me in the comments. (Do we have comments?)

THIS YEAR’S GAME

THE Ohio State Buckeyes came into THE GAME ranked #1. Michigan was #15. We were favored by 9/9.5 points at game time but were favored by 12.5 earlier in the week. People started betting on Michigan, so the line moved. It turns out it didn’t matter either way. We started off a little rocky, as sometimes happens when you’re a road favorite. UM had a big run, but we held them to a field goal. They got a pick, but we held them to a field goal. The UM offense, after the big early run, was terrible the rest of the game. And our defense was very good. And then, offensively, Julian Sayin got into a groove and threw it to his awesome players. And that was that. Shout out to the offensive line. It was anti-climactic – just the way I like my Michigan/OSU games! The most suspense was the asinine discussion of Jeremiah Smith’s TD. Carnell Tate’s TD was great. Bo Jackson kicked ass. The defense did what they’ve done all year long.

Post-Game – a couple fun things. And one thing I don’t like

1. Michigan guarded the M at midfield. 100 dudes just standing in the middle of the field as the remaining UM fans filed out. You can hear Ryan Day telling Sherrone Moore he can let his guys go to the locker room and they weren’t going to be planting any flags. Now, to be fair to the Michigan players who apparently planned to lose the game and then guard the M, I saw a video where a couple Buckeyes had flags. They weren’t giant flags on flagpoles, but Buckeye coaches or whoever wouldn’t let them do anything. One of those guys was Davison Igbinosin, who (like all defensive backs?) is legitimately insane and is lucky he’s not called for pass interference on every play. Seriously, I think teams should throw his way over and over again. Prove me wrong, IGB!
2. The Buckeye communications system – their headsets and helmet comms – went out in the 2nd half. Ryan Day said he prepped for that because he had a feeling something would happen. He had a feeling?? Never mind that, as UM folks strenuously pointed out, Michigan doesn’t run the opposing team’s comms systems. It’s just a funny thing to say, that he prepped for it. So, the possibilities are that 1) he knew they were going to cheat somehow (he has a spy in Ann Arbor?) or 2) he’s running a psyop against Sherrone Moore and the entire state of Michigan. I think it’s #2 and it’s pretty good. But it’s also fun if we have a spy that actually gave him some intel. There was an argument on the sideline with someone that people are claiming is related, but I have no idea.
3. Great job by the broadcast capturing (and then the media and social media blasting it out everywhere) Brutus’ Script Ohio and crossed-out M in the snow. Good job by Brutus. Light-hearted and adds something to the rivalry, without really being a dick about it. Just some mascot hijinks.
4. Thing I don’t Like: Buckeye Offensive Coordinator, Quarterbacks Coach, and Wide Receiver Recruiter Extraordinaire, Brian Hartline is going to be the new head coach at South Florida. I like it for him. I haven’t seen the numbers, but I assume it’s something like $30M over 6 years. It appears he will stick with the Buckeyes through the playoff, which is great. Could be a distraction if he’s trying to build his staff at the same time. Maybe we’re such a juggernaut at this point that we’ll be fine. We replaced our National Championship defensive coordinator with former NFL head coach Matt Patricia, who is now a beloved figure in Columbus. I don’t know who our next OC will be. I suppose Chip Kelly could come back after his brief stint with the Raiders. But, I’d rather we get someone young and spry, with serious wide receiver recruiting skills, so we can keep the train rolling.
   • Recruiting Corner: In the day since the news broke, two would-be Buckeyes have left the 2026 recruiting class (Kayden Dixon-Wyatt and Legend Bey. Just an aside, Legend Bey is a fucking great name and I’m sad to lose him). The crown jewel of the 2026 class is Chris Henry Jr. He has apparently re-opened his recruitment. Oregon and USC are throwing bags of money at him, trying to get him to flip. This is what happens when a good recruiter leaves, but losing Chris Henry would suck. Jeremiah Smith is trying to pull him back our way, so kudos to him.

INDIANA

We are now in the Big Ten Championship Game where we will match up against #2 and undefeated Indiana! The winner will be the #1 seed in the playoff and might also end up with the Heisman winner. Sayin and Mendoza are at the top of that list.

So… question: Do we play all our guys? If they’re hurt, even a little bit, we rest them, right? Saturday is December 6th. Even if we lose, we are guaranteed a top-4 seed. So, our next game will be Dec 31 or Jan 1. Is there any way we could drop out of the top 4? What if Indiana wins 50-0? I guess a 3-week break is good and we should go balls-to-the-wall on Saturday. Thanks for letting me talk that out.

–Eric