As a brawl unfolded after the game — Ohio State took offense at Michigan by planting a victory flag at the Horseshoe’s midfield — the Fox camera caught Ryan Day to the side, with a look on his face that suggested, ” What’s going on?’
It may prove to be the lasting image of this epic upset/collapse, depending on which side of the Toledo border you live.
Michigan 13, Ohio State 10.
Again.
“I’m still trying to process everything that just happened,” a shocked Day said after his fourth consecutive loss to the Wolverines. “[I have] a locker room full of guys who are crushed… There are a lot of guys who are crushed right now. There’s nothing you can say right now. You have to take responsibility for that and that starts with me.”
The Buckeyes (10-2) are headed to the College Football Playoff and might win another national championship this year, but maybe – maybe – only that can provide an answer to Day’s disaster. And the route to a title will be tougher — no bye after failing to win the Big Ten (again), and maybe even a first-round road game.
Michigan is headed to a slim bowl game at 7-5, but all has been saved for first-year coach Sherrone Moore. They arrived as 19.5-point underdogs with a former walk-on, cancer-surviving quarterback who rarely throws the ball more than 30 feet in the air.
Ohio State responded with a reported $20 million roster full of returning stars and portal kings, not to mention a coaching staff that was beefed up after hiring UCLA’s head coach (Chip Kelly) to call plays. It came with all the requisite focus the Scarlet and Gray put on this rivalry – refusing to say the word “Michigan,” pronouncing all the “M’s” on campus, with Day comparing his previous three defeats to the tragic death of his father.
And yet in the end it was the team, the team, the team of Up North.
Again.
“As you know, this is not easy to accept,” Day said. “I have to take ownership and I am the one who makes the final decisions.”
The second-ranked Buckeyes can’t blame Jim Harbaugh for this. Can’t blame Connor Stalions. They can’t attribute it to, say, not being able to handle a great like Aidan Hutchinson, or maybe the law of averages has finally kicked in and Michigan finally has one.
This is four straight games and this should have been a mismatch, a completely lopsided affair. The talent difference was large. The seasons went in different directions.
Michigan quarterback Davis Warren – the aforementioned walk-on with an inspiring story – completed just nine passes for 62 yards and two picks. His longest was just 18 yards, caught by a receiver, Peyton O’Leary, who entered the game with just eight receptions and originally signed as a lacrosse player in Massachusetts.
That sounds like a story from the MAC.
But in the end, The Game was the game – won by brute force and not by recruiting rankings, by will and will, not by NFL draft status. When the end of the season comes and the temperatures drop and the wind picks up, there aren’t many tricks to be done.
Michigan was stronger again, downright tougher. The Wolverines defeated the Buckeyes 172-77, always the biggest predictor of success in this annual clash. Kalel Mullings had 116 yards all by himself.
Day’s failure to address this, even while acknowledging the injuries to the offensive line, will haunt him until he does.
“We just couldn’t control the game in the run game,” Day said. “The overall execution was not good enough.”
There was more, of course. Two interceptions, two missed field goals and zero sacks didn’t help. And a gruesome 12-man penalty on Michigan’s final drive gave the Wolverines a first goal and a chance to kill more clock.
The nerves and pressure were one-sided at times, perhaps a sign not only of the losing streak, but of the unhealthy intensity Day brings to this match.
By the end it was all too clear, even to disbelieving eyes everywhere. Ohio State was shut out in the second half and the final first down came with 5:59 left in the third – Michigan’s defense simply shut everything down as the boos rained down on the Buckeyes and their coaches.
Meanwhile, Michigan pushed and pushed and overcame their own mistakes, turnovers and limitations to win again. Next year they welcome the No. 1 overall recruit and have upped their NIL recruiting game to match the money in Columbus.
If there was ever a year where Ohio State could take the initiative, get it going and celebrate, this was it. Ohio Stadium was packed and looking for revenge.
Near the end, they were yelling at Day, who despite a 66-10 record is somehow sitting on a hot seat that only a national title can cool.
“Everyone wants to win this game in the worst way possible,” Day said. “Nobody wants to win more than us. It’s our No. 1 goal…I don’t blame anyone for being upset.”
That includes the Ohio State players who took great exception to Michigan’s attempt to “plant” a flag on their logo after the game. A wild fight ensued, complete with punches and pepper spray.
Whether you think it’s Michigan’s fault for the flag antics or Ohio State’s fault for showing more fight after the game than during the game, it hardly matters. That it could happen again is what will linger behind the volleys of “classless” behavior.
“Those guys are trying to put a flag on our field and our guys weren’t going to let that happen,” Day said. “This is our field and we are obviously disappointed that we lost the game, but we have some proud guys in our team [that] I’m just not going to sit back and watch that happen.”
“They gotta learn to lose, man,” Michigan’s Mullings countered.
On Michigan’s losing side, they can get plenty of practice and until Ryan Day learns how to win this game, even with a stacked roster, maybe nothing can spare him.
