Rivalry Focus: The Obsession Between Ohio State and Michigan

Watch Rivalry Focus: The Obsession Between Ohio State and Michigan - SportsGrid on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00When you were at Auburn, did you ever obsess over Alabama the way Day obsesses over Michigan?

00:12Meanwhile, he's going to play for a national championship, but he's still worried about

00:16losing to Michigan.

00:17Well, I will say this, his fans help him a little bit.

00:21I've coached against Michigan and Texas.

00:24Up there, you either got to win, beat Michigan, or play for a national championship, and he's

00:290-4 against Michigan, so whether he can block that out, the fans are not going to let him.

00:35Right now, he's got that blocked out because he's playing for the national championship,

00:39but I will say this, he needs to not worry about it as much, and he may be, but the fans

00:44are not going to let that steal.

00:46I coached in Ohio long enough.

00:48When I was at Akron, I watched Ohio State and their fans every day, but he's got to

00:53block that out.

00:54He's got to block that out because he's had a better football team, but you can't obsess

00:59over it.

01:00You've got too many other games, and that's why if he can win this championship, it's

01:05going to quiet him down, but come Michigan game next week, it's going to be, you better

01:10not lose five in a row.

01:12That's just that game and the importance.

01:15That's the way it was in Alabama.

01:16I was told when I got to Auburn, I said, you can be the Auburn head coach, but you're not

01:21an Auburn man until you beat Alabama.

01:24Do you think that Ohio State, that giant spread, that they're going to, I mean, that

01:31spread indicates that people think they're going to beat Notre Dame easily.

01:34Yeah, I mean, it may come down, but it's just a little too much spread for me.

01:39I just, in my mind, Notre Dame is kind of a crowd favorite right now.

01:44They have chemistry.

01:45They don't have as much talent as Ohio State, but they've got great chemistry as a team.

01:51Their coach has great rapport with the team.

01:53They respond to him.

01:55He's young and probably, I don't want to say naive, but he kind of handles everything,

02:01not nonchalantly, but just in life.

02:02I just think that it's been a great story.

02:05They find a way to win.

02:07I think they've got it.

02:09That's how good they are.

02:10But again, Ohio State, talent-wise, almost every position, they're going to have to lose

02:16that ball game.

02:17I don't think Notre Dame can go out and win.

02:19I think Ohio State will have to lose that game.