ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Ryan Day left the field beaming, pumping his fists and urging the remaining Ohio State fans to roar before throwing up the familiar "O-H" signal. The win erased the irritation of four straight losses to Michigan and brought relief to a coach who had taken that stretch to heart.
On a snowy Saturday at the Big House, No. 1 Ohio State beat Michigan 27-9 to reach the Big Ten championship game for the first time since 2020. The Buckeyes will head to Indianapolis next weekend to face No. 2 Indiana with the top overall College Football Playoff seed on the line.
"There's no question that the fans and all of our supporters, what this means -- means a lot to us," Day said, acknowledging how much the recent losses to Michigan had weighed on him personally and on the program. "You just feel like you're letting everybody down -- that's just not a good feeling. So you work like hell just to make sure that you do everything you can to get your guys prepared. ... And our guys really captured the moment and played great."
Ohio State fell behind 6-0 early but then took control. Sophomore quarterback Julian Sayin overcame an interception on his second pass to finish with 233 yar
