Andy & Ari On3 - Ohio State FINALLY beats Michigan | Buckeyes vs Wolverines Instant Reaction

Episode Date: November 29, 2025

Join And & Ari LIVE from the Big House in Ann Arbor to instantly react to Ohio State at Michigan. While it was a back and forth first half, will the Buckeyes be able to claim victory after losing the last four matchups against the Wolverines? Find out here as Andy & Ari break it all down here from Michigan. This show is presented by Modelo! Some things in life are just made for each other. Peanut Butter and jelly. Macaroni and cheese. Modelo and college football. If you’re watching this, it means you live and breathe football. All season long. You know what that makes you? A Full-Time Fan. Which means you deserve a Modelo. Because football wouldn’t be the same without you. Modelo is the official beer sponsor of The College Football Playoff. Drink responsibly. Beer imported by Crown Imports, Chicago, IL Our show is also presented by BetMGM! If you haven’t signed up for BetMGM yet, use bonus code CFB and you will get up to a $1500 First Bet Offer on your first wager with BetMGM! Here’s how it works: 1. Download the BetMGM app and sign-up using bonus code CFB.2. Deposit at least $10 and place your first wager on any game.3. You will receive up to $1500 in bonus bets if your bet loses! Just make sureyou use bonus code CFB when you sign up! Make this college football season one for the history books. Make it legendary. See BetMGM.com for Terms. 21+ only. US promotional offers not available in New York, Nevada, Ontario, or Puerto Rico. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (Available in the US). Call 877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY). Call 1-800-NEXT-STEP (AZ), 1-800-327-5050 (MA), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA), 1-800-981-0023 (PR). First Bet Offer for new customers only. Subject to eligibility requirements. Rewards are non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire in 7 days. In partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel. Watch our show on YouTube! https://youtube.com/live/nl1MdL6LFUU Hosts: Andy Staples, Ari WassermanProducer: River Bailey Interested in partnering with the show? Email [e-mail] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to an instant reaction edition of Andy and Ari on three presented by BetMGM. We are here at it's snowy Michigan Stadium. The snow is blowing outside, aren't? Blowing. What I got here? Oh, hoodie, puffer. Yeah. Yeah.

No flag planting. Just wanted to make sure there was no. No flag planting. Yeah. I watched two Ohio State players where they jumped up on the wall where the Ohio State fans were and kind of sat. It was like a Lamboleet kind of thing, kind of sat there and celebrated with them. the Ohio flag was brought out.

But there was no pepper spray. No, just a breaking of the streak, a clean break, as it were. Yeah, Andy, it's funny because we're going to break this game down here for a few minutes. Oh, yeah. Isn't this game just kind of go the way like we thought last year's would go? Yes. When you break down the two teams, what their strengths are, what their abilities are, you know, Michigan last year certainly was limited from an offensive standpoint.

But even so this year, they, you know, were better, but they weren't great at it. Well, they couldn't, and they couldn't limit Ohio State. And I think, you know, last year, we talked to some people before this game. And, you know, maybe with Ohio State, it was as simple as Will Howard was not quite right for that game. And so the game plan had to be not throwing as much. Julianne's saying, obviously, very much right for this game. And the thing is, if you're Michigan, you're not that far away, but you're not as good as them offensively. You don't have the weapons that they have offensively.

You don't need to have Jeremiah Smith and Colonel Tate. Yeah. Like, but you do have. have to have more functional receivers. And I wrote a column about that for on three. There's a play in the first quarter where Ohio State is losing six to three. Michigan's still up. You know, Michigan has has driven for a field goal. They got the interception. They kick another field goal. They have a goal line stand, hold Ohio State to a field goal. They get the ball back. They have a second and five play. Bryce Underwood scrambles or carries for zero yards.

There's a hold on the H-back. And they announce it on. on TV, like the, you see the referee announced the penalty. The TV broadcast missed this, but they announced it in the stadium that Ohio State was declining the penalty. And I remember immediately going, the disrespect, but it is basically, instead of second and 15, it's going to be third and five. And that is Ryan Day, looking across the sideline at Sharon Moore and saying, you do not have the dudes to get these five yards.

You don't. Yeah. And everybody in this stadium knows it. And everybody did. Everybody did know it. And guess what? They gained one yard on a scramble because nobody was open. Bryce Underwood scrambles, one yard.

That was the game right there. It was over after that. Do you know how many yards Michigan rushed for in the second half? It was a single digits? It was zero. Oh, zero. Okay. So you want to talk about.

By the way, the team that run for more yards still won the game. Yeah. It's funny the stat held through. But, you know, I think that the hard thing about trying to break this game down in the past years were is like what we saw down there between the athlete level, what you just described, what Ohio State had from a passing attack. even in the snow, that it was hard to envision a game where Michigan overcame that. And for the first quarter, it felt like they were about to do it again. Ohio State had to turn over on the second office to play. They were up six nothing.

Maybe if they were to score a touchdown at the beginning of the game, they might have made it, you know, kind of one of those slog-type games. As soon as Ohio State got the ball back, the next thing that happened was, you know, the quarter flips this early second quarter. Ohio State has a fourth and five in kind of four-down territory in Michigan territory. And they throw a 35-year touchdown pass to Jeremiah Smith. It's beautiful, just right in the bucket throw. And look, you're not going, I'm not saying go find a corner who can cover Jeremiah Smith one-on-one.

Because that person doesn't exist. What I'm saying is if Michigan has more effective receivers, then instead of this game being what it was, what was the final score? 27-9. 27-9. And six of those points came on the first two possessions. You need to be playing a 30 to 27 game. You need to be playing a, you know, 29, 27 game. That's the kind of game you need to be playing to be playing to.

beat these guys because you can't rely on them having a FACTA game plan like they had last year. You know the one thing that's also kind of stood out and kind of has been forgotten the last few years as Michigan took back the rivalry was that they were beating one of the best teams and programs in college football. Like it wasn't like Ohio State was broken. They were beating them in despite of it. And the last time the game was here in 2023, I was at this game. Michigan was the better team. Athlete for athlete, Michigan was better. it can be, again, it can be that or it can be equal.

And that's why I think, you know, Michigan fans are going to be really down after this game because they're going to be frustrated by the way it went. It would be frustrated the street got broken. They're going to be frustrated it. It was broken in such an emphatic way. But here's the thing. You came to this game nine and two. You had a chance to make the college football playoff if you pulled off an upset.

You are better than you were last year. I wrote after last year's game that this would be the worst Michigan. The 2014 would be the worst Michigan team that Ohio State saw for a while. that's still true this team was better than that team this team can get better and it's not that far away because you had a bunch of you had a tailback injuries you know i had offensive line injuries like michigan's offense can be effective and i you know that the team that i think michigan should kind of look at as inspiration is texas a and m yeah because what would think about marcel reed this time last year marcele read this time last year and bryce underwood right now kind of the same Yeah. But if you added a Casey's Concepcion and a Mario Craver to the mix with Andrew Marsh already here, all of a sudden, that's an effective passing game. You're going to have a decent running game.

There is hope. Yeah. Well, we spent the first six minutes talking about Michigan. Let's talk about some feelings now. Okay. For Ohio State, what does this mean for Ryan Day? He's a national champion last year. I know in the new era of the sport, you know, we've lost track a little bit,

at least some of us on how important rivalries are, but to come into the big house and get a win convincingly out-athlete the team, like what do you say negatively about him at this point? Nothing. And like did Ohio State just claim back a big piece of their reputation that, you know, really works in their favor when you start talking about who the best program in college football is? Oh, absolutely.

And I think, you know, we've talked about this on the show a bunch. This game matters, even though there's a playoff, even though Ohio State won the national championship after, losing it last year. This game matters deeply to both programs. It is very important to Ohio State that they have won this game, that there is no longer a countdown clock of days since Ohio State beat Michigan. It's reset. And that is just a huge thing for Ryan Day because this time last year, we were talking about whether he should keep his job. He had a security detail out in front of his house. I think about that was a year over year restoration of a person's

reputation. You know, and obviously a lot of that, you know, came back in the, you know, six weeks, two months after they lost this game a year ago, but you still had that hanging over your head. You know, we were in Las Vegas at the beginning of the year, and I don't know if you heard this, but they had the breakout sessions at the Mandalay Bay, and Ryan Day was up at the podium, and reporter asked, how do you beat Michigan? Like, that was still a thing. Yeah. I don't know if people who aren't a part of this rivalry understand the depths to which this matters to both, you know, both teams. Yes. So even though they won the national championship everyone's like oh you won that title what are you crying about like this is an important

like victory for his sanity his program build the Ohio state's reputation everything like I think that you can understand enough as Ohio state's going to Indianapolis now for the first time and when is the last time they played in indie I can't even remember I know 2019 yeah isn't that insane it like well no they played in the in the in 2020 they still had a game and yeah that year doesn't count for that was northwestern I'm yeah yeah so 2020 the year they didn't play to play Michigan. But, you know, if you would have told me at any point during the Urban Meyer era that Ohio State would go five years without playing in Indianapolis, I'd be like, that's impossible. So they're going back to Indy. They have this game. And that's going to be a fun game. Indiana, Ohio State. Yeah. And I think that, you know, for the most part, that'll be for seeding, obviously, and obviously Big Ten, you know, supremacy. But I do think that, like, Ryan Day claimed back a little bit of who, like, I'm going to write this. Yeah. But he claimed back a little bit of who he is today, if not all of it. It is all of it. Because what, what can you say? negatively about Ryan Day now. They recruit better. They use NIL better.

They retain better. They win better. They just won a national championship. They're going to be the one seat if they can beat Indiana. Which program in college football challenge you that right now is in a healthier position in Ohio State right now? There is no one. There's no one. And it's really interesting because my background is covering this team and I've covered this team now for a long time. They've never been in a position where you could say that.

Even when they were winning, you know, maybe in after 2014, there was in Alabama. There was always a Clemson. in Alabama, a Georgia that would be like, excuse me for a second when you ask that question. And I wonder now if Ohio State's program is one of the best situated in the country from a location standpoint, a financial standpoint, an administrative buy-in standpoint,

a coaching standpoint. They were always one of them. They were never the team. The one, yeah. I mean, even in 14, like when they won the national championship, not that it matters, but the team, the Alabama team that they beat on the weight to that wasn't peak Bama. No. And like, Bama never went away. And then Clemson came into the picture. Georgia emerged as a

national power who won, you know, two national championships. Like, it's never been cut and dry. It's definitely Ohio State's turn right now. And I don't know if you think that Ohio State has to win the national championship to, like, really, to really put a hammer on that. They don't, but it would certainly help. But I'm at the point right now where I'm watching this team, and maybe this will be different when we're in Nashville next week watching it.

But like, if Ohio State doesn't win the national title, who is going to? Like, who out there right now is belongs in the same field as that team? That is what the argument is going to be probably going into the playoff is Ohio. Ohio State of the field. Now, perhaps after they play Indiana, we'll feel a different way about that. But the way it looks now, that argument, that sports talk radio discussion will be Ohio State for the field. Yeah. And the hardest thing, too, you know, is that they're assuming, assuming they beat Indiana. And I don't know if that's an assumption you can make. I think that, you know, they probably will. I don't know. But everybody who plays them is going to be playing them in the dome now.

Yeah. Like getting them in the elements and like getting, letting them play in a clean, crisp environment. like playing Ohio State in the dome is harder than playing them on the field like that. It looks white out there. That's not a camera trick. Yeah. Like that's snow. That Andy's going to have to try to traverse on the way back. Yeah.

But I think it was a cathartic victory. There was a drive at the end of the game where Ohio State went on like a 12, 13 play drive where they ran it. I think eight out of the 13 plays or nine out of 13 plays. They didn't allow Michigan to run at all in the second half. Michigan looked completely overmatched when trying to throw the ball when a deficit. I think it was a beat down in a way that, you know, you kind of anticipated. the last four years, and I think Ohio State's in a pretty healthy position. So if you're an Ohio State fan, it's been a long half of a decade,

but pour an extra drink for yourself tonight and enjoy it in Michigan, the way you put it, Andy, too? Like, a few moves away from being back in this game next year. And, you know, it'll be, you know, we'll probably be right back in Columbus next year at this time talking about it. But let's talk big picture now, because Michigan losing changes the big picture a little bit, because it does take away a bid thief situation. And let's check the score right now. Which game, I know him.

BYU is winning by double digits. Okay, so BYU is going to win that game. If BYU and Texas Tech, you know, maybe Texas Tech beats BYU and BYU gets in as an at large, but probably if BYU beats Texas Tech, they definitely both get in. The Big 12 is an interesting thing to look at. I think the other thing we have to acknowledge, because it's my DNA, this point is Miami is beating or will beat Pitt by more than Notre Dame did. So, like, that's another thing that you have to kind of take into account, I think.

I don't know if it matters or not. But nothing shocking yet, which means that when we get back to the MGM tonight, if we get back there in this weather, it is. Auburn is contractually obligated to win that game because nothing crazy has happened. So, you know, stick around for the Iron Bowl. I've got to get down for the interviews here, Andy. Yep. But it was a fun game, fun day, and keep us safe on the way home.

We will talk to you again after the afternoon games. MET, MET, MET, MET, MET, MET, BUS.