The Ohio State Buckeyes can live with losing to any team — except the Michigan Wolverines. That's why the loss of Ohio State football to the Wolverines last season still stings for Buckeyes nation.

Speaking about the rivalry between the two Big Ten schools, former Ohio State football head coach Urban Meyer revealed one key reason behind his success against Michigan during his time in Columbus: a coach whose only role was to eat, sleep, and breathe Michigan football.

“Yeah, I’ve said this many times, I’d argue with anybody, I’m not sure there’s anybody who’s ever respected that rivalry more than I have,” Uban Meyer said to reporters during a recent appearance on Ohio State football coaching convention (h/t Maize N Brew). “I studied it; we had a board everywhere about who they recruited, what they were doing offensively and defensively. I had one coach — that’s all he did was watch them year-round. So when someone says, ‘The team up north wasn’t very good,’ then I would look at them and say, ‘You don’t really understand this rivalry.’ You don’t understand that when we played them, I think three times they were top-five in the country. So they’re always good. If someone said they’re not very good, usually that conversation ends quickly because that guy doesn’t respect the rivalry. That’s one of the top programs in America, they’ve got a great coach and it’s a great rivalry.”

Ohio State football lost to Michigan in 2022 to the tune of a 45-23 score in Columbus. The Wolverines also won the matchup in 2021 in Ann Arbor, 42-27. That's two wins in a row now for the Wolverines in this rivalry that Michigan still leads all-time, 60-51-6.