COLUMBUS, Ohio — It’s officially Michigan week.
As Ohio State gears up to take on their rival this Saturday, it’s a reminder as to why many of the seniors and leaders of this team stayed one more year.
It’s no secret wining against the team up north means everything for this team. But it’s been 1,823 days since the Buckeyes have beaten the Wolverines. And for these seniors, it’s one of the main reasons many of them stayed. Quarterback transfer Will Howard said he wants it so bad for his teammates.
It’s been a long time coming. The defeat of the last three years against Michigan has weighed heavy on these Buckeyes. For seniors like Emeka Egbuka, part of the reason he wanted to come back to Ohio State is for this moment.
“It would cap off my Ohio State career definitely the right way," Egbuka said. "Not that there's not more to do after we win this game, but, you know, you come to Ohio State to beat the team up north, to win a pair of gold pants. Just to hand the gold pants to my mother is a memory that I'm really looking forward to.”
Quarterback Will Howard said the moment he stepped on campus after transferring from Kansas State, he got a sense of how big this game is. Now, he wants to win it for his teammates who stayed.
“I know that I don’t get it as much as they do," Howard said. "I haven’t felt the hurt, and I haven’t been here and felt the years of, I’ve been in college football for four years, but I haven’t been a part of this yet. And I understand that. But I want this for them so bad, just because I love them, because those guys are my brothers, and I want to make sure that I put my best foot forward for them.”
When Ryan Day was asked what it would mean to him to win this game, he said it would mean the world, and that it’s one of the biggest understatements of all time to say this team wants to win this game.
“I'm excited about this game," Day said. "I'm excited about this team. I love the look in their eye. I love I love coming to work every day, but this is not about me. It's about these seniors who decided to come back. They want to have a pair of pants. They want to have hardware. So that's what motivates me. And I'm excited for them. So they can go out there and play this thing and go win it.”