Booger McFarland amazed by pressure Ohio State had regarding Michigan game

Ohio State is set to play Notre Dame in the national championship game on Monday. Still, losing to Michigan for a fourth consecutive year in Columbus has kept a bad taste in the Buckeyes mouths throughout the College Football Playoff.

ESPN’s Booger McFarland revealed that he’s surprised to see the amount of pressure the Buckeyes have to beat the Wolverines every year. Recently joining On3’s Andy Staples & Ari Wasserman ahead of the national championship game, McFarland explained his perspective on the issue.

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“I don’t know if you ever convince anybody in Ohio of this, but maybe, just maybe — the national championship means more than beating Michigan,” McFarland told the On3 co-hosts. “I think this team has finally figured that out.”

It’s one thing to lose The Game on your home turf, but to have Michigan plant the flag in the middle of the O at the 50-yard-line has left a lasting picture in the minds of angry Buckeyes fans who are tired of losing to their archrival. It doesn’t help that the loss not only kept Ohio State from playing in the Big Ten Championship, but it cost them a bye into the quarterfinals of the CFP while Michigan was an unranked team with five losses on its resume.

Given those circumstances, Ohio State was favored coming into the matchup and expected to win big. Instead, they totaled their lowest scoring output of the season with 10 points and was left scoreless in the second half.

“It’s amazing to me how much pressure the state of Ohio, people that went to Ohio State, put on that team for that game,” McFarland said. “I can’t fathom it. I’ve tried to figure it out; I’ve tried to get people to explain it to me, and nobody really can do it to the level that I can understand it. But the only thing I can figure out, is they put so much pressure on that team that they’ve got to be perfect, and they’ve got to win that game.

“They’ve got to be physical, and they have to beat Michigan that they play that game so tight. They play that game not to lose.”

Ohio State has done a good job putting the loss behind them, and now have an opportunity to win its first national championship in a decade. Kickoff between the Buckeyes and Irish is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on Monday night live on ESPN.