What they're saying after Michigan's 27-9 loss to Ohio State

The Michigan Wolverines fell to 9-3 on the season with a 27-9 loss to Ohio State at home on Saturday, sending them into bowl season and missing out on a shot at the College Football Playoff.

Given the emotions of the rivalry on both sides, there were plenty of strong reactions coming out of The Game. Here is a sampling from the local and national media on what is being said coming out of the third loss of the year.

Ryan Van Bergen, The Wolverine Postgame Show

Podcast: Michigan ‘not up to task and not prepared’ in lopsided loss to Ohio State
“This team, I don’t think, was up for the task today,” Van Bergen said. “This team was not up to task and was not prepared to play in this game. And I think you have to humbly give Ohio State a lot of credit and Ryan Day, a lot of credit. It’s not something I’m gonna try to make a habit of, but they came in and they took a punch right in the mouth. And that’s something we talk about on this podcast, is how are they going to respond, because they’ve had such an easy schedule. They come into the Big House and we get a good drive going. Then they come out and they air one out and miss. Then they throw a pick on the second play of the game, the stadium’s rocking. Michigan has to come out and put something into the end zone from there.

“And then you get to give Ohio State a lot of credit. They stick with their game plan. They took some shots. Ryan Day went for it on fourth down early and often. They came to play and they came to win. And you have to give them a lot of credit. They executed their game plan well; we didn’t execute ours. And we had opportunities. I think this game may have been closer than what the final score indicated. I think there are a lot of things that could have made this game even tighter as you go play-by-play.

“But in general, Ohio State’s a better team than us this year. And it was bound to happen at some point.”

Chris Balas, The Wolverine

OSU 27, Michigan 9: Notes, quotes, and observations — no excuses … just not good enough
If ever Ohio State was going to beat Michigan again — and it was inevitable, of course, given the rivalry and how seriously the Buckeyes take their football— this was going to be the year. The Wolverines were down several players with injuries, including their top two backs after Jordan Marshall went down in the first quarter, and Max Bredeson after the fullback tried to go but couldn’t. 

They lost their captain and one of their best defensive players when linebacker Ernest Hausmann seemed to vanish somewhat mysteriously.  And then, let’s be honest … how often to true freshmen quarterbacks really win in this rivalry?

Bryce Underwood wasn’t going to be that guy Saturday in a 27-9 loss to the Buckeyes, OSU’s first win in five tries against the Wolverines. Once they settled down with their own young quarterback getting his big mistake out of the way, a Jyaire Hill interception of Julian Sayin on the Bucks’ second drive, and the Buckeyes got comfortable, they realized what the other two good teams Michigan played this year figured out … that they had much better personnel and preparation. 

Beating U-M this year was like beating, say, Illinois or Washington, other teams the Buckeyes had handled with ease. Swap the uniforms with one of those, eliminate the mental barrier, and it was an elite team (yes, give the Buckeyes credit — they’re No. 1 for a reason) against a depleted and overmatched upper-third-but-no-better conference foe. 

Clayton Sayfie, The Wolverine

Best and worst from Michigan’s loss to Ohio State
Ohio State’s offensive line was the best position group, making Michigan’s defensive front a weak point. The Wolverines didn’t record a single sack and pressured Sayin on only 2 of his 26 dropbacks. He had all day to throw, with no example being better than his ability to crow hop on the 50-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Carnell Tate.

Michigan was owned up front defensively, with Ohio State adding 4 yards per carry and becoming more effective on the ground as the game went on, with 110 of its 186 rushing yards coming in the second half.

The Buckeyes decimated Michigan with their 20-play, 81-yard drive that went from midway through the third quarter to early in the fourth, and the field goal at the end of it basically put the game away due to Michigan’s offensive deficiencies.

Austin Meek, The Athletic

Michigan’s spell over Ohio State is over. Now it’s time for some soul-searching
That brings us to Bryce Underwood, the freshman quarterback whose first taste of the Ohio State rivalry was a bitter one. Michigan and its NIL network — including billionaire Larry Ellison, whose company now controls CBS — committed a large sum of money last year to help the Wolverines land the No. 1 player in the Class of 2025. The seven-figure investment penciled out to 8-for-18 passing, 63 yards, zero touchdown drives and one interception against the Buckeyes.

This is less about Underwood’s performance on Saturday and more about Michigan’s strategy as a program. What’s the point in spending millions on a quarterback and having him attempt five passes in the first half of the biggest game of the season?

The reason to sign a quarterback of Underwood’s caliber is to build the offense around him. The Wolverines gestured in that direction by hiring offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey, but the marriage between Lindsey’s Air Raid background and Michigan’s ground-and-pound mentality was uneven at best. In big moments, including Saturday, the Wolverines didn’t seem to trust their quarterback.

David Hale, ESPN.com

College football Week 14 highlights: Top games, plays, stats
Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin followed an early interception with a brilliant performance. Wideouts Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate were dominant. Bo Jackson powered his way through the Wolverines’ defensive front. The Buckeyes’ defense was stifling, holding Michigan to a mere 163 total yards.

When it was over, Ohio State had exorcised its greatest demon, toppling Michigan 27-9. And to paraphrase the great statesman Hans Gruber, coach Ryan Day could stare out across the vastness of the Big House and weep, for he had no more worlds to conquer.

The Buckeyes’ triumph was less a statement of their dominance; that much had been obvious all along. And while Saturday’s outing felt like affirmation of Sayin’s ascension into the rarified air of the nation’s top QBs, and while it was a performance in which so many of Ohio State’s stars shone their brightest, it was ultimately more of a relief than a victory. Nothing Ohio State did was surprising. This is the team we’ve come to expect. Only, we also had come to expect that in this game, all that makes the Buckeyes great could sneak out the back door, like a head coach facing NCAA sanctions for a comically overwrought sign-stealing scam.

Andy Staples, On3

The lesson Michigan should take from the Ohio State loss? Go buy some better receivers
It was obvious in the first quarter. 

Michigan had scored a field goal on its first drive, intercepted Julian Sayin and turned that into a field goal. Now, Michigan had the ball back after holding Ohio State to a field goal following a goal-line stand.

Most of the breaks had gone Michigan’s way to that point. But on a second-and-5 Bryce Underwood run, a flag came out. Michigan H-back Jalen Hoffman was called for holding linebacker Sonny Styles in the backfield on a play that gained zero yards. As Michigan players prepared to walk back and run a second-and-15 play, referee Kole Knueppel’s voice boomed throughout the Big House to announce the penalty.

The TV broadcast missed the ultimate act of disrespect that came next. A few seconds later, Knueppel informed both sidelines that Ohio State coach Ryan Day had decided to decline the penalty.

The message from Day to Michigan coach Sherrone Moore in that moment was abundantly clear: You don’t have the dudes to make these five yards, and we all know it.

Underwood, the No. 1 recruit in the class of 2025, dropped back to throw and found no one open. He scrambled and got planted by a trio of Buckeyes after a gain of one.

Michigan still led by three, and more than three quarters remained. But the game was over at that moment.

Michigan didn’t have the dudes. And that will be Moore’s mandate from this moment forward. Get the players who can help Underwood beat Ohio State. Even though the gap felt wide Saturday as the Buckeyes broke Michigan’s four-game win streak in the series, Michigan might only be a solid recruiting class and good transfer portal class away from living on Ohio State’s level.

Ari Wasserman, On3

What will they say now? Ryan Day took back his reputation as Ohio State beat up on Michigan
Maybe too much has changed since Ohio State’s shocking loss to Michigan in Columbus a year ago. After that game, it felt like it was no longer tenable for Day to be Ohio State’s head coach, that he had an incurable Michigan problem that had to be dealt with. Day had to have a security guard at his house. Buckeyes fans were fed up. Many — most? — were ready for a change.

Day hasn’t lost a game since. If you’re not counting, that is 16 wins in a row, the first four of which came in the College Football Playoff last year on the way to the national title. Seven of those 16 wins came over ranked opponents during that span.

The only thing people had left to criticize Day over was his apparent inability to beat Michigan. Then Ohio State went into the Big House on Saturday and ended every single negative narrative you could have made about Day and his Buckeyes.

Shawn Windsor, Detroit Free Press

Moore, Underwood need each other to get Michigan back atop Big Ten
They’ll be set at running back, assuming better health luck. But then this is football, and any assumption in that area is foolhardy.  

Still, Michigan football should have three difference-making ballcarriers when fall camp begins: Justice Haynes, Jordan Marshall … and Savion Hiter. 

Hiter is a five-star commit from Virginia, ranked among the nation’s top 25 (take rankings for what they’re worth, obviously). Marshall will be a sophomore and Haynes – lost earlier this season to a foot injury – looked like one of the best backs in college football.  

None of their talents matter if the offensive line can’t mash, of course. But then the line has promising youth, there too – redshirt freshmen tackles Andrew Sprague and Blake Frazier, plus guard Jake Guarnera. 

All three started this season and, along with Marshall, made up four of six true and redshirt freshmen starting on offense. The other two were quarterback Bryce Underwood and receiver Andrew Marsh, and if you’re looking for evidence that the Wolverines could be considerably better next year, it starts with all this youth.