Ohio State vs. Michigan football showdown has a way of exposing hidden flaws

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Jim Harbaugh is right. Hate has no place in the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry.

Love thy neighbor, right? Even when the guy across the property line complains about living next to corn-fed hayseeds. Even when his directions for finding your city includes “North until you smell it, west until you step in it.”

“Grateful to be tested against this opponent at this time,” Harbaugh said. “It’s Thanksgiving … there’s no need to hate.”

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Fair enough. The Michigan coach made his point.

As for a little schadenfreude? Absolutely. The Game is nothing if not a chance to revel in the misery of your opponent. To embarrass him. To expose him as an overrated fraud. To question his qualifications. To suggest he was born on third base. And so on.

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In that way, Saturday’s game in 100-year-old Ohio Stadium is about more than two undefeated teams vying to win the Big Ten East and advance to next week’s conference championship game and then on to the College Football Playoff. It is about proving what you say you are actually is what you say you are.

For Ohio State, that means putting your macho where your mouth is. Criticized as being too soft after losing 42-27 to Michigan in Ann Arbor last season, the Buckeyes are out to show they can throw a punch as well as take one. Since that 2021 embarrassment in the Big House – the first loss to Michigan since 2011 – OSU coach Ryan Day, his staff and players have preached toughness, loosely defined by Day as “competitive stamina,” which means holding up under pressure when the burner gets dialed to high heat.

A more lenient argument says the Buckeyes did not deserve to be labeled as a team built on pretty-boy finesse more than blunt force. That it was simply an “off day.”

But Tommy Eichenberg sees that as excuse-making.

“We got exposed,” the Ohio State linebacker said this week.

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There is less chance of Ohio State getting exposed this time around, if only because their flaws are similar, if not as dramatic, as a year ago. The Buckeyes struggle against mobile quarterbacks (such as UM’s J.J. McCarthy) who are elite throwers (not McCarthy), lack lockdown cornerbacks and at times have stubbed their toe in the running game.

Michigan has a better chance of being found out as a fake. The Wolverines have faced a weaker schedule, and while their run defense is legitimate, their secondary is barely above average, which means OSU quarterback C.J. Stroud can make UM look like an imposter if he has his typical on-target game.

It has happened before, much to the delight of fans who love to pat themselves on the back and declare, “Told you so.”

Like in 2018, when Michigan brought its No. 1-ranked defense into Columbus only to see it get torched by an Ohio State offense that amassed 567 yards in a 62-39 blowout. Buckeye Nation delighted in UM’s disgrace: the 62 points were the most ever allowed by a Wolverines defense in regulation.

But turnabout is fair play, which brings us to 1995, when Ohio State showed up in Ann Arbor with a defense that had not allowed more than 209 yards rushing in a game, and the three opponents preceding the Wolverines netted 73, 59 and 48 yards.

No one except UM coaches could have predicted what happened next. Wolverines tailback Tim Biakabutuka shredded OSU for 313 yards in a 31-23 win.

To be fair to Ohio State players who lived through it, the 1995 debacle was more a case of the Buckeyes getting outcoached than exposed.

“It was a schematic thing, not a physical thing where they came out and decided to kick our (tails),” recalled former OSU defensive lineman Matt Finkes. “And the adjustment we made only made it worse.”

Michigan came out running an off-tackle zone read that OSU had not seen before, and the Buckeyes scrambled unsuccessfully to defend it. Almost every time Biakabutuka cut back, no scarlet and gray-clad body was there to stop him.

Adding insult? Biakabutuka gained 209 more yards than Eddie George (104), who sat crying on the bench afterward, so devastated was the eventual Heisman Trophy winner by another unexplainable loss to the Maize and Blue.

The 1990s were filled with similar heartbreak – say hello to the Shawn Springs slip in 1996 – but the ultimate “What just happened?” was the 1969 Michigan upset in Ann Arbor that kept Ohio State from winning its second consecutive national championship. Many in the media considered the No. 1 Buckeyes among the most dominating teams in college history, but the 11th-ranked Wolverines delivered a stunning 24-12 win that exposed OSU’s passing game as something designed by a third grader. Ohio State threw six interceptions, including five by Rex Kern, and older Michigan fans still delight in having ruined the Buckeyes’ season.

The 1969 game ushered in the 10-year war between Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler, and UM’s coach got off the first shot, proving he could win the big one.

Similarly, Day defeated the Wolverines in 2019 in his first year on the job, but after losing to UM last November he is in danger of becoming the first Ohio State coach since John Cooper to lose to Michigan two years in a row.

In that way, OSU and UM coaches are not so different from their teams in that they face the challenge of proving their worth – or being exposed – every time the Buckeyes play the Wolverines. Woody’s reputation went downhill fast when he lost his last three games to UM (1976-78). Everyone knows about Cooper’s 2-10-1 record against the Wolverines. And Michigan fans try to forget the 2-11 combined record of Rich Rodriguez, Brady Hoke and Harbaugh.

Day recalled his first OSU press conference in 2019.

“My first year being the head coach here and one of the first things we started off the whole press conference was 'it comes down to this game and you’ve got to win every game after it,' " he said. “I get it.”

But that doesn’t mean he has to like it. Day appears weary of questioning what it would take to quiet disgruntled fans who want perfection. He knows he must win every game, but The Game is at another level. Victory is demanded, not expected. Some Ohio State fans, mostly older ones, so the number is dwindling, would accept a .500 season as long as the Buckeyes defeat the Wolverines. Some even would choose a Michigan win over a national championship.

No wonder Saturday’s game is something of a public polling of his Day’s four-year tenure. He is 30-0 against unranked opponents, but 2-2 in bowl games and 1-1 against Michigan. The New Hampshire native, who a minority of fans fret does not have bleed scarlet blood, can always win the little ones. Can he consistently win the big ones?

Day continues to insist he loves it at Ohio State and there is no reason to doubt him. On the other hand, where is he on the hate scale with Michigan?

“Any time you’re fighting tooth and nail to win the game, because of what’s on the line, there is friction at times,” he said. “That’s just the way it works.”

The friction intensifies on Saturday. Which team will prove its point? Will one be exposed? Either way, Buckeye Nation and M Go Blue can’t wait to rub it in.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football, Ryan Day, need to prove point against Michigan