Ohio State Buckeyes defensive end Jack Sawyer is tired of losing to the Michigan Wolverines, and part of the reason why he returned for his senior season is to have another crack at them.
While speaking to reporters at Big Ten media day on Tuesday, Sawyer revealed how much it burnt to lose to Michigan for the third straight time in 2023 and how much the crushing defeat influenced his decision to return to Columbus for another year.
“I felt like I like not only Ryan Day down, but I let the city down,” Sawyer said of last year’s loss to the Wolverines (via Adam King of 10 TV). “So for me, it’s all about coming back, and a lot of us, we all feel the same way too. We weren’t going to leave here without having one more shot at doing this the right way.”
In other words, beating Michigan.
“We know what’s at stake when we play those guys,” Sawyer continued. “All of our goals and aspirations for the season rides on that one game in November. They hate us, we hate them, and that’s the way it’s got to be. That’s the way we want it to be.”
Prior to 2021, Ohio State had rattled off eight consecutive wins over Michigan, most recently laying a 56-27 beatdown on the Wolverines in 2019 (the schools did not face one another in 2020 due to the pandemic-shortened campaign).
However, Michigan has come out on top each year since 2021. Last November, the Wolverines posted a 30-24 victory over the Buckeyes on their way to a national championship.
Michigan is now in the midst of a rebuild, as it lost head coach Jim Harbaugh and quarterback J.J. McCarthy to the NFL this offseason.
With Ohio State boasting quite possibly the country’s most talented roster, it will be sorely disappointing if Sawyer and Co. cannot break their skid against the Wolverines in 2024.
Source link : https://www.si.com/college/ohiostate/news/ohio-state-buckeyes-jack-sawyer-puts-michigan-wolverines-on-notice-01j3gs9qgnn0
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Publish date : 2024-07-23 20:30:00
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