Ohio State Veterans’ Experience Against Michigan An Advantage for Buckeyes in This Year’s Game

Every current Buckeye who’s ever played against Michigan has only tasted defeat against the Wolverines. Ohio State’s fourth- and fifth-year players are 0-3 against the team up north while its third-year players are 0-2 and its second-year players are 0-1. Alabama transfers Caleb Downs and Seth McLaughlin are also 0-1 against Michigan, having lost to the Wolverines in last year’s College Football Playoff semifinal at the Rose Bowl. The only Buckeye who’s experienced a win in The Game is backup linebacker and special teams regular Joey Velazquez, and that’s only because he spent five years at Michigan before transferring to Ohio State this offseason.

The Buckeyes’ collective experience of losing in The Game ensures they won’t take Saturday’s matchup lightly even though they’re favored to beat the 6-5 Wolverines by three scores.

“Every year it doesn't matter what the record is. Our record or their record, it's going to be a war no matter what. You just go back through history and look at that,” Ohio State defensive end Jack Sawyer said this week. “So we know they're going to give us a good shot. They’re a good team. They're a good football team. There's no mistaking that. So we know we're going to have to come in there and play our balls off, and we expect a war.”

As Ohio State’s veterans look to finally earn the pairs of Gold Pants that have eluded them, they believe they can draw from their past experiences in The Game to help them finally beat Michigan this year.

“Sharing the field with people who have shared the same experiences as you, everybody kind of knows what's at stake and what's on the line,” said Ohio State wide receiver Emeka Egbuka. “So I have no doubt in my mind that Jack Sawyer is going to go out there and play his heart out. Same with JT (Tuimoloau), same with Denzel (Burke), same with Donovan Jackson, just all the guys I've been through it with. Everybody knows what's at stake. So I don't even have to hype them up. I don't have to talk to them pregame. You kind of look in their eyes and you see it. So sharing the field with everybody who has that same type of mentality is definitely encouraging.”

With a lineup full of established veterans last season that helped carry it to a national championship, Michigan had the edge in experience over Ohio State last season and used that to its advantage as it edged out the Buckeyes for a 30-24 win in Ann Arbor. This year, however, it’s Ohio State who has the advantage in terms of players who already have considerable experience playing in The Game.

Fifteen of Ohio State’s 22 starters have already played at least 30 snaps on offense or defense in at least one edition of The Game. Eleven of those 15 Buckeyes have played significant roles in at least two Ohio State vs. Michigan games.

Michigan, on the other hand, has only eight players who have played this season that have played more than 30 total offensive or defensive snaps in The Game, per Pro Football Focus. Its most experienced of those players, cornerback Will Johnson, is not expected to play against Ohio State due to a toe injury.

Why does that difference in experience specific to playing in The Game matter? Because according to the Buckeyes who have played in it numerous times, you don’t fully understand what it’s like to play in an Ohio State/Michigan game until you’ve actually played in one.

“When it comes to this rivalry and this game, there's always a saying that’s just like, ‘You don't know what you don't know.’ So, no matter how much the freshmen think they know, they don't really know. No matter how much the transfers think they know, they don't really know until you really play in this game and feel what it's all about,” Egbuka said.

Ryan Day expressed the same sentiment this week and said the Buckeyes will be relying on their veterans who are experienced in The Game to lead the way on Saturday.

“I said it to the team on Sunday: If you've been in this game, then you know. If you haven't been in this game, you don't know. And that's the only way I can put it,” Day said. “We can talk about what that means and everything privately, but there's a lot that goes with that. And the only way that you can do that is to certainly play in the game. But to have guys that have been through it before to explain exactly what's going on and help with that is critical. And we do have a lot of guys who have played in this game before and have experience. So it's important that they lead the way this week.”

“No matter how much the freshmen think they know, they don't really know. No matter how much the transfers think they know, they don't really know until you really play in this game and feel what it's all about.”– Emeka Egbuka on playing in the Ohio State/Michigan game

Egbuka, who will make his third start in The Game on Saturday, said the biggest thing he draws from his experience playing against Michigan is understanding how intense the rivalry game is.

“It's going to be a battle no matter what,” Egbuka said. “If they have nine players on the field and we have 12, it's still going to be a battle. So I think that you've got to go into the game not expecting anything out of it, but just playing hard and fast and everything for the love of your brother next to you. That's what it's going to take to win this game.”

Sawyer thinks the Buckeyes have learned from their failures against Michigan the past three years and that those lessons have built them into the team they are entering this year’s game.

“I think that going through those trials and tribulations the last three years has really shaped this team and the coaching staff as well, and I think you see it in the way we're playing and the way we're approaching stuff now,” Sawyer said. “It's been tough. It hasn't been easy. Far from easy. But that's the way we like it around here. Going through those tough times with each other has braced us for this moment that we've got this year. So I think the chips have all aligned in the right spots, and we're just excited to go out there and compete this Saturday.”

Experience in The Game isn’t a prerequisite to being successful in The Game, which is a good thing given that some of Ohio State’s most important players are newcomers to the rivalry. Ohio State’s last win in The Game came with a quarterback who was in his first year at Ohio State (Justin Fields in 2019), and the Buckeyes are in the same position this year with Will Howard set to play in The Game for the first and only time. Chris Olave delivered one of the most legendary performances in the history of The Game when he caught two touchdown passes and blocked a punt that went for a touchdown as a true freshman in 2018; the Buckeyes will hope Jeremiah Smith can make a similar impact as a freshman receiver in his first Michigan game.

Egbuka isn’t worried about Howard’s inexperience in The Game because the Kansas State transfer has shown the team leading up to The Game that he understands the magnitude of the rivalry and that he doesn’t know what he doesn’t know.

“He's the closest to knowing what this means without actually playing in this game, so he has the entire right mindset going into it,” Egbuka said. “And he's a leader that I think has what it takes to go into this game and win.”

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Day said the best way for Ohio State’s newcomers to overcome their inexperience in The Game is to ensure they have great preparation leading up to gameday.

“Guys who are playing this for their first time, you don't know until you've been in it, but ultimately you just need to do your job at a high level and play with great emotion and passion,” Day said. “Every play is just amplified, every inch is amplified, every yard is amplified, it's just the way it goes, but ultimately it's still football. And you just got to go play the same way you’ve played and trust your training. That's what it comes down to. So, again, that goes back to diving into a great week of preparation, getting on the film, making sure you're prepared.”

Cody Simon, who has been in Ohio State’s linebacker rotation for every game against Michigan since 2021, says his advice to the players who aren’t experienced in The Game is not to allow the magnitude of The Game to stop them from playing freely.

“It's still football when you come down to it, so we just got to go out there and play our game and not be afraid to make plays,” Simon said.

Given that winning this week’s game is the first of Ohio State’s three major goals for the season, however, Day isn’t trying to downplay it and tell his players it’s like any other game. Experience has taught him that The Game is different than other games, so he knows it’s up to those who have experience in the rivalry – himself included – to lead the way for those who haven’t.

“If you know, you know. If you don't know, you don't know. So lean on the guys around you that have been in the game before, players, coaches, everybody else in the building,” Day said.