As the wise Troy Bolton once sang in “High School Musical” — and Nick Saban echoed on Friday — getcha head in the game!
The former Crimson Tide football head coach appeared on “The Pat McAfee Show” Friday and chastised Ohio State fans, who seem more concerned with their Buckeyes loss to the Michigan Wolverines in the regular season finale than with the promise of a national championship, now just three wins away.
“These Ohio State fans, they’ve got a psychotic obsession with Michigan, and they need to get therapy or something to get it fixed,” said Saban, who has found something of a second career as an analyst for ESPN’s “College GameDay.”
The former head coach continued: “[Ohio State has] a chance to win the national championship, and here you are — nobody’s excited about their opportunity to play because they lost to Michigan. It was a tough game, they lost the game with some of the mistakes they made, so those are correctable things.”
If the world did indeed stop spinning when the Wolverines bested the Buckeyes, Ohio State fans were not the only ones thrust into orbit.
Head coach Ryan Day previously said that losing to Michigan in previous seasons was among the worst experiences of his life.
“Other than losing my father and a few other things, it’s quite honestly, for my family, the worst thing that’s happened. So we can never have that happen again, ever. And that’s been the approach all season,” Day said before this year’s game.
And after Day and company played their worst game of the season some four days later — managing just 252 yards and 10 points — Ohio state lawmaker Josh Williams proposed legislation that would make it a felony to plant a flag in the center of Ohio Stadium.
This came after Michigan edge rusher Derrick Moore planted his team’s flag on the Buckeyes’ home turf after the 13-10 victory; a melee ensued.
Day’s Buckeyes still qualified for the first 12-team College Football Playoff and, the following week, pummeled the ninth-seeded Tennessee Volunteers, 42-17.
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Ohio State’s performance in their first postseason match was much more characteristic of the team that won 11 contests during the regular season and, reportedly, commands around $20 million in NIL funding.
Quarterback Will Howard tossed for 311 yards and two touchdowns and senior running back TreVeyon Henderson added two scores on the ground.
Freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith hauled in two of his own.
“I think this is probably the most talented team [remaining in the playoffs] if they play to their standard,” Saban said on Friday. “Offense, defense, they’ve pretty much got it all.”
Which version of the Buckeyes shows up on New Year’s Day when the Buckeyes take on the No. 1 seed Oregon Ducks in the Rose Bowl remains to be seen.