COLUMBUS, Ohio — Money can cure problems, but sometimes it compounds a man’s underlying stressors with crippling interest.
No. 2 Ohio State paid the price — again — Saturday in its shocking 13-10 loss to unranked Michigan, thrusting the Buckeyes’ Big Ten title hopes into the ether and prompting questions about the direction of a proud program following an unimaginable fourth straight loss in The Game.
The tension was immeasurable inside Ohio Stadium, and sometimes the frustration boiled over among the 106,005 fans to points when Ohio State fans booed their team and coach Ryan Day following coaching miscues, penalties, two costly interceptions and a pair of missed field goals. Then came the show-stopper: Michigan players planting a flag at midfield, which led to Ohio State fans charging the scene with shoving and fisticuffs. Ohio State linebacker Jack Sawyer snagged the flag, ran to his sideline and tossed it away from the crowd as Michigan men gave chase. Police deployed pepper spray to break up the fracas between more than two dozen Buckeyes and Wolverines.
When the pepper spray in the air dissipated, all that remained were tears, anger and unanswerable questions. Both programs will deal with the fallout of the postgame fight, but one question will linger more than most: How can this happen?
How does a program with the most expensive roster in college football (reportedly $20 million in NIL money) lose to a five-loss Michigan team that looked inept most of the season?
The questions mostly drew befuddlement with Day and players offering a variation of an “I don’t know,” a shake of the head and more tears. The College Football Playoff still seems attainable, of course, but the future is suddenly cloudy. This was the perfect roster to end the streak and win a national title. One of those goals is still attainable.
“We’re very disappointed. Never thought this would happen right here,” Day said. “We’re expecting to win this game and go play in the Big Ten Championship Game, and neither of those things happened. We don’t know what’s going on now. It’s just too soon to try to figure out what’s next. But once we have more information in about a week, we’ll figure that part of it out.”
It seems silly to question Day’s status as Ohio State’s coach, but you can be sure the pressure is immense on the man critics unlovingly refer to as “Big Game Day.” He entered the season 2-5 against top-five teams, and losing to the Wolverines for a fourth straight time — especially this unranked, middling Michigan team after Jim Harbaugh bolted to the NFL amid two NCAA investigations — will only prompt more diehard Ohio State fans to demand blood.
“I don’t blame anybody for being upset,” Day said. “I’m upset more than anybody, and those players are, too, and the coaches and everybody that goes at it. We know what we’re getting ourselves into here.”
Day is an incredible 64-3 in games that do not include “The Team Up North” or the College Football Playoff, but he’s 2-7 in those career-defining moments. He’s also 4-6 against top-five teams, including a win against Penn State and a loss to Oregon earlier this season.
Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork declined to comment on Day’s performance after the loss signaling the Buckeyes’ first four-game losing streak against Michigan since 1991.
“Focused on the team, players, coaches,” Bjork told CBS Sports.
The Buckeyes managed only 252 yards, its running game was flat with two new starters along the offensive line and they were shut out in the second half. Michigan dictated the terms of The Game on a day the Buckeyes were set to coronate Day as the new king of the sport’s greatest rivalry. Instead, the Wolverines strangled the Buckeyes, holding the ball for all but 1:57 in the fourth quarter, including the 11-play dagger that ended with the game-winning field goal. In typical fashion, The Game was decided by the team with the most rushing yards, stretching that trend to 23 straight games.
Ohio State may have won the battle of the spreadsheets in the offseason, but the Buckeyes didn’t cash out Saturday. Their $20 million roster failed to deliver when it mattered most. Ole Miss transfer Quinshon Judkins, who made a splash when he picked the Buckeyes on the night Michigan won the national championship in January, was held to 46 yards. Quarterback Will Howard, who left Kansas State for the Buckeyes, returned to the game after suffering a hit to the head but threw two interceptions and was ineffective in the second half, throwing for only 56 yards to finish with 175 yards on 19-of-33 passing.
Howard choked back tears after the game.
“There’s nothing inside of me that wanted to come off of that field,” he said. “I was trying to get up. It hurts, man. It hurts. We got to go back and look at the film and see what happened in the second half. I don’t know what it was. We’ve gotta execute better. The bottom line is we lose and it hurts, man. I can’t say it enough: I’m sorry to Buckeye nation. Listen, we still have things ahead of us and we can still run the table and win a national championship. At the end of the day, that’s what we have to focus on and that’s got to keep us going because this one hurts like hell, man. I feel for those guys who came back. I feel for Coach Day,. Everything they poured into this. At the end of the day, we still got stuff in front of us. We’ll regroup and go from there tomorrow.”
Freshman phenom wide receiver Jeremiah Smith was stellar but wasn’t targeted often despite catching a touchdown and drawing two pass interference penalties on Michigan in the first half. Day’s decisions were questioned after the game, particularly the ineffective running game and the herky-jerky tempo with the no-huddle approach. Howard was also asked if he was disappointed in the play-calling and coaching decisions.
“I’m sorry, I’m going to stay away from that right now,” the quarterback said.
The big picture might not be bleak in Columbus, but it’s still cloudy. Ohio State sat atop the country as the nation’s richest school capable of attracting the sport’s best talent, but that might not last, either. Michigan tapped into the coffers of the second-richest man on the planet, Larry Ellison, and landed five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood last week, flipping him from LSU with an NIL deal worth a reported $10 million.
Of all the teams to land the quarterback, of course it had to be Michigan.
So, for another year, Michigan fans will boast. Their words will irritate the hell out of Ohio State fans, but It’s clear what happens in December will define whether this season is a success or failure. The Buckeyes’ boss foretold it to CBS Sports in July.
“So, look at the big picture,” Bjork said at the time. “Look at what [Day] is working with, look at the stage of the program. You can’t just pin it on that one [game], knowing that it’s big, but I think you have to look at the totality. In the 12-team playoff, the margin is a lot wider. And so does that game define what the postseason looks like? What if you make a run?”
Indeed, what if Ohio State makes a run in the CFP? It may seem impossible to discuss a national championship in the immediate aftermath of an emotional loss, but sure as the sun will again rise over the north rotunda at Ohio Stadium, time will heal wounds and help refocus the Buckeyes.
“Obviously you have to take the ownership and I’m the one ultimately that makes the final decisions on things,” Day said. “I felt like we were in a really good place coming into this game. I felt we were prepared to play well in this game.”
Money may not hide the pain, but Ohio State is still betting on it to be the difference this season.
