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The most interesting thing I heard Ryan Day say Tuesday at Ohio State was he needs the quarterback to make the coaches like right.
When it's the way we drew it up, make the routine plays routinely. And when it's not the way we drew it up, you've got to make the coaches right.
That struck me for two reasons:
1. The comment was at least a little bit tongue-in-cheek.
He delivered that line with a grin, and the fact he can joke about the most important player on the field was probably a good sign as far as his state of mind.
Overall I thought he brought the same slow burn, calm intensity into this press conference he has most of this year.
I know writing about VIBES can be dangerous, but they were pretty good Tuesday and have been all season.
On the flip side, there were times last year it seemed like Day was a little too serious going all the way back to the summer at Big Ten Media days. Definitely not TOO intense this time around.
2. The quarterback play really hurt Ohio State the last two seasons.
In 2023, Kyle McCord spotted Michigan seven points when he tried to force a slant to Marvin Harrison Jr. that was taken away by Will Johnson. That gave Michigan a first-and-goal and soon a 7-0 lead.
Last year, Will Howard reversed the momentum from a goal line stand by the Ohio State defense to start the second quarter by throwing a bone-headed pick over the middle that was returned to the 2-yard line and gave Michigan’s very limited offense a mulligan it didn’t waste.
Both miscues gave Michigan early leads and prevented Ohio State from getting comfortable in high-stakes games.
Before that, Ohio State usually had the upper hand in quarterback play, a nice cheat code in a series where games are usually closely contested even when one looks a lot better on paper.
Michigan also seemed snake-bit at the position at times, including 2017 when the Wolverines likely pull off an upset if not for having to start backup John O’Korn. That was also the game J.T. Barrett left early with a knee injury, leading to surprise heroics from Dwayne Haskins Jr.
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This weekend Michigan will start a true freshman in Bryce Underwood while Ohio State will have redshirt freshman Julian Sayin.
Both were five-star recruits coming out of high school, and both will be expected to carry a team when they have fully blossomed.
This weekend the bigger challenge might be not trying too hard to do that, especially for Underwood. He has had a tendency to force throws at times and make mistakes, much more than Sayin, but anything can happen in one game.
Ohio State will need Sayin to continue playing as well as he has all season as a ball-control passing game is likely the Buckeyes’ best path to victory. The onus will be on him to figure out when to go for the big play and when to take the easy completion to keep the chains moving.
Or, as Day described it:
Well, I think that's the art of being a quarterback. If you just start winging it, then you're going to put yourself at risk just because you're winging it. It comes naturally.
You have to make great decisions. And when it's time to compete, you've got to compete. But that's understanding time, situation, score, and everything that comes with it.
So Julian is going to do a great job preparing this week. He has all the way up to this point. And he's going to work as hard as anybody in the building to make sure he's ready.
That’s not a new philosophy, but I guess that is sort of the theme of the week.
Day believes repeating what’s been working since the playoff run last year will lead to happier times against the Wolverines.