Michigan football has enjoyed a resurgence into the national spotlight the past three seasons, coinciding with three consecutive victories over archrival Ohio State in ‘The Game’.
For the first time since 1988-91, the Wolverines are seeking a fourth consecutive victory over the Buckeyes and CBS Sports’ college football podcast host Josh Pate asked what the fallout would be in Columbus if Michigan gets the job done again in 2024.
On multiple occasions in past segments of Late Kick, Pate has spoken with assurance that Ohio State head coach Ryan Day was not in any danger of losing his job, even having lost three straight to the Wolverines. Pate points to Day’s overall record 56-8 with the Buckeyes and the fact OSU came within a field goal of beating Georgia and likely winning the 2022 national championship as his arguments.
However, Pate took on a different tone concerning Day in the scenario Ohio State falls to Michigan for a fourth time in four years.
Michigan winning the national championship last season spurred a massive reaction in Columbus. It’s abundantly clear that Day and Ohio State are pushing all of their chips to the center of the table in 2024. The Buckeyes return several players who could have entered the 2024 NFL Draft, they went out and added big names out of the transfer portal to supplement their roster, and even lured former UCLA head coach Chip Kelly to be their offensive coordinator.
Per FanDuel sportsbook, Ohio State opened as a 9.5-point favorite over Michigan ahead of this year’s matchup. However, Pate pointed out that the Buckeyes were also favored heading into ‘The Game’ in 2021 and 2022.
“Outside of Michigan, pretty much everyone would be in agreement that if you look on paper…this should be Ohio State’s year, ‘Buckeyes got to get it this year'”, he said. “Yeah, but, here’s the thing — it’s looked that way on paper they last few years and they haven’t. There’s a reason they’ve never played that game on paper.”
Pate concluded the segment by discussing what another Michigan win would mean for Sherrone Moore, who already has a win over Day as the Wolverines’ interim coach last season.
“As for Sherrone Moore, if they come in, in a year they should lose to Ohio State…if they got it done this year — Alex Orji, new at quarterback, whole staff’s new, lost a ton from last year — if that defense really does come through and gives that offense time to gel and they go into Columbus in late November and they win that thing, the legend of Sherrone Moore — talk about writing a storybook beginning to a career.”
So, what if Michigan beats Ohio State for a fourth year in a row? Maybe we’ll find out in 134 days.
The full segment from “Late Kick w/ Josh Pate” referenced in their article can be viewed below:
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