Ohio State players look ahead to Michigan game after beating Rutgers

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Ohio State football quickly turned the page after its 42-9 win over Rutgers on Nov. 22.

It’s the nature of Michigan week that victories in the Buckeyes‘ penultimate regular-season game don’t get celebrated.

“We’ve been working toward this all year,” coach Ryan Day said. “And we know that the opponent is different. We know what’s at stake. We know we’re playing for hardware now. But at the end of the day, it’s still about us. We can’t all of a sudden change things, so we want to keep it as routine as we can, knowing that, again, we’re playing for hardware – not only gold pants, but an opportunity to get to Indy.”

The Wolverines‘ 13-10 win over Ohio State last year kept the Buckeyes from reaching the Big Ten championship game in Indianapolis. While payback is almost certainly on the mind of Ohio State’s players and coaches, a more immediate concern is the health of wide receivers Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith. Both missed the game against Rutgers with unspecified injuries and are considered day-to-day.

“The ultimate goal is to win [the Michigan] game, and that’s it,” Day said. “And we’re going to do everything we can to win the game with what we have, and we’ll just go from there.”

Here’s what Ohio State’s players said about the Nov. 28 game against the Wolverines:

Tight end Max Klare

  • The Purdue transfer is playing in his first Ohio State-Michigan game. “I’m super excited to be a part of it,” he said. “It’s why you come here, for games like that.”

Center Carson Hinzman

  • “It’s another opportunity to play in The Game. … This is a big week for everyone, not just the players, but the city and people of Columbus and Ohio. To go up there is a huge opportunity. It’s going to take everything we’ve got and everything we’ve been doing the past 11 weeks. We’re going to need all of it when we walk in there.”
  • Hinzman was one of the players who, after a heated meeting following last season’s Michigan loss, helped plot Ohio State’s way forward. “Obviously, that was a big meeting for the team, but I thought that the way we prayed it out afterward is what set our minds, set our hearts, set our souls ready to go in the latter half of that season,” he said. “And I think that has not only carried on from that season … but also this season, because we’ve got a lot of similar guys – guys who are ready to go out and play for God and play for each other. That’s all we need right now.”

Defensive end Kenyatta Jackson

  • Ohio State has lost four straight to Michigan, as Jackson is well aware. “It’s been on our minds since we lost to them last year,” he said. “I mean, the week is here. It’s finally here.”
  • “It’s a huge week, but we’re going to stick to our regular routine.”
  • Ohio State committed six penalties and gave up 50 yards as a result against Rutgers. “This week wasn’t a matchup game, so [penalties] probably didn’t cost us that much, but next week it can.”
  • Jackson has a national championship ring, but no gold pants that signify a win over Michigan. “It’s real important,” he said. “Losing to this team … I can’t go out like that. My senior year, with my senior guys, I can’t go out like that.”

Defensive end Caden Curry

  • Like Jackson, Curry doesn’t have a pair of gold pants. “It’s definitely something that, when you get recruited, you always talk about,” he said. “So definitely I’m still missing a pair, and I definitely need a pair.”

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football players preview Michigan game

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