Ohio State football coach Ryan Day cheered, Michigan jeered: Mailbox

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Have more comments, questions? Reach out to me at bwhite1@dispatch.com. Letters are lightly edited for clarity.

On Ohio State football

To the editor: Coach Day: Congratulations to you, your coaches and to the players for the win against the team up north. It was magnificent. You played your game and added several new plays. The Tate touchdown was one of those and it was just so well conceived and executed.

One digression: Michigan seems to have an early interception in the last two years and, as I recall, in other past years, as well. It seems it is always a short out that the corner undercuts, a pass designed to warm up the quarterback, I would guess. If instead you employed the double move that Smith ran for his touchdown, you might have a better result. Just a thought.

Harry Pukay-Martin, Worthington

To the editor: Wow! The NCAA was so mad at Michigan they gave Michigan State three years probation! Kind of borrowed from Jerry Tarkanian.

Brent DeWees, Pickerington

To: Brian: So, Sherrone Moore deletes text messages, lies to NCAA investigators and gets off scot-free. (Against Ohio State) his player tried to headbutt a ref and Moore blatantly lies and blames the ref for grabbing his player. To quote Monte Burns, “balderdash Smithers!” I watched the replay several times. At no time did the ref grab that guy. Great to see Moore looking like less as OSU stole his lunch money for the last three quarters.

Tony Federer

To the editor: Woody Hayes told his players each year before The Game, “This is the cleanest game you’ll play in all year, because of the respect between our two schools.” And it was. And now, this week, I read that OSU’s athletic director is using the word “hate,” endorsing it. Players can be influenced by this. Let’s get an AD who understands Ohio State’s many positive traditions. The Game is too noble for anyone to associate “hate” with it.

Chuck Underwood, Miamisburg

To Brian: I’ve never seen a team as anemic and out of sync as the 2025 edition of the Michigan Wolverines. In a word, defanged … by game’s end. After a quick start and interception – almost a copy of last year’s Buckeye demise – there was little fanfare on the field and among the Michigan faithful in the Big House stands freshman. Freshman QB Bryce Underwood was more like a first-year battery needing a jump start. Coach Moore said his team “couldn’t find any rhythm.” In reality, they couldn’t find the end zone.

Assertively, Ohio State kept making enough yards for consecutive first downs as the snowfall increased and the clock ran out. Their final statement was this: “We don’t need to plant a flag at midfield. We ruled the whole field all afternoon.” And, ultimately, for a Day.

Larry Cheek, Dublin

To the editor: Coach Ryan Day finally beat ichigan the way Buckeye Nation hoped he would – with strength, humility, and heart. And in an age of chest-thumping and TikTok bravado, he is a breath of holiday cheer.

After the game, he didn’t boast. He spoke of brotherhood, loving teammates and winning with grace. This is character. This is leadership. This is behavior I want my grandson to emulate.

Coach Day reminded me why being a Buckeye still means something deeper than the score. Eat your heart out, Woody.

Michael N. Oser, Upper Arlington

To Brian: Ryan Day’s Game 12 victory has to rank right up there with Chic Harley in 1919, Francis Schmidt in 1934 and Jim Tressel in 2001 as such crucial tide turning wins in that series. Day always remained gracious throughout what had been when no one, not even ally Urban Meyer, would offer any push back against those bragging about the opponent’s win streak as if it had been earned fair and square. They had benefited from dishonorable espionage for three seasons and that seems to have been forgotten. I couldn’t be so gracious without seeing contrition on their part which we’ll never see.

Dennis Singleton, Dayton

On college football

To the editor: After reading the article by Matt Hayes knocking Texas A&M’s schedule strength it’s clear that either he doesn’t have a clue or it’s just another SEC bash common here. If you average the SOS of both leagues, the SEC comes in at 19.625 with A&M being at 14. The Big 18 comes in at 26.7 with Ohio State being 42 and Indiana 33. OSU may be a good team, but the only game they’ve played was Texas, before Texas got their act together.

You can only play the teams on your schedule, but playing an SEC schedule is much harder than playing a Big Ten schedule. If you look at the current ESPN FPI, eight out of the first 10 are from the SEC. While there’s some subjectivity to these kind of metrics, there’s clearly no comparison.

Money is being spent in vast amounts by both leagues and ruining the game. I think that it’s benefiting northern teams more than south. I think the northern teams are able to buy players from the south who would have stayed warm and not come north.

I’m sure there’s a lot of different viewpoints that I’ll hear about, please just look at the numbers, not opinions.

Don Six, Blacklick