Michigan LT Ryan Hayes: 'If we don't win this game, the season doesn't mean that much'

Michigan Wolverines football is in “playoff mode,” set for a loser leaves town game this Saturday at Ohio State. Both the Wolverines and Buckeyes are 11-0 heading in for the first time since 2006, and the Big Ten East Division championship is on the line.

Win, and move on to Indianapolis for the conference title game. Lose, and await your fate on selection Sunday eight days later.

Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh said his team is “honored” to be in the position it’s in, calling the campaign to this point a “happy mission.” But graduate left tackle Ryan Hayes added that this game will define the season.

“We are all really happy to be here,” Hayes said. “We wanted to, we planned on it and we got here. So we’re just feeling good, but obviously, if we don’t win this game, the season doesn’t mean that much. If we don’t win this game, we’re not going to be too happy.

“We’re both 11-0, the season has been building to this point. It’s win or go home at this point. All we’re trying to do is win.”

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While Harbaugh hasn’t said it this week, the outcome of the Ohio State game does determine what kind of a year it is for the Maize and Blue — always has, always will. And he knows that as well as anybody.

“If we win this game, it’s a successful season. If not, then it’s not a successful season,” Harbaugh, then Michigan’s quarterback, said in 1986 before the Wolverines beat Ohio State in Columbus, 26-24.

Michigan’s goal was to go “1-0 each week,” but it’s been preparing for its arch rival since the Wolverines flipped the calendar from 2021 to 2022. U-M players said similar things last season, before dominating their rival in a 42-27 rout that led to a Buckeye identity crisis.

“Every day, from January on, we always have them in the back of our mind with anything we’re doing — it’s about them, it’s about winning this game at the end of the season,” Hayes noted. “So it just starts from January on, always have them in the back of our heads. We do periods of them [in practice], we watch them on film pretty much weekly, so it just starts with that.”

Part of the Ohio State identity crisis was a lack of toughness. The Buckeyes are “scarred” from their embarrassing loss at Michigan in which they allowed 297 rushing yards and only rushed for 64 yards — the least they had accumulated in a game since 2011.

Hayes said, based on film study, he believes Ohio State is “tougher” than last season.

“They got the new defensive coordinator. We watch them on film every week, a few plays, and I think they just really fly to the ball,” the Michigan lineman explained. “They’re playing together this year, and they definitely look a lot better.”

Ohio State ranks 15th nationally in rushing defense, allowing 107.9 yards per game, and has racked up 31 sacks, tied for 19th in the country.

“It’s definitely the best front-seven we’ve played up to this point,” Hayes said. “I think they’re really good players. We prepare the same every week. Obviously, this mean weeks a lot, but we’re going to do the same things we’ve done all season.”

Michigan will not change identity — Blake Corum or not

That includes running the football. Michigan averages the 11th-most rush attempts per game (44.3) for a whopping 243.8 yards on average (fourth).

Junior running back Blake Corum has been the bell cow, checking in fifth in the land with 132.5 rushing yards per game, but he went down with a knee injury last week against Illinois. He was able to return to the game for one second-half carry but didn’t finish things out, and his status for this weekend’s tilt is questionable.

“It obviously has an impact,” Hayes said of Corum missing time last week. “He’s probably one of the best, if not the best player, in the country. He’s huge for us.

“But I think we had a lot of other guys step up that we rallied around. I mean, we ended up finding a way to win, which is great for us.”

Added Hayes, after being asked how much of a blow it would be if Corum can’t play Saturday: “We planned on this. He’s a great player, but I think everybody else is just going to step up with him out. I think we’re up for the challenge and will do that.”

Michigan will still insist on establishing its physicality via the ground game, whether or not Corum is in the game.

“I don’t think we’re going to change our identity this game just because Blake [could be out] — obviously, Blake is a huge part of our offense, part of our team, but I think our identity stays the same,” Hayes said.

“In a game like this, winning the line of scrimmage, winning the rushing total is a huge factor in the game. So I think it’s going to be really important for us to win the line of scrimmage.”

If Michigan does have to throw the ball more, though, Hayes believes sophomore quarterback J.J. McCarthy and his receivers, the entire operation, will get it done.

“We have complete confidence in the quarterback room and wide receiver room,” Hayes declared. “I know if we need to, we’re going to be able to protect and he’s going to be able to throw that around. We have complete confidence in J.J. and the receivers and the tight ends.