Bryce Underwood is unfazed by the hype surrounding the game against Ohio State. Even though he lost his first outing against the Buckeyes, the Michigan QB1 still wants to treat it like any other game. However, not everyone shares that opinion. For former Wolverine Colston Loveland, the Ohio State matchup brought about a different kind of energy in the locker room. Nothing less than a win was accepted.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
“Yeah, 100%,” Colston Loveland said during the August 28 episode of the Pivot podcast when asked if the game against Ohio State meant more for him. “I mean, every day out of the year, on all the TVs and monitors in the building, it’s ‘What are you doing to beat Ohio State?’ During practice, we’re always bringing up their name. It’s people like to say we’re in their head, like Ohio State’s in our head or whatever, but that’s just what it is.”
“I mean rivalries – we can win them all, and if we lose that game, it means nothing. So it was a big thing, and I feel like I took hold of it early on, and once you have that game, it’s like, man, you’ve got to ball out. This game has the most viewers. Everyone’s watching this game right here. Big noon, like it’s time to go.”
Colston Loveland experienced the peak of the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry during his college career under Jim Harbaugh. He never lost a game to the Buckeyes and won a national championship in 2023. He had a 3-0 career record against Ohio State. However, he was a DNP due to injury in the 2024 matchup.
In 2022, Michigan beat Ohio State 45-23, a game in which Loveland caught his first career college touchdown on a 45-yard pass from JJ McCarthy. A year later, Michigan won by 30-24. Loveland had five receptions for 88 yards.
Eventually, Loveland was drafted 10th overall by the Bears in the 2025 NFL Draft. Now a standout tight end for the Chicago Bears, Loveland has the most valuable insights about “The Game”
In interviews on platforms like Bussin’ with the Boys, Loveland highlighted how deeply the Ohio State rivalry was baked into his everyday life at Michigan. At Ann Arbor, everything revolved around the Buckeyes.
He explicitly describes the rivalry as one built on “real hatred,” in which treating it as a standard game was never an option. Loveland noted that reminders were inescapable. Harbaugh had Ohio State material on every TV screen, sign, and wall inside the Schembechler Hall. The aim was to keep the players constantly on edge.
Interestingly, this is how former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer treated the rivalry. The Michigan game was everything that mattered, and as a result, Meyer had a perfect record against the Wolverines.
As for Bryce Underwood, he does not hold the same fire against Ohio State as his predecessors did. During an interview, Underwood shocked the college football world by describing “The Game” against Ohio State as “just another game… just guys in different colors.”
This marked a massive shift from his freshman-year mindset, when he boldly told LeBron James, “It’s over for Ohio State.” However, he suffered a 27-9 loss to the Buckeyes in November 2025. With that win, Ryan Daya broke his streak of four straight losses to the team up North.
New Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham similarly downplayed the rivalry. Whittingham stated he does not believe “hate” belongs in the game. Urban Meyer also pitched in, giving Underwood a warning to be cautious. He said that treating it like a standard game removes the psychological edge required to win.
“I’m going against a person that I’ve been trained and indoctrinated to dislike,” Meyer said on the Triple Option podcast. “I’m going to go much harder than, hey, ‘that’s a good dude.'”