Before every home game, Ohio State holds a ‘skull session,’ where the band finishes its rehearsal before the game, and head coach Ryan Day and perhaps other coaches address an adorning crowd with some kind of message.
In 2022, wide receivers coach Brian Hartline spoke about how for 365 days, Michigan talked (read: celebrated the 2021 win as victors tend to do) while Ohio State worked and toiled in the dark. It was an inspiring message for Buckeye fans for all of about a few hours before the Wolverines rendered it moot — if not hilarious.
Well, Ohio State is still talking like a frontrunner, and it aged like milk once again.
This time, it was Day who put his foot in his mouth. While it certainly galvanized a Buckeye fanbase hungry for a win, as Luke Skywalker said in ‘The Last Jedi,’ every word he just said was wrong.
“Our No. 1 goal every year is to win this game,” Day said. “We put everything we possibly have in our process, every single day to work this game. We don’t wear blue, we don’t say the M word. But this is not about them today. This is about us. This is about our team, this is about our band, this is about our fans. This is about our university, this is about our state, this is about our toughness. This is about our work ethic. This is about our integrity, our character, our resilience and who we are as Buckeyes!”
Ryan Day at the Skull Session this morning
Courtesy @AdamKing10TV #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/RK3wYm0mVp
— 97.1 The Fan (@971thefan) November 30, 2024
Yeah, no.
Quick reminder: Ryan Day is now 1-4 against Michigan having lost four straight. Yet, he keeps talking like he’s 4-1. And now, the No. 2 Buckeyes — the ranking OSU has had each of the past four years — know what it’s like to lose to an unranked version of Michigan — not the College Football Playoff version.