Welcome to The Hodgepodge.
Ohio State endured three weeks of pure hell.
The devastation of losing to Michigan for a fourth straight year, especially this weakened version of the Wolverines, encapsulated an entire city, fanbase, and team infrastructure.
So much so that the pregame atmosphere had the strangest feeling of any Ohio State game I’ve covered in the past four seasons. Belief in Ohio State was at an all-time low. Speculative questions swirled nationally around Ryan Day’s future with the program if the Buckeyes lost to Tennessee, fair or not. So much so, Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork had to give Day not one, but two votes of confidence ahead of the matchup.