It doesn’t get much bigger in college football than the last Saturday in November. That’s when the Michigan Wolverines and Ohio State Buckeyes lock horns in what has become known as “The Game.” For years now the matchup has played a role in how the national championship picture plays out.
The last couple of meetings have been directly attached to how the College Football Playoff teams have been selected. In 2021, Ohio State was left out of it following a loss to the bitter archrival Wolverines. 2022 was a bit different, with the Wolverines winning again but both teams making the CFP.
As both enter Saturday’s affair undefeated, the pressure is on both programs. For No. 3 Michigan it’s either win or be left out of the playoffs because of a weak non-conference schedule.
For the No. 2 Buckeyes it’s either win or have head coach Ryan Day face even more scrutiny after three consecutive losses to the Wolverines, something that hasn’t happened since (1995-97) when John Cooper led the Buckeyes. It would also make Day 1-3 against the Wolverines which is a no-no.
Pressure Mounting For Day
Despite a 55-6 record, two Big Ten championships and three College Football Playoffs for Day in five seasons, Day is facing immense pressure heading into Saturday’s matchup. Of his six losses, three have come in the playoffs, and two have come to Michigan. Day is hoping to avoid the trap that cost former Buckeyes head coach John Cooper his job in 2000 after 13 seasons and a 111-43-4 record.
Of those 43 losses and four ties, 11 came in the two longtime rivals’ end-of-the-year matchup, with 10 losses and one tie versus just two wins. That just isn’t gonna cut in Columbus. Three times (1993, 1995 and 1996) the Buckeyes entered the game undefeated, only to lose. To make matters even worse, each loss came to a Michigan team ranked outside the Top 20.
Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt, who’ll be calling Saturday’s affair alongside the legendary Gus Johnson, had this to say about what Day is feeling on his podcast, “The Joel Klatt Show.”
“I think that the pressure of this game is going to be uniquely felt by Ryan Day. Now, I’ve gotten to know Ryan Day very well. I think Ryan’s one of the best coaches in America,” Klatt continued. “He’s one of the guys that I would love my sons to play for. He is just a good man, has an excellent staff, he recruits at a high level and he’s under an immense amount of pressure.”
“Why?” Klatt asked. “Because this fan base requires you to beat Michigan. He’s done just about everything now. He just hasn’t won a national championship, but he’s won playoff games. He’s won the Big Ten Championship and yet, these last two losses against Michigan have put him in a situation where his fan base is looking squarely at him saying, ‘You have to win this game.’”
Buckeyes Have Dominated The Last 21 Meetings
In the last 21 matchups the Buckeyes have dominated, going 17-4, but it’s those last losses 42-27 in Ann Arbor in 2021 and 45-23 in 2022 in Columbus, that have the pressure leaning heavily toward Day. With no Jim Harbaugh on the opposing sideline as he serves the final game of his three-game suspension as part of the sign-stealing scandal that’s swept through the football program, Day needs to take advantage and get back in the winner’s circle of “The Game.”
