COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — It did not take long for the Buckeyes to turn their attention to the team up north.
After No. 2 Ohio State scored 31 unanswered points to defeat No. 5 Indiana, 38-15, the players already had their eye on Michigan, who visits the Horseshoe next Saturday.
Veteran wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, who scored the first Ohio State touchdown against the Hoosiers, set the tone for his teammates in the locker room after the win.
“This one feels good. But this is not a game that we didn’t expect to win. We expected to win this game. In fact, we expected to dominate. We’re the better team,” Egbuka said. “We expected to do this type of thing so it’s straight on to Michigan.”
The Wolverines have won the last three matchups against Ohio State. Last season, the Buckeyes fell 30-24 in Ann Arbor. In 2022, Michigan defeated OSU, 45-23, at Ohio Stadium. In 2021, Ohio State suffered a 42-27 setback on the road against UM.
But this will be the first taste of the rivalry for many stars including freshman Jeremiah Smith and transfers Caleb Downs and Will Howard.
Downs, who came from Alabama, scored the school’s first punt return for a touchdown in a decade against the Hoosiers while Howard, who arrived from Kansas State, threw for two touchdowns and ran for another Saturday.
“I can just feel it. There’s been that hurt the last three years. This rivalry game, it’s the first thing that I heard when I came here on my visit. Beat the team up north. It’s the first goal we have every single year. Beat the team up north,” Howard said. “You can say anything about records man. That’s going to be a hard game. Every single year, they’re going to bring it, we’re going to bring it.”
Junior defensive end Caden Curry also looks to turn three years of frustration into triumph over Michigan, hoping to win it for those that haven’t beaten the Wolverines yet in their careers.
“Definitely for guys like that, we’ve seen them get cheated out and get kinda screwed over. They definitely deserve a win,” Curry said. “And they deserve an amplified win and a win that takes no doubt.”
While Egbuka recognizes the magnitude of the Michigan game, he also emphasized the importance of staying focused, sticking to the routine and working hard in practice.
“We know what this game means to Buckeye nation,” Egbuka said. “But at the end of the day, you just have to tune that all out.”