Ryan Day set an important tone heading into the Michigan game, and Ohio State has responded: Stephen Means’ H
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — “This is what it’s all about. We’re going to be attacking from the jump in this one.”
Those are the words of Ohio State’s head coach, Ryan Day, just before its game against Michigan was about to kick off. Then he backed that up as the Buckeyes held the Wolverines to a field goal on the opening drive, then followed up with back-to-back deep balls to their two best weapons.
It ended up coming back to bite them because a throw to Carnell Tate got batted away, and a throw to Jeremiah Smith got intercepted. But it’s the idea that counted.
OSU showed early that it would choose aggression, and it allowed it to do everything else it wanted to do. It created balance by first telling Michigan it was right to fear what its best asset is, regardless of whether it led to a positive result.
It opened up Bo Jackson as a weapon in the running game and passing game, turning 15 touches into 114 yards. It eventually got Smith a 35-yard touchdown catch.
Not losing faith in Julian Sayin and his body of work, even after an early turnover, is the primary reason why the Buckeyes walked into halftime with a 17-9 lead, where it controlled the pace offensively. Meanwhile, the defense never allowed the Wolverines to maximize any positive moments in the game.
OSU is in the driver’s seat to end a four-game losing streak because it trusted in what it spent 11 games building. You can list a million different reasons for why it’s been on the wrong end of these games the past four years, but all of it comes back to the simple fact that it constantly found itself playing on its opponent’s terms.
That finally changed in 2025, at least through the first 30 minutes.
Ohio State controlled the game. It dictated how things would play out and put together a performance that looked oddly familiar to what it’s done in the first 11 weeks.
Things weren’t perfect for the Buckeyes. But that was a professional first half in Ann Arbor. Now rinse and repeat for 30 more minutes, and the game is yours.
