Ryan Day wasn’t born in scarlet and gray. The Manchester, New Hampshire-born ball coach had no midwestern roots, no first coaching job in Columbus, no predestined return and no sworn allegiance against any teams up north. But after accepting a job opening from his old boss to rejoin the college ranks, Day received a crash course education. “It started when I first got here. My son R.J. went to the bus stop on the first day, and there’s a kid wearing a blue shirt on, and they start getting into it,” Day told Urban Meyer in August. “The first day of school, and I’m like ‘OK, we’re in it now.’” Day’s in it now more than ever, as he and Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh assume the figurative roles of Ryan Jr. and his navy blue adversary on the biggest stage in college football for the first time.
SPORTS EDITOR
GRIFFIN STROM
Day has exceeded all expectations to this point, leading a team that looks as impenetrable as any that Meyer fielded, but history’s shown the grade for a Buckeye coach takes a drastic curve based on the outcome of one week in the season. That’s a lesson Day learned from his predecessors. “I think the thing I learned from Urban right from the minute I got there was you gotta work The Game every day,” Day said. “And the way to honor the rivalry and respect the rivalry is to work it every day, and we do.” The first time he worked The Game, Day was in a similar situation –– heavily favored in the Big House: the largest stadium in the country, packed with the opposing fans of one of sport’s most bitter rivalries. Then-co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, Day’s passing attack was a weak spot early. J.T. Barrett had minus-1 yards down 14-0 after the opening quarter and finished 3-for-8 before leaving with an
RYAN DAY MAKES FIRST FORA
SAME GAM S ARE POSSIBLE”
R FIFTH MATCHUP AGAINST BUCKEYES playing its best football of the season, behind the best version of senior quarterback Shea Patterson it’s had in the two years he’s been here; with two NFL-caliber receivers hitting their strides; with a defense ranked fifth in SP+, that hasn’t given up more than 14 points in a game in over a month. “I think right now we’re at our peak in terms of making a (runway) for a plane to take off,” said senior tight end Nick Eubanks. That still might not be enough against an undefeated juggernaut in Ohio State. But the underlying fact that a very good football team can lose to a great one without it being the end of the world means little to the Wolverines, to media, to fans, to anyone who has any kind of relationship with Michigan
football. “Absolutely,” said senior guard Ben Bredeson, when asked
the program. “We’re very aware of the rivalry, having played in it, having coached in it,” Harbaugh said. “I grew up here. My dad was the coach. As I liken the Michigan State game to a state championship, this is even bigger.” Harbaugh has always tried to define himself to his players as a man who will do anything for them. He keeps an opendoor policy and pulls strings for those who ask. That image is not ironclad or without exception — Harbaugh also demands a loyalty and competitive buy-in that not everybody has. But he happily keeps his end of the bargain. In the locker room before his first game against Ohio State back in 2015, Harbaugh told his team that regardless of what happened in
We’re very aware of the rivalry, having played in it, having coached in it. I grew up here. My dad was the coach. As I liken the Michigan State game to a state championship, this is even bigger.
if it was fair to define the season by this game. And if anyone knows that best, it’s the man at the top of
the game or how chippy it got, he’d have their backs. “That right there was a moment for me where I was like, ‘This is definitely the type of guy that I’m gonna go to battle for,’ ” Allen Gant, a senior on that team, recalled this summer. As Harbaugh stood at the podium Monday, exuding a confidence that seemed impossible after losses at Wisconsin and Penn State, it seemed like he couldn’t wait for Saturday. This year, as much as any other, has brought with it the pressure cooker of coaching a program like Michigan. After that Wisconsin game — when the Wolverines were embarrassed, 35-14, leading Harbaugh to say he was out-coached — students painted The Rock demanding his firing. Two weeks later, he was roundly ridiculed for saying the offense was hitting its stride after a 10-3 win over Iowa.
Two weeks later, when Ronnie Bell dropped a potential game-tying touchdown in the dying seconds at Penn State, all he could do was run up to Patterson and say there was still a chance at getting the ball back. And when the chances of that expired, he faced the same slew of questions about his shortcomings that have accompanied every loss for the last five years. On Monday, it was all forgotten. On Monday, he was only looking forward. And with a win Saturday, he would end all the angst, all the lingering questions about what he cannot do and why he cannot do it. “We’re excited to play,” Harbaugh said. “We’re confident. And looking forward to today’s preparation and looking forward to the game, looking forward to playing it at home. “Looking forward to every possible thing about it.”