What’s worse for a Michigan diehard than losing to Ohio State? Writing them a check, and getting dragged online for three weeks while you do it. Urban Meyer ended up pulling a Portnoy-on-Portnoy moment, as the $250 million Michigan booster and Barstool Sports founder, Dave Portnoy, finally settled a $1,000 bet after days of public ribbing. And Urban Meyer eventually got his check, and Dave Portnoy finally got his reputation back.

“It’s signed, and he sent me a text,” Big Noon Kickoff’s analyst Urban Meyer said on The Triple Option podcast. “He said, ‘What’s your address, man? People think I’m not paying,’ I can tell he was kind of pissed. And so I said, Hey, we’re just joking around. So it’s, it’s, it’s signed. It’s done. How do I just frame this bad boy and put it down here in my man cave? So yeah, Dave, debt paid.”

The bet took place on Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff ahead of the rivalry game in Ann Arbor, where Meyer and Portnoy agreed that the loser would donate $1000 to the winner’s school NIL fund. Former NFL tight end and Fox analyst Rob Gronkowski made it official with an on-air handshake, making sure the loser pays. Michigan lost for the first time since 2019. But despite that, Portnoy remained publicly silent about the bet despite the loss.

Since then, Urban Meyer has been constantly urging Portnoy to pay the $1000. The clip of their viral social media bet were reposted with the message “Please pay your debts, Dave.” Now, after all their efforts, Portnoy finally kept his promise.

“Debt Paid.”@CoachUrbanMeyer shows the check @stoolpresidente sent him for $1000.

Ironically, this isn’t unfamiliar territory for Portnoy. Betting is part of his identity. He once called himself a “degenerate gambler,” openly admitting to losing $30,000 in his mid-20s. More recently, he famously placed a $600,000 bet on UConn to win the NCAA Tournament and walked away with roughly $2.76 million, what he later described as the best bet of his life. Against that backdrop, $1,000 was never the issue.

And with the bet settled, Urban Meyer turned his attention to what matters most to him: Ohio State’s postseason path and the man leading it.

Urban Meyer backs Ryan Day’s new job

Urban Meyer delivers a strong message for Ohio State. Before their upcoming Cotton Bowl game against Miami, Meyer, who coached the Buckeyes from 2012 to 2018 and won a national championship with the program, thinks this team can make it to the finals under Day’s guidance.

“Ryan has been a playcaller for most of his career. He certainly was for me. I witnessed it, and he’s fantastic,” Meyer said on The Herd with Colin Cowherd podcast. “If Ryan Day was not an elite playcaller or had great experience doing it, I would have certainly brought the coordinator back.”

Under Hartline, the Bucks are ranked 17th nationally in scoring, averaging almost 35 points per game, and have the fifth-ranked offense of the remaining eight teams, averaging 439.5 yards per game. Resonating the same success might be a bit tricky, but with Day’s extensive experience, he can overcome the challenge.

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As he is getting back on his play-calling duties, which he did the first five years he was the Ohio State head coach. And over the past couple of seasons, Day said he has done a better job at understanding how to manage the game.

“I think it’s more just about when you’re not calling it, your eyes aren’t down on the call sheet,” Day said. “You’re with the defense. You’re watching the offense. You’re watching the other side. You’re watching what’s going on as opposed to being down on your call sheet. And I think that’s where we got to be good upstairs.”

This comes as a real challenge for Day and his team. Let’s wait and see if Meyer’s right about him or not.