As the fourth-quarter clock struck zero, the OSU players, coaches, and support staff swarmed the Michigan Stadium. The Buckeyes won 27-9 against Michigan in dominant fashion, with Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate each scoring a touchdown. Unlike last year when Michigan players tried to plant a UM flag on the Buckeyes’ field, this time OSU chose the high road. The reason? Ryan Day’s wise words in the post-game interview.

“There’s so much emotion. We’re still seeing it on display. What will it mean to you, to your family, and to your fan base to celebrate in Ohio tonight?” asked sidelines reporter Jenny Taft. Day took a pause, as if feeling through the plethora of emotions, and replied with a calm demeanor on his face.

“We’re gonna win with humility,” said Ryan Day, and congratulated everyone for their efforts.

“I’m happy for our coaches, they worked really, really hard and know we had a good energy this week. We had confidence coming in, and man, the guys played tough; they played physical. We wanted to control the line of scrimmage, and I’m just happy for our guys. I’m just happy for a lot of people right now. I can’t name them all, but me a lot,” concluded Ryan as a ripe smile radiated on his face.

The flag-planting controversy erupted last year and also led to a brawl between OSU players and the coaching staff with Michigan players. This year, however, we saw UM players quickly rushing to cover the ‘M’ logo in the middle of the field and protecting it from any Ohio State player trying to plant their flag on top. The act signifies the high intensity and high stakes of the rivalry game as Ohio State has now again got the bragging rights for 364 days, well after 6 years.

Though Ryan Day was continuously seen advocating for not planting the flag. Two Ohio State players were seen carrying a flag written “Ohio State against the world” and were trying to plant it, too. However quickly, Ohio State’s head coach and the coaching staff, including Matt Patricia, screamed “no no no” to the players and escorted them off the field.

Thereafter, tight end Will Kacmarek also came with his own flag, waving towards the Michigan players guarding the ‘M’ and forcing himself towards it to plant. This time again, Ryan Day waved the players to move off the field and to celebrate with humility, as coaches can be heard saying, “let’s go to the locker room, let’s celebrate there.” It’s the biggest sign of the change OSU has undergone under Ryan Day, not just on the field, but in terms of mentality, too.

Kirk Herbstreit describes the pressures Ryan Day faced before the UM game

Despite the flag not being planted, the OSU players didn’t stop waving the Ohio State flag to the Michigan fans and players and doing photo-ops. As the scenes were going on post-game, Caleb Down and Davison Igbinosun together held the OSU’s flag and waved together for a photo-op. As for the celebration, Ryan Day deserves all of it, considering last year Day had to hire armed guards to protect his family after the Michigan loss.

OSU alum Kirk Herbstreit aptly described the pressure of the ‘Game’ Ryan Day faced throughout his time at Ohio State. “This guy had armed guards outside of his house for his own fan base after he lost four straight games to Michigan,” said Kirk Herbstreit. Ryan Day deserves every bit of the praise after his dominant showing in the Michigan game.

Michigan started dominantly in the first quarter and posted two field goals, owing to their running game. But that was all Michigan had in its tank. As the second quarter came, Day shut down Bryce Underwood’s passing with relentless pressure and forced Michigan to rely on runs. Those became predictable quickly, and Ohio State cruised past UM to seal Ryan Day’s second win over Michigan.

Ohio State next faces Indiana in the Big 10 title game next weekend, and a final blow to Indiana will etch Ryan Day’s name in the golden pages of OSU’s history books.