Shortly after getting hired by his former NFL team, Mike Vrabel watched his alma mater win the national championship.
Ohio State ended the 2024 regular season by losing its fourth straight game to Michigan. However, the Buckeyes responded from the gutting Big Ten rivalry defeat to go on a dominant title run.
Vrabel played for Ohio State before returning as a defensive assistant. The New England Patriots head coach discussed his old program with his former Buckeyes boss, Urban Meyer, on The Triple Option.
When Meyer lamented Ohio State’s recent struggles against Michigan, Vrabel voiced a popular sentiment that the Buckeyes used the Nov. 30 shortcoming as fuel to win the championship.
“They just pissed them off, I think,” Vrabel said. “At least, they used [Michigan] to piss them off and end the tournament.”
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Ohio State entered the home matchup as substantial home favorites, but Michigan earned a 13-10 upset with just 62 passing yards. After the game, the Wolverines angered Buckeyes players and fans by planting their school flag on the Ohio Stadium field.
The loss cost Ohio State a chance to win the Big Ten title and earn a first-round College Football Playoff bye. However, Ryan Day’s team still earned a bid in the expanded 12-team field.
Ohio State defeated Tennessee, No. 1 Oregon, and Texas by a combined 59 points before claiming the title with a 34-23 victory over Notre Dame.
After throwing two interceptions to Michigan, Will Howard collected 1,150 passing yards and eight touchdowns in four CFP triumphs. Ahead of the National Championship Game, the quarterback called the Michigan loss a “truth-telling” moment for his squad.
“The facts were laid out there. People were challenged,” Howard said. “Everyone including myself had to look in the mirror a little bit and say, ‘What can I do better? How can we fix this thing?’ The thing that we clung to was we still have this opportunity out in front of us to right all these wrongs and go play for a national championship and here we are. We’re right where we wanted to be. A lot of people wrote us off, but we really just believed in ourselves.”
Despite that happy ending, Ohio State will be hungry to end its losing streak to The Team Up North this November.
Related: Ohio State Star Admits National Title Is More Important Than Beating Michigan
