Michigan and OSU have switched roles in the rivalry

After this year’s Michigan 45-23 beatdown of Ohio State, many OSU fans were perplexed at how the Wolverines could dominate their five-star collection of talent (“but … but … we’re better!”) for a second straight year. They blamed snow, flu, etc. for the 42-27 hammering a year earlier, and vowed it would be different in Columbus a year later, especially when the forecast called for sunny skies and 54 degrees for their … uh, weather-averse offense.

Instead, they got more of the same. The Wolverines got big play after big play, dominated the second half, and wore the Buckeyes down in the second half with better line play on both sides. Head coach Ryan Day’s team took dumb penalties on top of necessary ones, the officials actually called a great game in the hostile environment, and Michigan turned the tables in the rivalry, with a chance at full control with a third straight win this year in Ann Arbor.

Day looked lost at times on the sideline. In the aftermath, both immediate and at Big Ten Media Days, he tried to explain it away as “five or so plays.” That might work when it’s a one-score game. But it sounded awfully familiar — like Michigan defenders in the 2017-19 game trying to say they just needed a few tweaks after giving up 56 and 62 points.

And in our interview with former Ohio State linebacker Josh Perry, now a talented analyst who will be with NBC this fall, we got flashbacks. Some in the Michigan locker room thought those 2018-19 games would have been dogfights had Michigan taken the … well, the approach the two defensive coordinators have the last two meetings. In hindsight, they’re probably right. Last year in particular, defensive coordinator Jim Knowles looked like he was doing his 2018-19 Michigan impression in what now looks like a massive overcompensation from Day … we asked Day if it was “too aggressive.”

“I think there were some spots, but I think that’s who Jim Knowles is,” Perry said. “And I wouldn’t ask somebody to change their philosophy or their personality. I would ask that the personality and the philosophy become refined, so you don’t have those big plays.

“When I talked to him initially, I asked him about it, because I watched tape when it was announced he was hired. I would look at plays and see a guy that was running scot-free,” Perry recalled “It wasn’t a big play only because the quarterback would get sacked. They would create havoc, and I think that’s a part of it.

“But I said, ‘what’s this idea about big plays?” He said, ‘well, the defensive system we run, we might give up four or five in a game. As long as we’re around that point, we think it’s going to be fine, particularly with a productive offense we have. We feel like we’ll be able to make up the gap there.’ Against Michigan, you saw some of the aggression burn them. Against Penn State, a very similar thing happened in a couple situations where the aggression burned them.”

Sound familiar? If not, it should. We heard and wrote the same about those Michigan defenses. “You can’t change who you are, solve your problems with aggression,” etc. But the reality of it was that good teams and well-coached squads are going to be able to use that against you to put up points. We saw it at U-M, and with the Buckeyes against Michigan last year, too. What might hold an inept Iowa offense to 3 points, for example, isn’t going to work against the great teams. Like in Don Brown’s defense, for example, the defensive backs are going to be put in tough situations, especially if they’re overmatched.

“I think the other part of it is you’ve got to flip the switch as a player when you’re in a defense like that because it’s so untraditional in terms of aggression,” Perry continued. “You just have to be okay with saying, ‘my rear end is going to be out on this play. We’ve just got to get the job done.’

“I think this offseason and training camp is going to be big for that mental progression, because it is tough when you know you’re coach is putting you in a position where you might be on an island, and you’re the guy that’s going to get targeted. You have to find comfort being in that position.”

We’ll spare you the details, but Perry went into detail about the sketchy linebacker play, too, and the “jack” position, how it’s “unique” (“dropping into coverage vs. going up the field … it’s a skillset and something that takes time to develop,” Perry noted). Swap “jack” for “viper” and we’re back to 2018 and ’19 Michigan once again. And now they’re promising some changes, talking about playing to win rather than going for the knockout punch, etc. … again, all too familiar. We’ll see how Day and Co. adjust, but we know one thing — the pressure is now squarely on him, as it was Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh for so long.

“I know that’s a tough spot for Coach Day. I know he’s had to live with that for a couple years,” Perry said. “Everybody brings it up. But I think there’s also a thought process about the edge it brings you and how you have to attack that aspect of the job. Everything else has been really good. But a lot of people are going to look at you and ask, ‘what’s your record in The Game,’ and that’s how they’re going to judge.”

Three in a row, we dare say, would result in “extremely harshly.”

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