Ryan Day has gotten a lot of flak over his tenure at Ohio State for not winning The Game. Of course, Day had won it in his first year, but since that first win, Michigan had turned the tables on what was a lopsided rivalry in the 2010s. Michigan seemed to win each game by being the tougher team, pulling away late after wearing you down with hard, physical runs for the first three quarters.

2025 started like a repeat of past sins, with Michigan scoring on its first drive by ripping off chunk plays on the ground. Then Julian Sayin followed that up with a horrible interception, trying to hit Jeremiah Smith in double coverage. Over the past few years, Michigan would’ve rolled that momentum to a close win — but this Ohio State team is entirely different.

Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith were not forgotten this year, as Day was able to lean on his sure-handed receivers to pick up critical first downs and keep the Buckeyes on schedule all game long. More importantly, they were able to spread out the Michigan defensive line, which allowed Bo Jackson to have the game of his freshman year, totaling 166 combined yards of offense.

One of the biggest criticisms of Day was that he wasn’t willing to lean on his passing game when Michigan’s defensive front took over in The Shoe last year. He learned from those mistakes, but also didn’t stray away from the slow, methodical offense that has led them to an undefeated appearance in the Big Ten Championship.

He took a big shot to Smith on 4th down when the game felt shaky, and then at the end of the half, when Ohio State couldn’t finish on the ground at the goal line again, Day trusted Sayin and Brandon Inniss on a quick hook route over the middle to give the Buckeyes breathing room before the half. Those types of plays have gone against Ohio State every time since 2021, and today they showed why they were significantly better than an average Michigan team.

Most importantly, when you’re talking about Ohio State this year, you have to praise this defense. They were in bend-but-don’t-break mode in the first half, and in the second half, they became the ’85 Bears. Michigan ran only 18 plays in the second half and held the ball for 6:20 of game time. The Michigan offense had no answers for the playmakers in white, and on offense, Day followed the Jim Harbaugh script, bleeding the game dry to pull out the win.

This Ohio State team is clearly the best in the country, but they’ll have their biggest test of the year against Indiana. Will the defense be able to slow down the best offense in the country? If today was any preview of that matchup, then I certainly think they will.