By Kyle Golik
"The Game" has had some shockers in its long history. It seemed fait accompli with Ohio State as 20.5-point favorites over Michigan and how the Buckeyes had performed this season in three Top 5 matchups. It seemed Ohio State was set up for a No. 1 versus No. 2 matchup in Indianapolis for the Big Ten Championship and an opportunity to avenge an early season loss against Oregon.
Instead, Michigan maintained its physical superiority in the trenches and outgained Ohio State on the ground 173 to 77. Michigan also continued the silence of EDGE rushers Jack Sawyer and JT Tuimoloau. After four career games against Michigan, the combo will finish with one sack between them (Sawyer in 2023). Quarterback Davis Warren was allowed to be efficient enough despite Sawyer intercepting him in the red zone in the fourth quarter.
Ohio State fans are beside themselves once again, a fourth straight loss to Michigan hasn't happened since John Cooper went winless in his first six matchups going 0-5-1, with the 1992 tie avoiding six losses. You would think new athletic director Ross Bjork, who is inheriting this problem, would want to make an emphatic statement. He went a different direction.
"Our full focus right now is on the College Football Playoff and making a strong run," Bjork said to The Columbus Dispatch on Sunday. "We have a ton to play for. We have a great team made up of talented players and great young men. Coach (Ryan) Day does a great job leading our program. He's our coach."
"There's a ton of stability across the board within the program," Bjork continued. "We're always in the top five under his leadership. We're right there. We have great fan support, great donor support. There's going to be plenty of time to dissect what happened in the rivalry game the last couple years. But right now, we have to keep the main thing the main thing, and that's focus on the values of the program, focus on why we lead the young men, focus on the mission and the playoff."
As The Columbus Dispatch continued to press Bjork about how he would like to address the frustrated donors and fans, Bjork kept emphasizing the playoff over and over again.
Is Ohio State beginning to frame its program not on the result of a single game, albeit an important one, but more on overall success?
Do Day and Bjork not get it? I can assure you both Bjork and Day get the importance of this rivalry. Anyone associated with either Michigan or Ohio State knows the importance - they all get it and don't need to be reminded.
The difference between the Ryan Day tenure and John Cooper's is that Cooper never won any big games outside Michigan. Take away Michigan games, against power conference opponents, Cooper was 11-15-1 against teams that won nine or more games in his tenure. Day has 10 overall losses, four to Michigan, two to Oregon, then bowl defeats in New Year's Six or College Football Playoff action to Missouri, Alabama, Clemson, and Georgia.
Outside of the Alabama national championship rout and Missouri where Ohio State was impacted by the transfer portal and bowl opt outs, Ohio State was competitive to the point where they could have won each of those games in question.
Bjork is stating a fact that Day has Ohio State positioned annually for the College Football Playoff. They should be making their fourth appearance in six seasons under Day. That is the highest you can really achieve in college football.
In a way, Bjork sees the bigger picture of where college football is going, a more professional one, where you need to make the playoffs. If that is the goal for Ohio State, does "The Game," which for many years determined who would win the Big Ten or go to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Championship Game, make the Rose Bowl or College Football Playoff is now relegated elsewhere.
Think about it like this: Ohio State was 10-1 entering "The Game," was there any doubt Ohio State wasn't going to make the playoffs? No. It was a positioning game, a win sent them to Indy to compete for the Rose Bowl and a bye until January 1. A loss in Indy would mean a sure home playoff game in Columbus. Now a loss they actually suffered against Michigan, Ohio State teeters whether they would get a home game or go on the road in the first round.
Ohio State can go on a run and redefine their season. If Ohio State wins a national championship this season, every fan of the Scarlet and Grey would still boast they are champions. The pride will still be there.
Michigan will be able to say they won the battle; Ohio State could potentially say they won the bigger battle in a national championship. If the combatants lock up playoff berths prior to it, it just means less and that is what Ohio State's Bjork is conveying. They have the Playoff to focus on and win. It might just be time "The Game" moves from its traditional spot to mean more. The College Football Playoff might have made "The Game" like a Week 18 NFL game where teams have clinched and they're just going through the motions.