Ohio State coach Ryan Day has a chance this weekend to do something he hasn’t done in six years: beat Michigan.
The No. 1 ranked Buckeyes will face the No. 18 Wolverines on Saturday, looking to preserve their unbeaten record. This is the 50th time since the AP Poll began in 1936 that Ohio State and Michigan have been ranked at the time of “The Game,” according to ESPN Research. The Wolverines have a slight series lead in seeded games at 23-22-4. Fortunately for Day, however, they didn’t have the same success against a #1. Michigan is 3-18-1 against No. 1 opponents in the AP, including a 1-3-1 record when Ohio State was the top-ranked team. Overall, the Wolverines are on a nine-game losing streak against AP No. 1 opponents.
Even coming off a national championship, Buckeye fans might not feel a sense of complete fulfillment until they beat their bitter rivals. Unfortunately for them, that hasn’t been the case under Day.
Here’s a look at the key numbers behind Day’s struggles against Michigan.
Zero: Games are often won in the trenches, and the Buckeyes’ problems against the Wolverines start there. Ohio State has no sacks in two of its last four games against Michigan (2021 and 2024) – it only had two such games between 1996 and 2019.
In fact, the Buckeyes only recorded four total sacks in “The Game” during the Day era.
Four : Although the Buckeyes have won a national championship since Day’s hiring, they have also lost four straight games to the Wolverines.
The streak appeared to end last season when No. 2-ranked Ohio State hosted unranked Michigan. The Buckeyes were favored by 21 points, the widest point spread for this rivalry since 1978, according to ESPN Research, but they were stunned in a 13-10 loss.
Ohio State hasn’t lost five straight to Michigan since a six-game skid between 1922 and 1927. Its longest losing streak in “The Game” is nine from 1901 to 1909.
Day’s record as coach of the Buckeyes is a remarkable 81-10 over eight seasons, but he is just 1-4 against the Wolverines. As a result, he has a whopping 93% winning percentage against opponents other than Michigan, compared to a 20% rate otherwise.
52: It’s been a completely different offense for Ohio State when facing its biggest rivals with Day as head coach. The Buckeyes are averaging 52 fewer yards, 66 fewer yards rushing and one fewer yard per play against the Wolverines compared to other opponents.
What’s even more shocking is that they averaged 13 fewer points — the 10 points in last season’s loss were their fewest in the rivalry game since 1996. It was also Ohio State’s fewest points in a game since the 2011 season.
112: The same differences can be seen on the defensive side.
The Buckeyes defense has allowed 397 total yards per game against the Wolverines since 2019, compared to 285.4 against other opponents, a difference of 112 yards.
ESPN Research contributed to this story.
