Matchups with Penn State, Purdue, UCLA and Rutgers separate Ohio State from its season finale against Michigan, but the greatest rivalry in all of sport is always on Ryan Day’s mind.

In an interview with On3’s Chris Low this week, Day discussed how he and Ohio State endured a Michigan storm last season to win a national championship — and that the Buckeyes want nothing more than to beat the Wolverines in 2025.

“Nobody wants to win against them more than we do, more than I do. It’s part of the job here,” Day told Low. “So every time we play, it matters. There’s no way to de-emphasize it, but what it comes down to is how well we prepare throughout the season to go play in that game, then handle our business of having a great week of preparation and then go from there. When you come to Ohio State, all our players and coaches, that’s a part of joining our program, whether you’re from Ohio or not. It’s a game that means so much to so many people, and when you go back in history with all the generations, there was really that game and then maybe a bowl game afterward. So year after year after year, that rivalry just builds up.

“It’s an honor to be a part of it, but certainly something that we want to win … and have to win.”

“Nobody wants to win against them more than we do, more than I do.”– Ryan Day on OHIO STATE beating Michigan

After Ohio State’s loss to Michigan last season, Ross Bjork offered Day a vote of confidence. Day then led his team to four consecutive victories over Tennessee, Oregon, Texas and Notre Dame to win the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff.

In his interview with Low, Bjork praised Day for never panicking after the defeat and for rallying Ohio State’s coaches and players to make the title run.

“It goes back to you can’t panic in these jobs, and Ryan never did,” Bjork said. “The players never did, and it’s because of the culture he’s built here. What I’ve kind of analyzed over this last year, really looking at it, is that the secret sauce here at Ohio State, and you can go back to Jim Tressel and Urban Meyer for sure, Woody Hayes too, is can you handle and embrace and not be afraid of the pressure? Coach Day talks about it, that you’ve got to win every game, can’t lose a game around here. Can you embrace that, but also execute it?

“Look at our playoff run last year. They executed. They said, ‘This is our game plan. This is who we are.’ How many people can compartmentalize that and say, ‘Look, we will figure out that (Michigan) game later, but for now, we have to go do this job and we’re going to execute it and win a championship?’”

Day doesn’t see his experience as compartmentalizing the Michigan loss, but rather as learning from the failure. He hopes the lessons learned will continue to pay dividends as the 2025 Buckeyes look to accomplish their three goals, which are always to beat Michigan, win a Big Ten championship and win a national title.

“It’s the job as the head coach to be the leader when things don’t go well, to take on the responsibility of getting it fixed and recognizing that there’ll be enough blame to go around,” Day said. “We have a culture of good people here. There’s a trust in the building that when things don’t go well, you get them fixed and address them. Everybody has to be on board. We know the stakes are high here at Ohio State. That’s the job, and I think a big part of it all is the type of people that you bring into the building, the type of recruits that you bring in.

“You’re going to go on these journeys together, and they’re going to take twists and turns, but everything that I believe in came to fruition last year. It’s about hard work. It’s about fixing the problems. It’s about calling things out that need to get addressed.

“A lot of those same things are probably coming this year. That’s just the way it goes, and we’re looking to do the same thing again this year.”