Greg McElroy shares what a third win over Ohio State would mean for Jim Harbaugh

What a difference two years can make. In that amount of time, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh went from being unable to beat Ohio State to completely controlling the rivalry heading into this fall.

Now, the Wolverines are going for the three-peat in the OSU rivalry and have a home matchup with the Buckeyes to end the season, with a shot at three straight wins and total dominance in the series on the line. Over on his YouTube show, Always College Football, ESPN analyst Greg McElroy broke down what a third straight UM win would mean for both sides.

“What if Michigan beats Ohio State? Again, well, the first reaction I would have is: I feel bad for Ryan Day’s offseason heading into ’24,” McElroy said.

“Because he has had to endure countless criticism, I mean from fans, from people that have seemingly forgot what happened in the semifinal game where they were a series a sequence a couple plays away from beating Georgia, from getting to the national championship and probably winning the national championship against a TCU team that was totally overmatched. So that would be my first takeaway.”

On the other hand, for Michigan, a third win would further signal that Ohio State is no match for the Wolverines’ style of play, per McElroy.

“If that were to come to fruition for Michigan, it would mean that they continued the status quo,” McElroy said. “They have an edge right now or at least they have had an edge the last couple years at the line of scrimmage against Ohio State, and last year they were able to create a lot of big plays against an aggressive defense. That will likely continue.”

He continued, explaining the stylistic advantage Michigan has with the way they play Ohio State.

“Jim Harbaugh clearly found the recipe: to not just try to out-athlete Ohio State,” McElroy said. “You probably can’t do that. But hey, we can win in a phone booth better than they can win in a phone booth. They live on the perimeter, they live with their wide receivers. We’re going to live between the tackles and that’s where we’re going to hit you and we’re going to hit you over and over and over again.

“And then when you get greedy, we’re gonna hit a couple big plays down the field, we’re going to hit it to our underrated wide receivers, let them make a guy miss and they might be out the gate. We’ve seen that happen in the last couple years as well.”

McElroy also remarked on what an impressive accomplishment a three-peat in the Ohio State rivalry would mean, especially after his rough start against OSU.

“It would mean that Jim Harbaugh had done the unthinkable,” he continued. “They had protected their home field, naturally, but Jim Harbaugh done the unthinkable and people said he couldn’t beat Ohio State. Now he’d be beating them three straight years.”

However, he still thinks the bigger reaction in this scenario would come from Ohio State’s side, and Ryan Day would be the center of some outrage.

“But to me, the onus if this result happening at season’s end, it would really be more of an overreaction about where Ohio State’s program currently presides,” McElroy said. “It would not any longer be a conversation of 1A/1B, it would be a clear: Michigan one, Ohio state two. Which would be really uncomfortable for Buckeye fans, because that has not been the case for the better part of 25 years since it felt like there was a clear pecking order and Michigan was at No. 1.”

The last time the Wolverines dominated the series this much, McElroy notes that they wound up winning a national title.

“So going to be very interesting to see this one play out,” he continued. “If it does happen, though, like I said, first reaction is probably an overreaction about Ryan Day’s status as one of the top coaches in college football. It would also be the first time that’s happened since ’95, ’96, ’97, which ironically, is when Michigan won a national championship.”

UM fans are hoping for some late-90s deja vu this season.