INDIANAPOLIS – When Ryan Day made his appearance at Big Ten football media days on Wednesday at Lucas Oil Stadium, he did so without the title that's regularly been attached to Ohio State's coach: reigning conference champion.
That honor instead went to Michigan's Jim Harbaugh, whose Wolverines beat the Buckeyes in last year's regular-season finale, then dispatched Iowa to win the Big Ten Championship Game. That ended Ohio State's four-year run as conference champion and proved that the Buckeyes actually are human.
Ohio State's dominance had reached the point to where reporters this week asked if the Buckeyes losing was a breath of fresh air for the conference.
"Yeah, I kind of wish it was us,'' said Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald, whose 2018 and 2020 teams fell to Ohio State in the Big Ten title game. "… That's what we're all trying to do. You've got to give credit where credit's due. Urban [Meyer, former Buckeyes coach] did a great job, and Ryan's done a great job. This isn't anything new.''
It is, however, a new wrinkle for this crop of Buckeyes, who went 23-2 in Day's first two-plus seasons as coach after taking over for Meyer. Now, Ohio State is trying to show that its 11-2 record in 2021 was an aberration.
"I'm excited about what this team is,'' Day said. "I've kind of described them as edgy this offseason.''
Edgy with a boatload of talent, too. Ohio State was a unanimous pick to win the Big Ten by 36 media members in the Cleveland.com poll, and a trio of Buckeyes — quarterback C.J. Stroud, running back TreVeyon Henderson and wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba — were among the nine Big Ten preseason honorees. No other conference team had more than two.
"We don't have anything to prove,'' said Stroud, who passed for 4,435 yards and 44 touchdowns as a freshman last year for an offense that averaged a nation's-best 561.2 yards per game. "We don't have to prove anybody wrong but just prove ourselves right.''
Smith-Njigba, a junior, caught 95 passes for 1,606 yards and nine TDs last year. His attitude, Day says, sets Smith-Njigba apart.
"Winning really matters to him,'' Day said. "He tries to win every rep when he's out there.''
Michigan's breakthrough last year — the Wolverines ended an eight-game losing against Ohio State and advanced to the College Football Playoff for the first time — took some heat off Harbaugh and has the coach thinking repeat.
"It's been a really good continuation from last year's team,'' he said. "Players that were on the team, they put in that work, they know what it was like, that good feeling of taking care of your business and having that success and being rewarded for it.''
Much of Michigan's success last year could be credited to a defense that allowed only 17.4 points per game. End Aidan Hutchinson had 14 sacks and became the No. 2 overall pick in the NFL draft. Harbaugh doesn't plan to let up.
"We're just going to continue to attack,'' he said. "That's what I really love about this team. They really literally attack everything that's put in front of them.''
Penn State, which is coming off back-to-back seasons of 4-5 and 7-6, edged Ohio State for the Big Ten title in 2016 and is seeking a return to glory. Nittany Lions senior safety Ji'Ayir Brown, who intercepted six passes last year, sees a fine line between success and failure.
"You can't take any plays off,'' said Brown, whose team went 2-6 after a 5-0 start in 2021. "… We were supposed to there. This year we've got to do a better job executing.''
Day and his Buckeyes expect better execution, too. Ohio State has won 17 of the past 19 games against Michigan and has 11 Big Ten titles and one national championship in that span. Still, that 42-27 loss last Nov. 27 in Ann Arbor stings.
"Every year, we have the same expectation,'' Day said. "The first goal is to beat the team up north and win the rivalry game. That didn't happen, and we have to sit on that for a calendar year. That's not good.
"In the offseason, we tried to make sure that the guys were reminded of that game, the coaches were reminded of that game, everybody in the building was reminded of that game.
"We also have to move forward,'' Day continued. "We can't let that game beat us twice. It's something we never want to go through again.''
