National media slams Ohio State, praises Michigan Football after shocking CFB Saturday

Trent Knoop | Dec 1, 2024

Kyle Robertson/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It was supposed to be a cakewalk for the Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday when it entered the game as massive favorites over the Wolverines. But that's why the game is played and not decided on paper.

For the fourth year in a row, Michigan proved to be too physical and dominated in the trenches over Ohio State. The Wolverines only mustered 13 points but that was enough for the inept Buckeyes' offensive attack. Chip Kelly befuddled everyone with constantly calling runs right up the middle at Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant -- it wouldn't work.

Following Michigan's 13-10 win over the Buckeyes, here's how the national media responded.

Nicole Auerbach (NBC Sports) '10 Takeaways from Week 14: Michigan stuns Ohio State, Miami stumbles and Georgia survives'

1. Ohio State should move on from Ryan Day

I don’t know if the Buckeye administration will pull the plug now ahead of the College Football Playoff or it will wait to see if Ohio State can win a national championship to make up for its fourth straight loss to Michigan. But anything short of a national title coupled with Saturday’s embarrassing three-point loss to a deeply flawed Wolverine squad should lead to Day’s dismissal. Your job as the head football coach of Ohio State is to beat Michigan, whether That Team Up North is great, good or not-so-good. And Day can’t beat any of those versions of Michigan.....

2. Sherrone Moore’s Year 1 will be defined by Michigan’s upset of Ohio State.

Forget about the quarterback merry-go-round or the lopsided losses to Texas and Oregon. Moore’s first season as the full-time head coach of the Wolverines will be remembered for Michigan pulling off the biggest upset in the history of its rivalry with Ohio State. The Wolverines were 21.5-point underdogs on the road against their hated rival, and they not only played the exact game they wanted and needed to in order to have a shot at winning, they actually went out and won the game despite an anemic passing game and multiple turnovers. Moore is now 2-0 against Ohio State, and as we know because of how hot Day’s seat has gotten because he can’t beat Michigan, beating Ohio State goes a long way for the head coach in Ann Arbor. Plus, he’s bringing in the No. 1 overall recruit in the country in quarterbackBryce Underwood. How the tables can turn in just a few weeks!

Brandon Marcello (CBS Sports) 'Is Ryan Day on the hot seat? Maybe not, but angst will only grow as Ohio State's pricey roster falls flat'

How does a program with the most expensive roster in college football (reportedly $20 million in NIL money) lose to a five-loss Michigan team that looked inept most of the season?

The questions mostly drew befuddlement with Day and players offering a variation of an "I don't know," a shake of the head and more tears. The College Football Playoff still seems attainable, of course, but the future is suddenly cloudy. This was the perfect roster to end the streak and win a national title. One of those goals is still attainable.

Stuart Mandel (The Athletic) 'Mandel’s Final Thoughts: Kyle McCord outplays Will Howard, and more Ohio State woes'

...Whether by his own choice or his employer’s, it’s hard to imagine Day will be back in Columbus next season to try again, given the anguish he says the Michigan losses have caused him and his family. Perhaps he will take a cue from John Calipari, who read the room after Kentucky basketball’s unthinkable NCAA Tournament loss to Oakland last March and hatched his own exit plan to Arkansas.

...Michigan, led by running back Kalel Mullings (32 carries for 116 yards), managed to beat the No. 2 team in the country despite quarterback Davis Warren going just 9 of 16 for 62 yards and two interceptions. It’s arguably the biggest upset in the history of the rivalry, even more so than the famed 1969 Bo-over-Woody game. (Michigan was a 17-point dog in that one.)Coming on the heels of his Bryce Underwood recruiting coup, the win completely changes the story of Sherrone Moore’s first season as head coach.

Austin Meek (The Athletic) 'Michigan’s mastery over Ohio State and Ryan Day continues: ‘We own you’

 Sherrone Moore tipped back his head, puffed out his chest and let out a roar that could be heard loud and clear inside a mostly silent Ohio Stadium.

“We own you!” Moore shouted, and he wasn’t wrong. Michigan owns Ohio State. Saturday’s 13-10 victory, Michigan’s fourth consecutive in the series, removed any doubt.

Pat Forde (Sports Illustrated) 'Ohio State-Michigan Football Rivalry Needs Reset After Postgame Melee'

Earlier this week, Day told an Ohio TV station how much his three-game losing streak to Michigan had affected himself and his family: “It’s one of the worst things that’s happened to me in my life, quite honestly. Other than losing my father and a few other things, like it’s quite honestly, for my family, the worst thing that’s happened. So we can never have that happen again, ever.”

It happened again. In a game Ohio State was supposed to win in a landslide. With a $20 million roster that was put together in a direct, urgent, all-in response to watching Michigan win the national title last season.

Seeing how much a fourth straight loss to the Wolverines tore up Day’s kids—and then seeing the teams engage in a postgame brawl—it’s time for a reality check. This has all become too much.

.....And yet, it was Michigan punching out first downs with the game on the line. Ohio State had none in the fourth quarter, and none in the last 20 minutes of the game. With all that talent.

The longer this game was close, the worse the aura became for the Buckeyes. A crowd of 106,005 was prone to stretches of dread-laced, brooding silence. Two missed field goals shorter than 40 yards added to an aura of doom. You could almost feel the weight of it all crushing everyone in scarlet and gray.

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More Michigan News:

Takeaways: Michigan stuns Ohio State and wins for the fourth year in a row

Sherrone Moore on Michigan being tougher than OSU: 'That's who we are'

PFF grades: Michigan Football player grades, snap counts following major win over Ohio State