There’s never any love lost between Ohio State and Michigan on the gridiron, so what means more — a rivalry win or a national title? Former Buckeyes Jack Sawyer and Will Howard weighed in.
Jack Sawyer, Will Howard Share Thoughts on National Title Win vs. a Victory Over Michigan
To many, the annual rivalry clash between Ohio State and Michigan is regarded as the most bitter in the sport. However, a pair of former Buckeye stars recently had an interesting take on its importance when compared to the chance to win a national title.
Joining former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger on his “Footbahlin” podcast, Sawyer and Howard gave their honest take.
“When you win a national championship, if anyone tells you they’d rather go 1-12 and just beat the ‘Team Up North,’ you’re crazy,” Sawyer said Tuesday. “You know what I mean? You’re playing this game to win championships.
“Make no mistake about it, no one wants to beat those guys more than we do, but at the end of the day, there’s nothing we could have done after (we lost to them). We have our shot to chase the ultimate goal, which is to win the national championship.
“Like, in the NFL, you lose four games in the regular season and you’re probably the No. 1 overall seed in the playoffs. That’s kind of the approach we took, especially with the expanded playoffs, and I think it’s gonna continue to be like that.”
Sawyer, a Pickerington, Ohio, native who’s now playing for the Steelers, grew up a Buckeyes fan. He’s well aware of what the series means to those in the state. He was the player who ripped the flag from a Wolverines player after Ohio State fell short against them for the fourth time in a row. He’d probably say he bleeds scarlet and gray if asked.
“Obviously, The Game is still gonna be The Game because it is The Game, the best rivalry in sport,” Sawyer said. “But at the end of the day, I think you’d be crazy to say you would rather beat them and not win a national championship instead of win a national championship and not beat them.
“In a perfect world, you do both of those things, but obviously we didn’t. But winning a national championship kind of erases all of that. For me, it does, at least.”
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Howard, the team’s quarterback who joins Sawyer in Pittsburgh, concurred, pointing out that Sawyer was a longtime Ohio State follower. Howard grew up pulling for Penn State.
“But I think that the rational Buckeye fan would say, ‘Give me the championship every day of the week,'” Howard said. “I would hope so.”
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