Denzel Burke is notoriously honest.
Whether it’s sharing his frank opinions on a quarterback, declaring grand ambitions for his team or just going about his day-to-day, there’s no filter on what Ohio State’s star cornerback says. That’s why he should be believed when he reiterated at Big Ten Media Days that the Buckeyes’ three straight losses against Michigan served as a primary motivating factor for he and many of his veteran teammates to stay in Columbus for their senior seasons.
“Every part of it, honestly,” Burke said. “No gold pants, no natty, so that was a big part of our (decisions), one of the reasons why we came back. And we're all on the same page. We've got to win every single game, no ifs, ands or buts about it.”
Ohio State enters 2024 with not just national title ambitions but national title expectations. For the next three months, however, The Game is what will loom with latent anxiety over the head of every fan. Michigan may have lost plenty from its title-winning squad a year ago, it may be facing sanctions, but none of that changes the fact that there’s a torrential tide to be turned in the rivalry between the Buckeyes and Wolverines.
Until that wrong is righted, it will hang above any Ohio State regular-season achievements like an antagonistic ceiling fan.
“There was a period where it was like eight years for them (losing) or something like that,” wide receiver Emeka Egbuka said. “So, I mean, this rivalry goes back and forth. And they found a way to bounce back after I don't know how long the stretch was. So it's the same way, we're going to find a way to bounce back. It's gritty. It's a hard game. It's going to be hard every single year. It doesn't matter if they don't have the talent per se and we do have the talent. It's going to be a hard game every year.”
Each failure in the last three years has compounded Ohio State’s problems with its rival to the north.
No one reading this needs much of a recap. Michigan won 42-27 in 2021, 45-23 in 2022 – its first win at Ohio Stadium since 2000 – and 30-24 last year en route to a national championship.
“Three seasons that we came up short against those guys, and I'd be lying if I told you that it didn't burn a fire inside of us,” defensive end Jack Sawyer said. “Definitely something that we think about. And we know what's at stake when we play those guys. All of our goals and aspirations for the season rides on that one game in November. And they hate us, we hate them, that's the way it's gotta be. That's the way we want it to be, that's what makes that rivalry so fun.”
Following a second consecutive season that ended with back-to-back losses for the Buckeyes, including the aforementioned rivalry defeats, 12 players with NFL draft stock and the ability to go pro elected to come back. Eight of them were from the 2021 recruiting class that included Burke, Egbuka and Sawyer.
Sawyer spearheaded much of that return as the first player from that rising senior class to tell Ryan Day he’d return to Columbus for one final go, and as a Columbus-area native he felt a personal responsibility for the rivalry letdowns – warranted or not.
NIL helped pave the way behind the scenes, but the NFL is still where the real money is to be made playing football. Boosting stock for the NFL draft is always a factor in a player’s decision to play one more year of college ball as well. But for so many Buckeyes to choose to stay for another season, there has to be more to it than that. And much of what’s more to it is the need for a win over Michigan.
“I wake up and think about it every day. I haven't won a championship, I haven't beat ‘The Team Up North,’” Sawyer said. “You walk around the Woody and all you see is championships and championship posters and banners. I’ve been here for three years and not helped our team and this organization win any of those. It's something that wears on me and it's something that motivates me every day.”
Egbuka witnessed the unity on that front from his teammates.
“It was kind of shocking because like all of the guys, they did their own process, they did their own evaluation and found out what was best for them,” Egbuka said. “It just so happened that we all came together and we were all thinking the same thing.”
“Three seasons that we came up short against those guys, and I'd be lying if I told you that it didn't burn a fire inside of us.”– Jack Sawyer
So as Ohio State plays out its regular season, the Michigan game will continue to hang in the recesses of the public’s mind and provide a tint to the glass the first 11 games are viewed through.
That all sounds cloudy and convoluted. Leave it up to Burke to keep things straightforward.
“At the end of the day, we didn't get the job done, so it's our job this year to go with the mentality of just getting the W,” Burke said.
It would be one massive W to earn and an equally massive monkey off the entire program’s back.
