Greg McElroy believes big issue stands in Michigan's way for 2022 season

Michigan had a banner year last season, finally beating rival Ohio State and winning the Big Ten Championship. As the Wolverines try to repeat that success, ESPN analyst Greg McElroy said they have one big thing standing in its way.

This year, The Game is in Columbus — and the Buckeyes are out for payback.

Ryan Day made it clear at Big Ten Media Days his team is focused on beating Michigan this season after last year’s 42-27 loss at The Big House. It was Ohio State’s first loss in the rivalry game in 10 years and McElroy cited his time at Alabama in explaining why the Buckeyes want their revenge.

“The Buckeyes seem ticked off,” McElroy said. “That doesn’t mean that you don’t have the recipe. You clearly do. … You did such a beautiful job last year at home and it felt like that game was many, many years in the making. Well, guess what. What did Ryan Day say throughout the course of his press conference at Big Ten Media Days? He said, ‘Our first goal is to beat The Team Up North.’ Well, you think they haven’t circled that game this year? Think they haven’t talked about that game internally?

“I can speak from my own experience — y’all, when we lost to Florida in 2008, all we talked about all offseason was beating Florida. … Well, when we got our opportunity to play the Gators in 2009 after an entire offseason was spent focusing on one team, we smoked them. That’s a difficult thing to overcome. So don’t think for a second that’s not bad news. Doesn’t mean you can’t win. Just means you’d better be ready to play your A-game because that might be what it takes to be able to get a win on the road against your bitter arch rival.”

Ryan Day on Ohio State’s three goals for 2022

At Big Ten Media Days, Day made his stance clear on what the three goals are for his group this year. In fact, Ohio State didn’t achieve any of them last year — which is another reason the Buckeyes could have a chip on its shoulder.

“Our three goals are to beat The Team Up North, win the Big Ten Championship, and win a national championship,” Day said. “That’s the goal and those three things didn’t happen last year. So, that didn’t change this year, next year, or the year before.”