Last Season's Loss To Michigan Has “Not Been Easy” To Live With For Ohio State

"Coming off that game, we were highly motivated this season to get back to where we are right now."

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day and his players have had to live with last season’s loss to Michigan for the last 357 days, as it snapped an eight-game winning streak in the series and kept the Buckeyes from their fifth-straight Big Ten title and third-straight College Football Playoff appearance.

“That has not been easy,” Day said following Ohio State’s 43-30 win at Maryland on Saturday afternoon. “Our guys focused on it all offseason, and during the season, it’s always in the back of our minds. We work on it every day of the year, so now that week is officially here.”

The Buckeyes have won 12 straight games since that loss in Ann Arbor, including victories over No. 11 Penn State and No. 18 Notre Dame, representing the second-longest winning streak in the country behind only defending national champion Georgia (13).

It’s exactly where Day hoped and expected Ohio State to be, and now the Buckeyes have a chance to get revenge in their first home game against the Wolverines since 2018, as the 2020 matchup was cancelled due to a coronavirus outbreak within the Michigan program.

“I think we’re more experienced. I think we’ve been scarred,” Day said. “Coming off that game, we were highly motivated this season to get back to where we are right now. There’s been a lot of hard work, a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get back to where we are right now.

“Now all the chips go in, and now it’s time to get to work this week and have a great week of preparation for the game on Saturday.”

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That said, Saturday’s win over the Terrapins was much closer than the score shows, as the Buckeyes forced a fumble and returned in for a touchdown in the final seconds. The Wolverines also needed a game-winning field goal with nine seconds remaining to beat Illinois, 19-17, at home on Saturday.

Day doesn’t believe that either result is indicative of what we’ll see when the teams meet next Saturday with a trip to the Big Ten Championship Game – and likely a return trip to the College Football Playoff semifinals – on the line.

“If you look over the years, there’s been times where – for instance – last year (against Michigan State) it was 49-0 at halftime and then we lost The Game,” Day said. “Then there’s other times where you limp into The Game and you win.

“At this point, it’s just a matter of winning the game (the week before). I know they were in a battle today, but that’s playing in the Big Ten in November.”

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