Ohio State football team is crushing Michigan in one key area
By Ryan Stano
The Ohio State football program has taken it on the chin in the last three meetings with Michigan. They have lost each of those matchups on the field, even though two of those may have been because of a cheating scandal that aided them. Still, they lost in 2023 when the cheating stopped.
It's something the Buckeyes are motivated by this offseason. They know that they have to beat them if they want to win a national championship. It's been a decade since Ohio State won the first national title of the CFP era. Since then, they have played for another and watched TTUN win won as well.
The one area the Ohio State football team is still crushing Michigan
There is still one area in which the Buckeyes hold superiority over Michigan. That is on the recruiting trail. Right now, the Buckeyes have the second-best class in the country. They have 11 commitments, with three of those being five-star recruits.
Where is TTUN, you ask? Well, they are all the way down at 42nd in the country. They currently have just three commits in their class. It seems that recruits are wary of the sanctions that might be hitting the program soon over the recruiting violations and the cheating scandal.
Recruiting is what keeps programs healthy. You have a better shot to win a national championship if you have the best players. The Ohio State football program knows this and has made sure to keep recruiting, and NIL money, at the forefront of what they do.
However, recruiting isn't everything. We've seen more talented Ohio State teams get beaten by TTUN in each of the last three seasons. Michigan won a national championship a year ago because they had superior coaching who could get the most out of their guys. The good news for Ohio State is that Jim Harbaugh decimated the coaching staff after he left for the NFL.
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That's something Ryan Day hopes he and his staff also have now this season. We'll see if the hiring of Chip Kelly on offense is enough to get that unit back to where it used to be.