19+ hour, 2+ min ago (1133+ words) COLUMBUS, Ohio " Ohio State football coach Ryan Day, almost exactly a year ago, stood inside Ohio Stadium and watched in shock as the chaos he helped cause unfolded around him. Michigan players, fresh off a shocking 13-10 upset win against their rival, planted a flag at midfield while select Buckeyes tried to fight back. Law enforcement got involved, with officers deploying pepper spray against athletes. From the stands, the Ohio State faithful shouted at their coach, hollering words not safe for print while expressing thoughts unrelated to play calls. The Buckeyes had suffered their fourth consecutive loss against the Wolverines on a campus where the letter M is crossed off all university signs and wearing blue is frowned upon. A scene straight out of "Peaky Blinders" ensued, adding to the sour taste of what was supposed to be a redemptive afternoon…...

1+ week, 12+ hour ago (628+ words) COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Ohio State-Michigan rivalry is always that much better when both sides have something to lose. That's been the case three other times since Ryan Day took over the Buckeyes program in 2019, even if he's been on the losing side in all three. In 2021, 2022 and 2023, The Game punched someone's ticket to the Big Ten Championship Game and by proxy the College Football Playoff, given that conference title games had become a 60-minute coronation of who'd ever already won the Big Ten East division. That wasn't the case in 2024. OSU had everything on the line while the Wolverines' only role was to play spoiler while having a season otherwise known as a rebuilding year end positively. A year later, and we are officially one Saturday away from raising the stakes again. Ohio State is practically a lock to make…...

1+ week, 5+ day ago (512+ words) COLUMBUS, Ohio " Ohio Stadium will mix a combination of newness with familiarity when it hosts a matchup between top-ranked Ohio State and UCLA on Saturday. On one end, there's a relative unknown. The Buckeyes and Bruins share a conference now, but the programs haven't met since 2001. However, Ohio State is familiar with the most important player on UCLA's roster: Nico Iamaleava. The redshirt sophomore quarterback was at Tennessee last season. He threw for 2,616 yards in his lone campaign as the Vols' starter, helping lead the program to its first College Football Playoff appearance. However, UT's postseason stint was short-lived, with Ohio State knocking out Iamaleava and his former team in the first round. Tennessee struggled offensively against Ohio State last season, but Iamaleava made some plays with his legs. He ran for 47 yards and a pair of scores, which the…...

1+ week, 6+ day ago (431+ words) COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ryan Day is raising the bar for what it means to achieve success as an Ohio State football player. For years, that success has been categorized on a weekly basis during the season by separating those who performed and those who didn't. The former earned the title of "Champion' for the week with the best of them even earning Player of the Game honors on either offense, defense or special teams. That list of champions used to be public, but that's since changed, starting the moment the Buckeyes lost to Michigan in 2021. Now, the only thing the public gets is the players of the game, and when Day or any other coach randomly brings it up. That list has become a coveted thing to strive for each week, and even the players know why it's so important. They…...