In the past four years, winning against Michigan has been Ohio State’s biggest priority. Since Ryan Day came into the team, the Bucks have been struggling to gain any momentum against them despite winning a championship last season. But does this desperation to win harm them in a big way? Well, at least their former DE Mitchell Melton felt it. Before heading to Virginia, he made sure his team knew that the pride in trying to beat Michigan is actually hurting OSU, and it’s all the mindset that cost them a Big Ten championship game.

After defending his two-time ACC DL of the Week status, Mitchell Melton’s very underrated deed came to light. As the Official Ohio State DG, X took to share Melton’s heartfelt moment with Ryan Day after losing the Big Ten game against Michigan in 2023. It was before the kickoff. “I raised my hand and asked coach Day, “These past two years losing the way we had, what did you learn?” Melton said.  Then Day began explaining to him about how they need to run the ball more against them, as history states the team with more rushing yards tends to win the game.

That makes sense, as last year Michigan’s rushing game was very effective against the Bucks, and they won. After running for 172 yards with an average of 4.2 yards per carry, Ohio State only got 77 rushing yards on 3 yards per carry. But this craze to beat Michigan in their own game made things worse for them. As after the loss, Melton had a tough realization: “I realized soon after the game that was very prideful in our own right, and it cost us a Big Ten championship. What I wanted out of that meeting was to be very honest with ourselves and clear on what happened and why it happened, so that it would never happen again.”

With that approach, Melton gave a new approach to his team and made sure they focused on improving their game rather than focusing on what Michigan was doing. That’s exactly why even Ohio State DG even praised him for it, saying, “Very thankful for Mitchell Melton.” Wish he was still a Buckeye; glad he is having success at UVA.”  No wonder he’s turning heads in Virginia this season, recording 6 tackles with 0.5 for loss in UVA’s 22-20 win against Washington State. Then he also recorded one forced fumble and a pass breakup against Louisville.

Melton’s stint at Ohio State was not short, but an injury kept him out of the field for two seasons. And his best showing came in 2023 when he played in 12 games, totaling 119 plays on both defense and special teams. On top of that, he even recorded 3 solo tackles, with all of them being tackles for loss, which is 13 yards in total, with one resulting in his first QB sack that year. Then he was also a part of the Bucks’ 2020 Big Ten and Sugar Bowl championship games.

With that, Ryan Day is also focusing on Penn State’s game coming next after their bye week.

Ryan Day gets real about facing Penn State

Now, heading into the bye week, the no. 1 Ohio State will face their first three Big 10 opponents on the road, and that’s Penn State. After dominating the conference by outgaining opponents 135-25 through 4 games, the Bucks continue to maintain their undefeated status, but now winning against the Nittany Lions is the real test.  “All these games, all these decisions, everything we’re doing is going to be just ramped up and amped up at a higher level,” Day said.

With that, Ryan Day urges his team to use the bye week wisely and fix issues before they face Penn State.  “This is a good time to take a step back and realize that we need to get certain things fixed [to] address some things,” Day said. “And then, take a picture of the run that we’re about to make and what we need to get done during the run, because once Sunday hits, it’s right on Penn State.”  There’s a reason why the Bucks are the no. 1 team in the country, and it’s because of their dominant defense, which didn’t allow opponents to score more than 16 points against them through 8 weeks.

But the rushing game is where the concern lies, as Ohio State has just run for 98 yards on 28 carries for the third game in a row, which averages under 4 yards per carry. Even though their OL is doing wonders by allowing just three sacks this season, their run blocking against Wisconsin fell off. And Ryan Day is making sure that’s not the case anymore.  “There was a stretch in the third quarter where there were like four runs that went for nothing,” Day said. “On a couple of them we didn’t identify right, but for the most part it was technique.”  Now, let’s wait and see how Ohio State comes up against Penn State, who just came off losing against Iowa.