ATLANTA — Admittedly, the question is ridiculous.
Ohio State is hours away from meeting Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff championship game, capping a season that just in the past eight weeks has seesawed between the depths of another loss to Michigan and the potential high of claiming the program first championship since the debut of the four-team format a decade ago.
The Buckeyes have steamrolled through three playoff games since the rivalry loss, escaping the shadow of that miserable moment with impressive wins against Tennessee, Oregon and Texas. So, the question: If the Michigan game was the impetus for this run to the championship game, is that an exchange the Buckeyes are willing to take?
In other words, would you trade a loss to the Wolverines for a ring?
“I don’t have an answer on that,” said senior offensive lineman Josh Fryar. “I don’t have an answer. Maybe I’ll have an answer after Monday night.”
Said wide receiver Carnell Tate, “It’s not worth losing no game, really.”
A fourth loss in a row in the rivalry will trail Ohio State all the way until next November and at least partially define this season even if the Buckeyes beat the Fighting Irish.
But there is a clear line between that ultimate low — probably the nadir of coach Ryan Day’s tenure given how the Wolverines had played heading into that Saturday — and where Ohio State stands heading into Monday night.
‘That’s the sobering reality of this game, that nobody cares about what you go thru and you’ve got to win that final one to finish the mission,’ Day said. ‘That’s it for our guys, and as much as some of these wins have been great wins for us, to me, it’s about winning this final game. Our guys will have learned a lot about life over the last month. It’s been a tight group. We’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly.’
Two days after the loss, Day told the Buckeyes that the playoff was their chance for a reboot, a rare opportunity to turn the page on a devastating setback and claim the national championship.
“It helped us really change our mindset,” said senior linebacker Cody Simon. “We knew we were going to have to go on a run if we wanted to win it all. That was kind of the decision we had to make and come together. Like, we knew we were going to play a game, but how mentality into it are you going to be? So we all came together and really decided that this is going to be our year and we’re going to go and finish it. But we’ve got to go do it, though.”
The loss to Michigan hasn’t led to any major schematic, back-the-drawing-board changes for Ohio State: “It’s not something magical or mystical,” offensive assistant Justin Frye said. “There was an alignment, an assignment, a communication error. How do you correct that and clean that up so you can play more violent and physical and with more confidence?”
Instead, players pointed to something as simple as the playoff schedule as a huge factor behind the Buckeyes’ ability to turn the page instead of wallowing in another rivalry defeat.
The opening-round matchup against Tennessee was on Dec. 21, three weeks and a day after playing Michigan. That was the Buckeyes’ earliest postseason matchup since playing the 1982 Holiday Bowl against Brigham Young on Dec. 17. Since the 1994 season, the program has played just five bowl games in December, with three of those matchups occurring the playoff national semifinals.
“The sooner you can get back to playing, the sooner you can write a new script,” said defensive coordinator Jim Knowles. “Feel bad for a little bit and then we’ve got to get back to work. Anytime you can get back to work, it helps you get over those things.”
After spending two days poring over tape of the Michigan game, the Buckeyes had no choice but to move forward and refocus on what came next — by the time the matchup with Tennessee was made official the following Sunday, they had less than two weeks to prepare for one of the best teams in the SEC.
“We had a few days to sit there and think about it, try to figure out when we’re going to play and who we’re going to play,” junior linebacker Sonny Styles said. “But once we found out we’re playing Tennessee, it’s on.”
This has been a different team than the one that faceplanted against the Wolverines. Ohio State engulfed Tennessee, storming out to a 21-0 advantage in the first quarter and outgaining the Volunteers by more than 200 yards on the way to a 42-17 win. Facing off against Oregon in the Rose Bowl, the Buckeyes took a 34-0 lead late into the first half and avenged the regular-season loss to the Ducks in the 41-21 rout. Pushed by Texas in the quarterfinals in the Cotton Bowl, the Buckeyes responded with a key defensive touchdown in the fourth quarter to win 28-14.
“The message is us responding in a low moment,” said Styles. “Sometimes in life, life brings you to your knees. You either sit down and pout or you come back swinging. We got up swinging.”