Making sense of Bryce Underwood and Kyle Whittingham’s Ohio State comments

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Ohio State beat Michigan in The Big House last season in a game that wasn’t as competitive as the 27-9 final score would indicate. The win for the Buckeyes marked their first victory in the series since 2019, a span of time that saw The Game canceled due to COVID in 2020 and four straight Michigan victories, including a massive upset in 2024.

This offseason, the bragging-rights shoe is on the other foot, and it’s clear we’ve reached the point in the summer when games can’t start soon enough, thanks to the famous rivalry’s discourse over the last few weeks.

The ball got rolling at Big Ten Media Days when Kyle Whittingham was quoted as saying, “Hate’s a strong word,” when asked about his feelings toward the Buckeyes.

“I just think that a rivalry can be intense and emotional without the hatred factor,” Whittingham added. “Personally, I think Ryan Day is a good person. To sit here and say ‘I hate Ryan Day,’ I’d be making crap up because that’s not true.”

With the added context that Whittingham includes, this doesn’t seem like much of an issue at all. Furthermore, he raises a great point: the rivalry can be “intense and emotional without the hatred factor,” given the toxic level it’s reached the last few years.

During a press conference at Schembechler Hall on Monday, Whittingham again spoke on the matter when asked by a reporter about it.

“Do we have a better chance of winning if I hated (Ohio State)?” Whittingham said. “Whatever gives us the best chance to win, I’m all for it. I want to beat them worse than anybody.”

What reason do we have not to believe him? It seems unfair to characterize Whittingham as someone who doesn’t take the rivalry seriously simply because he doesn’t “hate” the people on the other sideline. Furthermore, it seems counterintuitive to be in favor of Whittingham’s hire as the head coach due to the high level of maturity he brings to a program that needs it, yet be rubbed the wrong way when he gives a mature answer to a question.

On a similar note, quarterback Bryce Underwood was asked about how different The Game was from any other he’d been in during a recently released interview with NBC’s John Fanta, in which he also downplayed the nature of the rivalry.

“My goal is to be 1-0 every day … that’s what drives me,” Underwood said. “(The Game) is just another game. Just with guys in a different color. That’s how I see it.”

The bewilderment from fans on both sides of the rivalry makes sense given the way Michigan (and Underwood himself) have talked about Ohio State the last few years. Jim Harbaugh initially claimed his teams would beat Ohio State or “die trying” before rattling off three straight wins in the series to close out his tenure as head coach. However, it’s easier to talk a big game and about how much the rivalry matters when you have an extensive history in it or when you’ve been able to back up your words — something Michigan and Underwood didn’t do in 2025.

Following the loss, Michigan’s players stood on the block “M” at midfield to perhaps protect it from some sort of flag planting as we’d seen in 2024. By making this display, something it hadn’t done in previous home losses, it seemed the Wolverines cared much more about defending their logo in a post-game skirmish than they cared about defending their end zones in the subsequent four quarters.

With where Michigan now finds itself, it’s not the end of the world for the team to downplay things more than it had during the Harbaugh and Sherrone Moore eras. Ohio State found itself in a similar situation during its losing streak. The Buckeyes weren’t losing to Michigan because they didn’t take it seriously, but they were losing because they weren’t viewing it in a way that brought out their best football. But last year, we saw Day and his team change everything about their Michigan prep, all the way down to the travel routine, in an effort to eventually snap their streak.

It might be uncomfortable for fans to hear the higher-ups of Michigan’s program talk about Ohio State in a more nonchalant way than we’re accustomed to, but it’s also true that those in the program shouldn’t be so blinded by hate for the Buckeyes that it keeps them from effectively preparing for them, even if it means turning down the heat a bit. After all, actions speak louder than words anyway.

Whittingham is a veteran coach who has plenty of experience competing against the very best teams in college football, so it’s probably a fool’s errand to worry about how much he cares about any opponent on the schedule. Or to mistake his comments as outright apathy toward another team, even one that Michigan fans, alumni, and former players despise.

It’s one thing to care about The Game, but it’s another thing entirely to care about winning it. Once late November rolls around, you can count on Whittingham, Underwood and the rest of the roster being hell-bent on going “1-0” against Ohio State. As long as they do, everything will be just fine.

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