Michigan loss, fallout motivating Ohio State in Rose Bowl preparation

For one, Michigan folks keep bringing it up.

From fans talking trash on Twitter to Desmond Howard dissing Ohio State’s offensive linemen during the Heisman Trophy ceremony, the din doesn’t show signs of dissipating after Michigan snapped an eight-game series losing streak with a 42-27 triumph last month.

Then there is the manner of the loss and how it relates to Ohio State’s next challenge.

Michigan ran for 297 yards and controlled the game from start to finish, an outcome U-M offensive coordinator Josh Gattis seemed to think was inevitable.

“You saw earlier this year in the game they lost to Oregon, Oregon was the most physical team on the field,” Gattis said on a radio show days after the game. “That’s the way they lost, and we committed to that recipe, and it paid off.”

He called the Buckeyes “good” but “finesse.”

“They’re not a tough team, and we knew that going into the game that we can out-physical them, we can out-tough them,” Gattis said. “And that was going to be the key to the game, and that’s what we prepared for all year long.”

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day claimed he had not given those comments any thought, but it’s safe to say some of his players have.

“It definitely stung, but at the end of the day, he was right,” Ohio State sophomore linebacker Steele Chambers said. “I personally thought we played pretty soft — me included as probably one of the bigger ones — but I mean it just lights a fire under us. Hopefully, we can get ready for next year.”

The Buckeyes won’t have to wait for a chance to prove they have learned anything about stopping the run.

Pac 12 champion Utah is a run-first team with a battering ram running back in Dayton native Tavion Thomas, and all indications are the Utes will want to test the Ohio State front early and often on Jan. 1.

“I feel like this is a good opportunity to show we’ve made adjustments based on last game,” Chambers said. “I think it’s a good game to prove ourselves, to prove that we’re a tough team, a physical team and we can handle that stuff.”

Of course, that won’t erase the result of the Michigan game.

It probably won’t stop the crowing from Ann Arbor, either, but another young Buckeye said that’s OK.

“I would just tell them go ahead, enjoy it for a year,” freshman defensive end Jack Sawyer said. “I don’t know if they’re going to get the opportunity to say that stuff and chirp all they want after next year. So I’ll just say have fun with it, enjoy it, and we’ll be ready come that (fourth) Saturday in November next year.”

The Central Ohio native conceded the defeat was something of a wake-up call for the Buckeyes, who have dominated the rivalry since the turn of the century.

“Maybe we weren’t playing as tough as we should,” Sawyer said. “Maybe we weren’t playing as hard as we could in practice, taking the little things seriously. It kind of sucks for a whole year they get to talk trash to us and post all those funny memes on Twitter and all that stuff.

“I don’t think it’s as bad as it seemed to the viewers on TV, but it is what it is. They ran for an X number of yards and an X number of touchdowns. At the end of the day, there’s not much you can say about it.”

ROSE BOWL

Jan. 1, 2022

Ohio State vs. Utah, 5 p.m., ESPN, 1410