Tim May: Ohio State must capitalize in ‘matchup game’ at Michigan

COLUMBUS — With freedom there are responsibilities, of course, but one has to believe that with No. 2 Ohio State headed into The Game with so much on the line Saturday at No. 3 Michigan, a certain sense of freedom comes with knowing the only thing that matters is gaining the win.

Meaning no one is going to hold it against the Buckeyes for putting the pedal to the metal, though keeping some modicum of control for the curves and perhaps hairpin turns they’re sure to encounter.

For both teams, the last Big Ten East Division title is on the line along with its berth in the conference title game next week vs. Iowa. Viability in the College Football Playoff rankings’ top four is on the line, too. 

And pride — Ohio State has lost the past two games to the Wolverines, the first time that’s happened in sports’ greatest rivalry since 1999-2000. 

Thus knowing the only thing that matters Saturday is the win, Ohio State coach Ryan Day was asked this week whether a sense freedom comes with that in terms of holding nothing back.

“We say in those matchup games [of great vs. great] it could come down to one play, and we have to play those games that way,” Day said. “We’ve been in a couple of those this season [17-14 win at Notre Dame, 20-12 win over Penn State], we talk about those games.

“Not that any game is any different, but you know that it could come down to one play. And you’ve got to be on your game, and you’ve got to win the situations.”

If a game-turning situation or play presents itself, it’s imperative to capitalize at that moment, not be timid and thinking, well, another chance will come along for Ohio State. This is the football equivalent of a collision of aircraft carriers whose defense systems are on high alert to deal with whatever the other rams or launches their way.

But feeling a freedom to play at one’s utmost should not be confused with reckless abandon. As Ohio State linebacker Cody Simon indicated, if there is ever a matchup in which players should lean on the fundamentals, it’s The Game.

Last year, Michigan turned it with five huge plays for touchdowns — three passes of 69, 75 and 45 yards and two runs by Donovan Edwards of 75 and 85 — and the Buckeyes didn’t have a magic weapon to counter that.

“All those big plays happened because of small little details that’s really all fundamentals,” Simon recalled this week. “So we have to get back to making sure we are fundamentally sound at every position.”

With that said, he agreed there is somewhat of a liberating feel that comes with knowing the only thing matters Saturday is the W.

“A hundred percent,” Simon said. “But that’s that thing about being at a place like Ohio State. It’s kind of expected that you win by a lot of points, but [harkening back to the premise] that’s been our goal every week this year, it’s just to win.

“It doesn’t matter what it looks like; we just have to win. And so, I kind of find comfort in that. We’re not trying to do anything extraordinary, we’re just trying to do our job and what we’ve been doing all year.”

Meanwhile, with regards to that assumption that a win-or-else situation brings with it a sense of freedom for the coaches on The Game day, former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer — he went 7-0 vs. Michigan — had a different take.

“All due respect, I don’t think coaches think that way,” Meyer said on this week’s Urban’s Take with Tim May podcast. “I never did. First of all, the only sleep I got was when I took a sleeping pill on a week like this. … 

“What goes through a coach’s mind [morning of The Game] is did you check everything off the list? Did you cover ‘This’? Then I was a such a nut about sports performance, ‘Are our guys fresh?’, because we practiced really hard. And this week on purpose we really didn’t.”

He made that point on Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff Show last week, and reiterated it about Ohio State again on Urban’s Take.

“The majority of times this week I’d [have the players] take the shoulder pads off, and I’d make the comment, ‘This is going to be violent,’ “ Meyer said. “ ‘This is the most violent game you’ll ever play in your career, in college or pro. This is it.

“ ‘So I want your neck, I want your shoulders, I want your body feeling so good on Saturday at noon when the foot hits the ball, the next thing you’re going to hit is going to be wearing maize and blue.’ The players liked that.”

He wanted the Buckeyes running fast and swinging hard. 

“The coaches, I don’t know if, like you said, they let it all go – you’re always trying to win,” Meyer said. “It’s just that the mind of a coach is ‘Did we do this? Did we do this?’ 

“And up until the foot hits the ball it’s all prep. Once the foot hits the ball then it’s all adjustments.”

Again, with all due respect, he said, Michigan, which has played one of the lighter schedules in the nation this year, and Ohio State, past the wins over Notre Dame and — like Michigan — Penn State, have both sailed for the most part through an otherwise peerless Big Ten.  

“So Ohio State and the Wolverines have played very light schedules,” Meyer said, “relative to what’s gonna happen Saturday.”

The post Tim May: Ohio State must capitalize in ‘matchup game’ at Michigan appeared first on On3.

from On3 https://ift.tt/7fsNDne