Bryce Underwood’s list of 2026 goals left out the one thing Ohio State fans will notice immediately.
When he appeared on The Rich Eisen Show, the Michigan quarterback laid out what he wants next year to look like, and the rivalry game was nowhere to be found. Instead, Underwood pointed to bigger individual and team milestones.
"Of course. This thing right here (pointing at the national championship trophy). Heisman, being the best leader for my team."
That omission stands out even more because of what happened the last time Ohio State saw him. The Buckeyes hammered TTUN 27-9, and Underwood had a rough afternoon from start to finish. He went 8-18 for 63 yards with an interception as Ohio State’s defense swallowed him up and kept him from doing much of anything.
Since then, the picture has only gotten murkier for Underwood. He lost his head coach and then struggled in spring, which makes the idea of a massive leap feel pretty far-fetched. Even the goals he named sound ambitious given what he showed as a freshman.
A Heisman push would require a real step forward as a passer, and Underwood hasn’t shown that yet. He completed barely 60 percent of his throws and finished with 11 touchdowns last season. Based on those numbers, the jump from that version of Underwood to a trophy candidate is a steep one.
The Ohio State side of this story is much simpler. The Buckeyes go into every season chasing the same three things: beat TTUN, win the Big Ten, and win a national title. They checked off two of those boxes last year by beating Michigan and winning the 2024 national title, but they still haven’t won the Big Ten since the 2020 season, when they beat Northwestern.
Ryan Day has made it clear that all three remain the standard, and the Michigan game is the first one on that list that can be handled. The Big Ten race will be tougher to navigate, especially with road trips to Indiana, USC, and Iowa, plus Oregon coming to the Shoe.
Still, the rivalry game is never something Ohio State can afford to treat casually. Upsets have happened too many times for anyone in that locker room to look past it.
And if Underwood really does come back to Columbus and struggle again, it could do more than cost Michigan a game. It might also harden the growing idea that the top recruit from 2025 hasn’t lived up to the billing.
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Big Ten Media Days usually bring the usual summer polish, but Jeremiah Smith gave Ohio State a little more than a canned answer when the conversation turned to freshman receiver Brock Boyd. Smith made it clear he has noticed Boyds playmaking already, and the praise carried extra weight coming from the Buckeyes top returning wideout, who knows what it looks like when a young receiver starts earning trust quickly.
Boyds path into the lineup is part of a broader competition that is still taking shape, with five receivers battling for three steady spots behind Smith. Brandon Inniss, Devin McCuin, Kyle Parker and Chris Henry Jr. are all in that mix, and Boyds emergence only adds another layer to a group that is trying to sort itself out before the season gets rolling. [Read more 🡒]
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Day pointed to Phillip Daniels as one of the players whose practice work could help determine the best five, and that kind of flexibility matters because the staff is still weighing how the pieces fit. The right guard competition is part of it, but so is the broader question of whether Ohio State can lock in a lineup early enough to avoid another season of shuffling, especially with Day saying this is the deepest the line has been since he took over. [Read more 🡒]
National Buzz Is Building Around Ohio States Next Receiver Threat
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The opportunity is real because the depth chart behind Smith is still unsettled, leaving several young receivers to battle for limited spots. If Henry Jr. keeps flashing in camp, he could put himself in position to matter right away, which is exactly why his name is drawing so much interest before the season even starts. For Ohio State, the appeal is obvious: another high-end receiver threat emerging early would only deepen a room that already carries plenty of intrigue. [Read more 🡒]