Dave Portnoy Tries To Rile Up Urban Meyer Again After OSU Damage Control Involving Will Howard

The FOX Sports college football pregame show is about to get rowdy. So if you’re looking for cool takes and polite banter, you’re on the wrong network. Imagine Dave Portnoy, Barstool’s bomb-throwing founder and loud. And also an unapologetic Michigan superfan, sharing the spotlight with Urban Meyer, the face of Ohio State’s football empire. Portnoy creates straight chaos, and with FOX giving him a weekly seat alongside Meyer, things are guaranteed to escalate quickly. And that’s because these two represent opposing sides of the Big Ten’s most vicious rivalry.

See, for years, Meyer was the villain in Ann Arbor. And Portnoy was the voice of every Michigan fan desperate to break OSU’s dominance. So now? Portnoy loves to remind viewers that Michigan has owned the Buckeyes lately. They rattled off four straight wins from 2021 to 2024, culminating in a stunning victory over OSU in Columbus last season. Meyer, meanwhile, wears the scars of those headline-grabbing defeats like a coach in a Cold War. So you can pretty much imagine what happens when Portnoy, after years of taking jabs at Meyer, gets another chance on the eve of the OSU-Texas showdown?

True to form, Portnoy takes another swing. While reading the game preview questions, Portnoy discovered a very opportunistic one that he could use against Meyer. The question read, “Hey Dave, Ohio State has spent the whole week worrying about a team they’re not playing this week. How mentally compromised are they for Texas?” Without thinking for a second, he walked towards Meyer with a cheeky reply in the back of his mind. “I would say very mentally compromised,” Portnoy responded. This reminds me of the phrase, ‘enemy of the enemy is a friend,’ so this isn’t a random jab. It’s calculated, part of a media landscape where heated rivalry sells. And when these two hit the set, expect more than just college football talk.

See, for every Ohio State highlight, Portnoy has a tweet ready to troll Meyer. Now, toss them on the same national stage, ahead of the most anticipated game for the Buckeys, and Portnoy wouldn’t miss the chance to sweat up his colleague with a brush of sarcasm. And even Meyer gets why the media circus is building. And because of that, he’s played it cool to the press, saying he’s only met Portnoy once and doesn’t really follow his antics. But Portnoy’s jabs also cost him dearly. And the fallout is juicy enough to keep college football fans talking until Thanksgiving.

The Buckeyes decided to clap back in the pettiest way possible. They banned Portnoy from the Horseshoe just before Ohio State’s massive opener against Texas. You’ve got to love the irony. Ohio State, it seems, had enough. Instead of taking it on the chin, they slammed the gates shut. The move was so sudden, even FOX reportedly “anticipated having issues” going in and gave themselves an escape hatch for exactly this drama.

On top of that, one former Michigan assistant even joked about sneaking Portnoy tickets under a fake mustache. But deep down, everyone knew what would happen. So now, for Portnoy, it’s time for damage control.

Dave Portnoy’s redemption from eBay

Dave Potnoy never misses a chance to flip a controversy and make it a spectacle in his own favor. With reports swirling about his “ban” from Ohio Stadium ahead of the OSU-Texas game, Portnoy went into classic damage control mode. He cooked up a play that nobody saw coming. To soften all the heat and show he wasn’t just there to troll, Portnoy rolled into Columbus planning to hand out 1,000 pairs of replica gold pants charms that he brought from eBay.

A legendary trinket commemorating Ohio State wins over Michigan, to Buckeye fans and players who weren’t even born the last time OSU beat the Wolverines. Pure showmanship, pure trolling, pure Portnoy. And while doing that, Portnoy also had a meeting with Will Howard, the former OSU QB. Instead of the expected trash talk, Portnoy extended a handshake and offered up genuine praise.

That’s not your usual Portnoy. On top of that, he also commented on the video that was shared of him and Howard. “Also, in an alternate universe, I think I’d love Will Howard. Seems like a great guy,” he said. It’s as close to earnest as Barstool gets, and it threw fans for a loop. He combined damage control with wild gestures. By handing out gold pants and shutting down the “ban” chatter with a handshake, Portnoy managed to be both the villain and the hero.