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The Michigan football team pulled off one of the most shocking upsets of the year in college football on Saturday. The Wolverines went into Columbus to take on #2 Ohio State as massive underdogs, and they somehow pulled out a 13-10 win against their bitter rival. Michigan has now won four games in a row against the Buckeyes, and Ohio State football head coach Ryan Day is facing a lot of criticism for the loss.
One person that couldn't believe the result of the game is Colin Cowherd. Cowherd went on a four-minute rant on Monday about how bad the loss was, and he even called it the Buckeyes' worst ever defeat in the rivalry.
“Ohio State, Michigan. I don't care what anybody says, that's the worst loss for Ohio State in the history of that matchup,” Cowherd said. “They lost at home to a walk-on quarterback at Michigan, a team that can't throw with the forward pass, that was missing two of their stars. And so Michigan, for the last four seasons, this game has always been about physicality. Whichever team has the most rushing yards has won this game 23 straight years, and the last four it's been Michigan. So, Ohio State spent almost four hours trying to prove they could win that way, which is not what they are.”
Ohio State tried hard to establish the run, and they couldn't do it. A lot of Buckeyes fans weren't happy with the plan of attack.
“They're pretty, they're more finesse,” Cowherd said of the Ohio State football team. “They have unbelievable wide receivers. So, Ryan day is super sensitive to this narrative that Ohio State, under Ryan day, is finesse and they're soft and they lack toughness, and he does not like that at all, but get over it. When you're a head coach, it's about winning. You have to be able to block out the media and the noise and not worry about the aesthetics. Sometimes a defensive coordinator, he's looking to pat a resume. He wants sacks. Offensive coordinator wants to be clever. A head coach is there to say it's about winning the game. It is about using our best players to win the game.”
It was clear that Ryan Day wanted to win that game by being the tougher, more physical team. Unfortunately, that's just now what Ohio State is.
“Ohio State's got good running backs,” Cowherd continued. “They have unbelievable wide receivers and a more than capable head coach. They went into that game to prove a point. Michigan just played Michigan football. We can't pass. We're going to be the more physical team. Ohio State's a better team, but this was Ryan Day, who has shown he's very sensitive. He clapped back at Lou Holtz. Remember that when Lou Holtz questioned their toughness and he was more worried about looking a certain way than just playing the game he should have played? This was Ryan Day responding to Lou Holtz after they beat Notre Dame last year when Holtz called the Buckeyes soft. Remember that? Lou Holtz is like 90, who cares? He's a commentator. Now, who cares? You can't worry about that stuff.”
The good news for Ohio State is that they will still be in the College Football Playoff, but Buckeyes fans want to see wins against Michigan.
“I honestly watched that game and I'm like, ‘Oh, Ryan Day is trying to prove a point,' and what happened to Ohio State? I still think they can get to the national championship,” Cowherd said. “I think they would probably lose to Texas, but I think they can beat anybody, and maybe Texas. I'm not bailing on him. I'm not firing Ryan Day. Too good of a coach. They become Kentucky basketball. Kentucky basketball did everything right, except win in March, everything else. They were great at getting publicity, recruiting, the NIL, the transfer portal, developing players for the NBA. Kentucky did everything right under John Calipari, except win in March, and Ohio State does virtually everything right with Ryan Day, except beat Michigan and win bowl games.”
This was a golden opportunity for the Ohio State football team to get a win against Michigan. If Ryan Day couldn't get it done with everything in his favor, when will he get it done?
“They do everything else well. NIL, their collective is huge,” Cowherd said of the Buckeyes. “They use the transfer portal. They win a lot of games. Head coaches are not about proving points. Who cares what Lou Holtz says? I mean, it's like, you know, it'd be one thing if you're playing Lou Holtz the following week. But Michigan has limitations, by the way, this year. They won't have them next year, they just signed the top quarterback out of high school football, and they're loading up. This was the year to beat Michigan.”
Michigan was not a good team this year. They didn't come out and play a perfect game to get the upset. The offense was bad on Saturday for the most part as they committed two awful turnovers. However, they found a way to run the ball effectively because they are still the tougher, more physical team.
“I watched Michigan play six times. They were hard to watch,” Cowherd added. “I mean, Michigan's like – I'm going to turn to the Western Kentucky game. It's more dynamic. For them to win that game in Columbus is… I still can't. It's unbelievable, but a head coach's job is not to win arguments, it's to win games. It's not to prove a point. It's to prove you're better. And I thought it was a bad game plan. Nothing about it smelled right or felt right. And that game now goes back to Michigan. And they've loaded up last two years with recruits and they have the number one high school quarterback in the country. This was the year to get them. Wild.”
Michigan has now won four in a row against the Buckeyes, and The Game will be back in Ann Arbor next season.
