Down by six with the ball on the road in the Big House with a chance to win one of the biggest editions of college football’s biggest rivalry, Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord had his offense in motion. A couple big passes to Marvin Harrison Jr. and Julian Fleming brought the Buckeyes into Michigan territory with a chance to take back the rivalry in dramatic fashion. Every second that ticked on the clock felt like a minute.
In those stomach-churning moments, one question was about to be answered: Did Ryan Day make the right decision when he hand-picked his quarterback in one of his first steps as Ohio State’s coach?
Day has undeniably been as good or better than anyone in the sport at picking and developing a quarterback. If there’s one thing Ohio State will have on its team, it’s a future first-round NFL Draft pick running the offense.
Then McCord threw an interception. Michigan 30, Ohio State 24. Final.
Michigan No. 2 defensive back Rod Moore pulled in the interception to end the game, my brain took me back to Chicago in May 2019.
Then I visited JJ McCarthy as a recruit after he committed to Michigan. I met a blond little boy – who still looked like a child – with a golden smile and enough confidence to look me in the eye and tell me that Michigan would be a different place by the time he left.
Why?
Because he hated Ohio State after what Day and his staff did to him.
GO DEEPER
Why JJ McCarthy hates Ohio State and how the future Michigan QB could change the rivalry
McCarthy grew up loving Ohio State and visited Columbus as a recruit. But he felt Ohio State lied to him during the recruiting process after Day decided he preferred McCord.
“I understand it’s a business,” McCarthy said in his high school coach’s office more than four years ago. “But it always sucks when you’re lied to. And that’s where the rivalry started for me, and the hatred. But what are you going to do? It’s a business and they have to do what they have to do. They lied to my face, but it’s all good now.”
Imagine how he feels now.
9 ➡️ 1 pic.twitter.com/lG8GbgoLyM
— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) November 25, 2023
Michigan has won three straight games against Ohio State, the last two with McCarthy as the starter. He committed to Michigan at a time when it was downright impossible to fathom even three straight Wolverines victories in this rivalry. He, like so many others in this series, is fueled by hatred and loathing for his enemy.
McCarthy was just a teenager at the time. He joked about waiting for hair to grow under his armpits. He then stated decisively and confidently what he thought about Day.
These are the decisions a coach must make in recruiting – in the stories written during the month of May. It seems like a matter of decline at the moment, but time and change will surely show in the end.
McCarthy is now a man. He is a future NFL Draft pick. He’s a winner.
Day? He has to come to terms with the idea that he may have lost to Michigan for the third time in a row because he was wrong in a decision he was right about time and time again as the Buckeyes coach.
McCord’s story as Ohio State’s quarterback isn’t fully written yet. He led a game-winning drive on the road against Notre Dame earlier this year and looked ready to do it again on the biggest stage possible. But instead of being great, he threw an interception that ended the game.
Maybe he’ll be the quarterback at Ohio State next year. Maybe he’ll get a win over Michigan in November. Or perhaps Day feels the need to enter the transfer portal and fix the evaluation mistake he made.
McCord wasn’t terrible in this match. But he threw a mind-numbing interception in the first quarter that led to a Michigan touchdown and threw a tough interception in the fourth quarter that ended the game. In between, there were flashes of excellence and flashes of moments where it felt like the Buckeyes couldn’t complete a pass. That can’t happen with Harrison on your team.
Day appeared to be in pure terror as the final seconds ticked off the clock. I can’t understand what he felt at that moment. But when you sign on to coach Ohio State, you do so with the understanding that you will be judged solely on how things play out in this game.
Things have gone terribly.
You can pick him apart for going for a 52-yard field goal before halftime or for calling a more conservative play than he would have if the opponent was Maryland or Minnesota. You can also accuse him of hiring a $2 million coordinator who built a statistically great defense all year long, but was mowed down in the final minutes of the game when a stop mattered most.
What Ohio State fans probably didn’t envision was that they were upset with Day over quarterback play and/or recruiting. That was his salvation.
McCarthy is not Patrick Mahomes. It’s not like he’s the best quarterback who ever lived. But he went 16-for-20 for 148 yards and had a beautifully placed touchdown pass between two defenders in the second quarter.
Pick on him all you want – and some of it is justified – but he won the football game.
This last quote from McCarthy from that May day in 2019 still stands out to me.
“I loved them,” he said of Ohio State. “Now I want to kill them.”
You did that, JJ
(Photo by JJ McCarthy: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)