Michigan OC says OSU ‘not a tough team’
Michigan offensive coordinator Josh Gattis called out the toughness of Ohio State two days following his team’s 42-27 upset of the Buckeyes.
Appearing on the “Inside Michigan Football” radio show Monday night, he said the Wolverines were able to outmuscle OSU at the line of scrimmage, a key factor in prevailing in The Game for the first time since 2011 and ending the Buckeyes’ eight-game winning streak in the series.
“They’re a good team,” Gattis said, as his comments were transcribed by the Detroit News. “They’re a finesse team, they’re not a tough team. And we knew that going into the game that we can out-physical them, we can out-tough and that was gonna be the key to the game, and that’s what we prepared for all year long.”
Ohio State gave up a season-high 297 rushing yards, which was also the most it had allowed against Michigan in more than 25 years. In 1995, it surrendered 385 yards, including 313 to running back Tim Biakabutuka, in a 31-23 loss.
Gattis said the Wolverines followed a script laid out by Oregon when it upset the Buckeyes in a non-conference
game in September. The Ducks handled Ohio State in the trenches, running for 269 yards.
“Oregon was the most physical team on the field,” Gattis said. “That's the way (Ohio State) lost, and we committed to that recipe, and it paid off.”
Gattis also pointed to the toughness of Michigan's defensive line, “just being able to smash them however we could,” as it held the Buckeyes to 64 yards on the ground.
The latest comments are likely to add fuel to the bitter rivalry ahead of next season's meeting in Columbus. They already followed some bluster from Wolverines coach Jim Harbaugh.
In the aftermath of Saturday's win, Harbaugh took an apparent jab at Ohio State coach Ryan Day, referencing that he inherited a successful program from Urban Meyer.
“Sometimes people that are standing on third base think they hit a triple,” Harbaugh said, “but they didn't.” The teams meet again in 360 days. Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Contact him at jkaufman@dispatch.com or on Twitter @joeyrkaufman.