What they're saying after Michigan's win over Ohio State

The Michigan Wolverines took down the Ohio State Buckeyes for the third season in a row, grabbing a 30-24 win in Ann Arbor on Saturday. An emotional day ended with U-M booking its third-straight trip to Indianapolis to play for a Big Ten title.

The performance drew plenty of reaction from local and national voices. Here is a sampling of what prominent outlets were saying after Michigan’s signature victory over the Buckeyes.

Ryan Van Bergen, TheWolverine.com Podcast

Wolverine TV podcast: Reacting to another victory over Ohio State
“I mean, it’s incredible. It really is. It’s too hard to try to put into words how difficult it must have been for this team to overcome some of the things that they’ve had to deal with this season. And you might think, ‘Oh, don’t paint yourselves as a victim,’ but to have guys from the NCAA, to have guys from the Big Ten in your football facility, the week of the Penn State game and pulling guys out for interviews and interrupting your practice regimen for stuff that again has very little evidence that has been hard proof brought to substantiated evidence.

“They’re dealing with that. They’re dealing with coaches that have been terminated. They’re having a lot of what they’ve put all their hard work into diminished by some of the negative things that have been being said out there and these guys have worked their asses off. To be in a position at this end of the season, at the end of the season to win a Big Ten championship, beat Ohio State, go back to Indianapolis and make another appearance in the college football playoff, I feel like movies aren’t written to this level.

“I’m so happy for these guys to be able to have this experience, and who knows what’s coming next, but this experience and be able to finish the way that they did [was incredible].”

Chris Balas, The Wolverine

Michigan 30, OSU 24: Notes, quotes, and observations – no more tears
Before Ohio State’s game with Penn State earlier this year, coaches Ryan Day and James Franklin met at midfield with one of the biggest bro hugs you’ll ever see. We don’t know for sure, but we’d guess that Jim Harbaugh’s name came up as they engaged in giddy chat like a couple of pre-teen girls at a slumber party. 

Both coaches were afforded great opportunities when the Big Ten suspended the Michigan head coach for their games in unprecedented fashion. With that, though, came something they probably didn’t think much about at the time — the added pressure of having to beat one of the nation’s most battle-tested teams without him. 

For the second time in three weeks, the Wolverines overcame all the noise, the B.S. media narrative from the talking heads about sign stealing, etc., and beat a top 10 team. This one — a 30-24 win over Day’s Buckeyes — was especially sweet given many believe OSU was behind the private investigator(s) hired to try to take down the program for “illegal on-site scouting.” 

Like Franklin, Day didn’t have quite the same pep during his postgame walk through the tunnel. 

Michigan vanquished his Buckeyes for the third straight season. And while this one was actually relatively close (unlike the others), it was no less sweet. It was one of the biggest, in fact, in that it should — should — put to rest the narrative that Michigan needed anyone’s signs or any other advantage than each other to win. 

Andy Staples, On3.com

Ryan Day, Jim Harbaugh and an Ohio State-Michigan reversal of fortune
Day is 0-3 against Michigan since that first win. A reign of dominance over the Wolverines launched by Jim Tressel and elevated by Urban Meyer has been fumbled away. Saturday, Day didn’t even lose to Harbaugh. Day’s nemesis missed the game serving the third of a three-game suspension handed down by the Big Ten as a result of an investigation into allegations of in-person scouting and signal stealing in violation of NCAA rules. Michigan people think Day or someone else at Ohio State dropped the dime on the scouting network allegedly run by former Michigan analyst Connor Stalions. The Wolverines believe the accusations were a way to take Harbaugh off the board.

Those accusations might ultimately do just that depending on how the NCAA investigation — which could last a long time — finishes, but on Saturday that just meant that Day couldn’t even beat interim coach Sherrone Moore.

Moore, Michigan’s offensive coordinator, promised his players Friday that he’d be the most aggressive playcaller they’d ever seen come Saturday, and he kept that promise. Three times in the first half of Saturday’s 30-24 Michigan win, Moore went for it on fourth and short. The first, on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line, resulted in a Blake Corum touchdown to cash in on a Will Johnson interception of Kyle McCord. The second and third came on a 14-play, 75-yard touchdown drive in the second quarter. “When you have confidence in them, it’s just like first down,” Moore said of the fourth-down plays.

Meanwhile, Day faced fourth-and-2 from the Michigan 34-yard line trailing 14-10 with 40 seconds remaining. The Buckeyes had crossed into Michigan territory on yet another superhuman Marvin Harrison Jr. catch. In a series that’s all about players, Ohio State still had the best one on the field. But after a Cade Stover catch short of the stick, Day decided not to try to get any closer. Instead of having faith in his offense as Moore had thrice over, Day let the clock run. Then he called timeout and sent out Jayden Fielding for a 52-yard field goal attempt that Fielding missed as the half expired.

Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti taking Harbaugh off the field made Day look even worse as Day got out-maneuvered by a guy in his fourth game as an acting head coach. The comparisons to John Cooper — an otherwise excellent Ohio State coach who went 2-10-1 against Michigan and lost his job because of it — continue to dominate any discussion of Day’s tenure. He’s 56-7 in five seasons at the helm of Ohio State. He’s 39-3 in Big Ten play. He’s 1-3 against Michigan, and that’s what matters most.

ESPN.com staff picks the College Football Playoff

Andrea Adelson: 1. Georgia 2. Michigan 3. Washington 4. Florida State
Blake Baumgartner: 1. Georgia 2. Michigan 3. Washington 4. Florida State
Kyle Bonagura: 1. Georgia 2. Michigan 3. Washington 4. Florida State
Bill Connelly: 1. Georgia 2. Michigan 3. Washington 4. Florida State
Heather Dinich: 1. Georgia 2. Michigan 3. Washington 4. Oregon
David Hale: 1. Michigan 2. Georgia 3. Washington 4. Florida State
Chris Low: 1. Georgia 2. Michigan 3. Washington 4. Florida State
Harry Lyles Jr.: 1. Georgia 2. Michigan 3. Washington 4. Florida State
Ryan McGee: 1. Georgia 2. Michigan 3. Washington 4. Oregon
Adam Rittenberg: 1. Georgia 2. Michigan 3. Washington 4. Florida State
Alex Scarborough: 1. Georgia 2. Michigan 3. Washington 4. Florida State
Mark Schlabach: 1. Georgia 2. Michigan 3. Oregon 4. Texas
Paolo Uggetti: 1. Georgia 2. Michigan 3. Washington 4. Oregon
Tom VanHaaren: 1. Georgia 2. Michigan 3. Washington 4. Florida State
Dave Wilson: 1. Georgia 2. Michigan 3. Washington 4. Florida State

Heather Dinich, ESPN.com

Dinich names Michigan No. 2 team in playoff projection
Why they could be ranked here: Michigan now has two (potentially) top-10 wins — Ohio State and Penn State — and has won two of its past three games on the road. The Wolverines played another complete game on Saturday, beating their rivals with smart playcalling from acting head coach Sherrone Moore, and an aggressive defense. The selection committee will consider that the Wolverines were able to win without coach Jim Harbaugh, who was suspended for his third straight game, and they overcame injuries to key players, including veteran offensive lineman Zak Zinter and cornerback Will Johnson. Michigan could certainly make a case as the nation’s No. 1 team, but Georgia’s résumé is still stronger.

Nicole Auerbach, The Athletic

Auerbach’s Top 10: Can Michigan’s big win put the Wolverines on top?
Every Wolverines win had been scrutinized over the past few weeks, as Michigan’s two-plus seasons of success became wrapped up in an NCAA investigation into alleged advance scouting rules violations. But no one can question whether or not Michigan earned its 30-24 win against Ohio State or its place atop the Big Ten. The Wolverines fought hard for every yard and point in their third consecutive win over their hated rival, which for the second year in a row was a matchup of unbeaten title contenders.

Acting head coach Sherrone Moore dazzled in the biggest game of his coaching career, stepping in to replace the suspended Jim Harbaugh for the fourth time this season on Saturday. He went for it on fourth-and-short three times in the first half, plugged in sparsely used backup quarterback Alex Orji to kickstart the quarterback run game in the second half and called a halfback pass for Donovan Edwards. Each aggressive move was rewarded, and each choice stood in stark contrast to the decisions of a surprisingly conservative Ryan Day on the opposite sideline. Then, with the game on the line, Michigan pieced together a seven-minute, 13-play drive to bleed clock and set up a field goal that extended the Wolverines’ lead to six, forcing Ohio State to try to cover 81 yards in 60 seconds for a touchdown to win it. Buckeyes quarterback Kyle McCord threw his second costly interception, and the game was over.

I’m not sure Michigan’s offense is explosive enough to win a game or two in the College Football Playoff, but this team is certainly good enough to earn a berth and try. It is not just physical at the line of scrimmage. Its toughness showed up in the way it responded when the Buckeyes threw punches and when the players had to pull themselves together after Zak Zinter’s serious leg injury in the third quarter. Blake Corum ran for a long touchdown on the next play from scrimmage.

Again, I don’t know what happens next or how this team will play with Harbaugh back on the sideline next Saturday. But the Wolverines are no fluke, and they are a win against Iowa away from a third consecutive trip to the CFP.

Stewart Mandel, The Athletic

Sherrone Moore outcoaches Ryan Day as Michigan flexes once again
The Big Ten tried to punish Michigan for its sign-stealing caper by suspending Jim Harbaugh for the Wolverines’ most important stretch of the season. Michigan initially attempted to sue, alleging “irreparable harm” if the players didn’t have their head coach on the sideline.

But now, we can look back and say that neither the punishment nor the counterargument held any validity. Third-ranked Michigan did not need Harbaugh to get to 12-0 and the cusp of the College Football Playoff — because the Wolverines had Sherrone Freaking Moore.

On Saturday, in the biggest college football game played this season, Michigan’s 37-year-old offensive coordinator and acting head coach ran circles around Ohio State counterpart Ryan Day, a guy with a .900 career winning percentage and one of the highest profiles in the sport.

Presumably, the Wolverines will give Harbaugh a warm welcome back for next week’s impending bloodbath against Iowa, but if for some reason he gets slapped with another suspension, Michigan has found itself a heck of a pinch hitter.

Pat Forde, Sports Illustrated

Ohio State’s Michigan Problem Is Now a Crisis
Ryan Day, now finds himself 1-3 against Michigan. He’s been blown out twice as a favorite and, now, he’s been beaten by an interim coach. Not only that, the interim coach (offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore) beat Day after losing his best defensive player (cornerback Will Johnson) and his best offensive lineman (guard Zak Zinter) during the game.

Coming on the heels of Urban Meyer’s 7-0 record against the Wolverines, this qualifies as a crisis. Day is 56-7 overall as Ohio State’s coach. He is 38-0 against Big Ten teams not named Michigan. He is a wildly successful coach except for one day a year, and it just so happens to be the day that matters most to Buckeye Nation.

“We know what this game means to so many people, so to come up short is certainly crushing,” Day said after the game. “The locker room is devastated.”

Day looked so wrecked that when I asked him if he thought he still had a playoff team, after losing an outstanding game on the road to a fellow unbeaten, he legitimately sounded too beaten down to even contemplate it.

“I haven’t even thought that far,” he said. “Everything was so focused on this game. I’d have to kind of process that. We have a very good team, we came up short today, it was devastating, but I believe in our players. I’d have to see what else is out there … but I do believe we can play with any team in the country.”

Any team but one. Again.

Shehan Jeyarajah

Loser: Ohio State coach Ryan Day
Buckeyes coach Ryan Day is 56-7 at Ohio State. He also has now failed to win a Big Ten title for three straight seasons, the longest stretch in a decade. After Saturday, he is also the first Ohio State coach since John Cooper to lose three straight games against Michigan. Worse, Day is 1-6 against AP top 5 opponents.

Simply put, Day is a bizarre case study of a coach who has won everything except the games that matter for three full seasons. There are few precedents. But after losing on Saturday and likely missing a second CFP in three years, Day is firmly on the hot seat in Columbus, Ohio.

To make matters worse, it was Day’s signature offense that failed in key spots. Quarterback Kyle McCord, a former five-star recruit, threw two backbreaking interceptions in the loss. Now, Day will go into next season without the best wide receiving duo in the nation (Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka). Everything is suddenly on the table.