It’s been one week since Michigan upset Ohio State.
You might wonder why it’s taken me a week to write this article. Why not write it in the immediate emotional aftermath of The Game? Put simply: because that’s what everyone else was doing. And I didn’t want that. Rather, we need a calm, steady voice of reason. I wanted to let the victory settle. To analyze the film and sift through the takes and take stock of my own thoughts. I think I’ve done that.
I’ve developed a sophisticated, high-brow reaction to Michigan’s nigh-impossible victory over the boys in Columbus:
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! LOL WE OWN RYAN DAY LOLOLOL
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Those of a certain age are too young to remember Michigan’s dominance of John Cooper.
I am of that age. I have no conscious memory of Cooper’s 1988-2000 tenure, in which Michigan went an astonishing 10-2-1. The consequence of being born just too late to have those memories, means that I was born perfectly in time to watch Tress and Urban swing the pendulum on the Wolverines. My football consciousness starts somewhere around 2003 (I remember making a scrapbook of Michigan’s season, complete with cutting/pasting photos of a rose-laden Braylon Edwards into a three-ring binder). Shockingly, Michigan would win one (1) more time between that sixth grade project and my late 20s.
That’s just a part of what makes a fourth straight victory so sweet. Up until 2021, I had barely any memories of beating Ohio State, and somehow even fewer of conference titles or national championships. Since 2021? Nothing but sweet victory over the Buckeyes, a triple crown of conference titles, and a College Football Playoff National Championship. One can almost (almost) understand the arrogance that developed in Columbus during the 2000s and 2010s. I’ve been to the mountaintop and the views are glorious and – what’s that? – why yes, I am better than you!
Of course, it’s not just that my children have absolutely no memory of Michigan losing to Ohio State that makes this one sweet. (That’s part of it, though; I’ve been sending my kids to school and children’s church donned in maize & blue for a week now). It’s the seismic shock it sent rattling through Columbus – and the aftershock still rumbling.
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After Michigan pulled the largest upset in the 120 year history of The Game, the conversations in Columbus whipped 180 degrees.
The prepared post-game gloating from local sports talk was replaced by talking circles and scrambling for answers that still haven’t come. The anticipation of redemption against Oregon – because a neutral field would change things, dangit! – was snuffed out (along with countless hotel reservations). A win-win CFP field – either the #1 seed, a conference title, and a bye OR that coveted #5 seed coasting into the semis – was shipwrecked.
The most noticeable change, though, was the conversation surrounding Ryan Day. He had quite publicly been placed on the hot seat (at least by fans/media, if not administration) coming out of the 2023 loss. But as three touchdown home favorites against Michigan? With a great shot at his first B1G Title since COVID and a clear path to the CFP? Things were looking up for Day. This was a layup. A gimme to get back in the good graces of Buckeye Nation.
And he shanked it. Like a 30 yard field goal.
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Anyone who says they know what Ohio State will do regarding Ryan Day is lying.
This question will likely be answered by how he performs in the College Football Playoff. A legitimate run on the national title – even if you come up short in, say, the semi-finals – might be enough. A first round exit to Tennessee? At home? See ya. That’s a big reason why the conversation is merely interesting, but not terribly relevant at this stage. He’s not being fired before the CFP and the CFP will be a major (if not THE major) determining factor in whether he stays in Columbus. If I were a Buckeye (*barf*)? It’s national title or bust. That’s the message that was preached since Ohio State won The 2024 Offseason National Championship and so it might as well be used as evidence as to whether or not this whole thing is a bust.
I do not believe Ohio State will win a national championship. It has nothing to do with their talent level; anymore than talent was the reason they failed to beat Michigan. I don’t believe they can win it because they simply do not have the mental fortitude to do so. I watched the press conference on Wednesday; Ryan Day looked absolutely defeated. It’s National Signing Day, my guy! You should be instilling confidence in the team you have and the team you’re actively signing.
Instead, it was a dejected coach muttering answers about how he still believes he’s the guy and still believes he’ll be in Columbus next year – said with all the confidence and conviction of a toddler who’s been asked if he’s stinky and says “no” but won’t make eye contact.
Day can talk about being excited to get on the field and how they’re slowly coming off the loss and they’ll be ready for the next opponent and whatever other coach-speak you want to toss out to the reporter pool. But there is absolutely nothing to demonstrate – either from the presser, the Michigan game, or the last four years at Ohio State – to suggest that this team is prepared to win four high-level games in a row. One reporter asked about the team playing tight and how to handle that if it happens again in the CFP. Day gave a non-answer.
Even the team that has been all talk and no trophies for four years now has run out of things to say.
Like the Horseshoe last Saturday: the silence is deafening.
