The air in Columbus has felt a little different lately. If you’ve spent any time at a bar on Lane Avenue or scrolled through the toxic pits of Buckeye Twitter over the last few years, you know exactly why. For a long time, the question has Ryan Day beat Michigan felt like a punchline to a joke no Ohio State fan wanted to hear. It was the elephant in the room that wouldn't leave, even as Day racked up one of the highest winning percentages in the history of college football.
Honestly, it’s been a wild ride. Being the head coach at Ohio State is basically like being a CEO where the only metric that matters is how you perform for three hours on the last Saturday of November. You can win every other game by fifty points, but if you lose "The Game," the fan base starts looking at the buyout numbers in your contract.
The Short Answer: Yes, But It’s Complicated
Let’s get the direct answer out of the way before we dive into the gritty details. Has Ryan Day beat Michigan? Yes, he has. In fact, he’s done it twice as a head coach.
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The most recent victory came just a few months ago. On November 29, 2025, Ryan Day led a top-ranked Ohio State team into Ann Arbor and absolutely dismantled the Wolverines 27-9. It was a massive moment. It wasn't just a win; it was a pressurized release valve for an entire state. Before that, you have to go all the way back to 2019, his first year on the job, when he took an Urban Meyer-built roster and hung 56 points on them in the Big House.
But between those two wins? It was a dark, dark tunnel.
Between 2021 and 2024, Day went on a four-game losing streak that nearly cost him his job. Even with a National Championship ring on his finger from the 2024 season, the narrative didn't truly flip until he finally walked off the field at Michigan Stadium with a win in 2025.
The Record Nobody Expected
When Day took over for Urban Meyer, the transition seemed seamless. Meyer had famously gone 7-0 against Michigan, never losing to the Wolverines. Most people figured Day would just keep the machine humming. For a year, he did. Then the world stopped for COVID-19 in 2020, "The Game" was canceled, and something shifted in the universe.
Here is the breakdown of how Day has fared in the rivalry:
- 2019: 56-27 (Win) - A total blowout in Ann Arbor.
- 2020: Canceled (COVID-19) - Michigan had an outbreak; Buckeyes fans still call it a "duck."
- 2021: 27-42 (Loss) - The "Snow Game" where Hassan Haskins ran through the Buckeyes like they weren't there.
- 2022: 23-45 (Loss) - A stunning collapse in Columbus. Big plays killed the Buckeyes.
- 2023: 24-30 (Loss) - A heartbreaker in Ann Arbor against a Michigan team that went on to win it all.
- 2024: 10-13 (Loss) - Perhaps the most embarrassing of all, losing at home to an unranked Michigan team while being three-touchdown favorites.
- 2025: 27-9 (Win) - The "Redemption Game." Julian Sayin looked like a pro, and the defense finally showed up.
So, the math currently sits at 2-4. If you compare that to Jim Tressel (9-1) or Urban Meyer (7-0), you can see why the gray hairs on Day's head have been multiplying.
Why the 2025 Win Changed Everything
If you’re wondering why people are still asking has Ryan Day beat Michigan when he just did it, it’s because the trauma of that four-year stretch hasn't fully faded. Last year's 13-10 loss in Columbus was a disaster. The Buckeyes were the #2 team in the country, and Michigan was having a down year under Sherrone Moore. Losing that game almost felt like a curse.
But then, the 2025 season happened.
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Day made some massive changes. He brought in Matt Patricia to help the defense, stuck with the young phenom Julian Sayin at quarterback, and leaned on a freshman sensation named Bo Jackson in the backfield. When they went to Ann Arbor in 2025, they didn't play "tight." They played like the team with more talent, which they usually are.
Sayin threw for three scores. Jeremiah Smith made catches that shouldn't be humanly possible. The defense, which had been criticized for years for being too "soft" in the trenches, held Michigan to just 9 points. It was the first time since 2019 that Day could look the media in the eye and not have to apologize for his existence.
The Ghost of John Cooper
For older fans, the Ryan Day era started to feel eerily like the John Cooper years. Cooper was a great coach—he's in the Hall of Fame for a reason—but he went 2-10-1 against Michigan. He could win a Rose Bowl, but he couldn't beat the team up north.
Until that 2025 victory, Day was trending toward that same legacy. He was the guy who could win 11 games every year, recruit five-star players from every corner of the country, and put dozens of guys in the NFL, but he couldn't get past the one team that mattered.
The 2024 season was the weirdest part of this whole saga. Ohio State actually won the National Championship that year. They caught fire in the playoffs and ran through the bracket. Yet, because they lost to Michigan in the regular season, there was still a vocal part of the fan base calling for Day to be fired. That’s how high the stakes are in this rivalry. It’s not just a game; it’s a referendum on your character as a human being in the eyes of Ohioans.
Actionable Insights for the Future
If you're a fan trying to figure out where the program goes from here, the 2025 win was a major pivot point. Here is what we can actually take away from the current state of the rivalry:
- The Talent Gap Is Real: Ohio State has consistently out-recruited Michigan under Day. When Day plays aggressive and trusts his playmakers (like he did in 2019 and 2025), that talent gap shows up on the scoreboard.
- Psychology Matters: The "weight" of the losing streak was clearly affecting the players. In 2021 and 2022, you could see the Buckeyes playing "not to lose" rather than playing to win. The 2025 performance suggests Day has finally figured out how to get his team to play loose in the big one.
- The Quarterback Factor: Having a generational talent like Julian Sayin changed the math. When the quarterback can make off-platform throws under pressure, Michigan’s defensive schemes become a lot less terrifying.
The narrative has shifted from "Can he ever do it?" to "Can he keep doing it?" Day's seat went from scorching hot to comfortably warm. He's proven he can beat them, but the standard at Ohio State doesn't allow for a 2-4 record to stay that way for long.
If you’re looking to track the next chapter of this, keep an eye on the 2026 recruiting class. Day is currently battling for the top offensive line prospects in the country. After years of being pushed around in the trenches by Michigan, it’s clear he’s decided that the only way to stay on top is to get bigger and meaner up front.
The question has Ryan Day beat Michigan is now settled with a "yes," but in Columbus, the only win that matters is the next one.