Ryan Day’s Ohio State is marching towards its second national championship in a row, outperforming every opponent so far. The Buckeyes are 7-0, looking for a perfect finish for the season. But it’s not easy, especially with their longtime rival, the Michigan Wolverines, waiting on the other side for the last game of the regular season. Over the previous five seasons, Ohio State defeated Michigan only once, and that was back in 2019. Even the previous year’s championship-winning side fell short to the Wolverines by 13-10. But this year can be different, as Ryan Day may have a plan in place for Michigan’s freshman QB, Bryce Underwood. 

An excerpt from Buckeye Brotherhood, a book that chronicled Ohio State’s 2024 natty win, narrated how Ryan Day wanted their side to focus on the rushing game between tackles to defeat Michigan last year. In simple words, beat the Wolverines at their own game. This took the offense away from their skill players in Emeka Egbuka, Carnell Tate, and Jeremiah Smith.

This didn’t turn out well, and it cost them a shot at the Big Ten Championship. Ohio State ran the ball 26 times for just 77 yards, with 3 yards per carry. However, the Buckeyes still passed more than 33 times. This was the moment they found that their run-up at the middle wasn’t working. Even though they won the natty, the Buckeyes still have unfinished business with the rival up north. 

Ryan Day has gone away from ‘proving it.’ After their slugfest in Week 1, where Ohio State beat Texas 14-7, the head coach admitted, “The No. 1 goal is to just win.” However, there’s a common theme in all their victories. The Buckeyes’ defense is outplaying every offense they come against. On the other side of the ball, the approach isn’t to throw it to Tate or Smith every time. Instead, Ohio State has gone for long drives, featuring double-digit plays to have more time of possession. They did that against Washington and repeated it against Illinois.

What it means is when they come up against Bryce Underwood, the defense will look to repeat this plan. They have already contained Demond Williams Jr. and Arch Manning even though both QBs can use their legs. Michigan’s run game? Well, that may not work this time around.

Ryan Day’s Ohio State has the best defense in the country

In the last game against Wisconsin, Ohio State got a shutout 34-0 win, where the Badgers punted 7 times, including 5 three-and-out drives, over 9 drives with just one possession that went more than 30 yards. They restricted the Badgers’ two QBs to under 49 passing yards combined. 

In the first five games, the Buckeyes had allowed more field goals than touchdowns. They allowed a total of 5 field goals and 4 touchdowns. They have the top third-down defense in football with a 21.3% conversion rate, allowing only 2.3 yards per play on third downs. They also have 11 fourth-down stops this year.

With this level of defense in hand, they are expected to overcome Penn State, Purdue, UCLA, and Rutgers ahead on the schedule. And it is important to watch out if this new approach is good enough to overcome their rival Michigan to end on a perfect regular season.