Michigan

Why Ohio State’s Path to Breaking the Michigan Curse Is Simpler Than Anyone Realizes

Published

3 months ago

November 18, 2025

Why Ohio State’s Path to Breaking the Michigan Curse Is Simpler Than Anyone Realizes

COLUMBUS, Ohio — After three consecutive losses to Michigan and countless hours of analysis, the solution for Ohio State might be simpler than anyone thought: just win the damn game.

This straightforward conclusion emerged as the central theme of Monday’s Buckeye Talk podcast, where hosts Stephen Means and Stefan Krajisnik cut through the typical complex analysis to deliver a message that resonated with many frustrated Buckeye fans.

“I think you and I both watch that Northwestern game and our reaction was like just win the damn game. You’re better than them. Like let’s not overthink this, dude,” Krajisnik said bluntly on the podcast, referring to Michigan’s uninspiring performance against Northwestern the previous weekend.

This sentiment captures the mounting frustration within Buckeye Nation as the team prepares for its fourth attempt to overcome Michigan under head coach Ryan Day. After years of overthinking and falling short, the podcasters suggest the solution isn’t about intricate schemes but about executing and letting superior talent take over.

Means emphasized this isn’t dismissing the rivalry’s importance but acknowledging the straightforward reality of the situation: “It’s not that’s not flippant. That’s not dismissing the rivalry. It’s we’re just four years into this thing and this is the point we’ve reached of just go win the freaking game… But the conclusion at the end of every single thing we do is going to be this is all great. Just go win the freaking football game.”

The podcast hosts expressed optimism that all the pieces Ohio State has been developing throughout the season – from the emerging right guard rotation to the improving run game – could finally come together against Michigan. Means painted a hopeful picture of what that might look like: “Everything that we think this offense is finally comes all together in two weeks against Michigan. And it’s like, that’s the Ohio State offense we thought we were going to get this year. And they spent 12 weeks putting it together. Now they’re now they’re fully unloading it on Michigan and they never close the book again.”

This perspective shifts the conversation from “how can Ohio State beat Michigan?” to “Ohio State simply needs to play to its potential.” The hosts noted that over-analysis of Michigan’s weaknesses isn’t necessary when Ohio State clearly possesses superior talent at most positions.

The podcast touched on how the Buckeyes have methodically built their offense over 12 weeks with a mixture of veteran leadership and young talent. From Julian Sayin’s precise passing to the emergence of running backs like Bo Jackson and Isaiah West, plus receivers Jeremiah Smith and Brandon Innis, all the pieces appear to be in place.

For Ohio State fans tired of complicated explanations for the team’s struggles against Michigan, this straightforward message from the podcast offers a refreshing perspective: stop overthinking and just win the damn game.

Here’s the podcast for this week:

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Michigan

Anglers to race for chance to pull dinosaur fish from Northern Michigan lake

Published

9 hours ago

February 3, 2026

Press Room

Anglers to race for chance to pull dinosaur fish from Northern Michigan lake

CHEBOYGAN, MI – This famously short fishing season is more race than relaxation.

In 2025, Michigan’s Black Lake sturgeon season was open for just 17 minutes. That’s how long it took for the season limit – six fish – to be reached.

Hundreds of anglers make their way onto the ice each winter, hoping to take home one of these dinosaur-age fish. This year’s season is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 7. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources again set the season limit at six fish.

The 2022 Black Lake sturgeon season began at 8 a.m. on Feb. 5, 2022, on Black Lake in Cheboygan and Presque Isle counties.Michigan Department of Natural Resources

Native lake sturgeon are prehistoric fish evolved more than 100 million years ago, widely considered living fossils of the dinosaur age. They can grow up to seven feet long and weigh more than 300 pounds, living as many as 100 years and more in the Great Lakes watershed.

The 2026 season will end when the sixth fish is harvested, when five have been harvested at the end of any fishing day or at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 11. Fishing hours are 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day. The season has not required a second day in recent years.

The low harvest limit is driven by decades-long conservation and rehabilitation of the prehistoric species.

All anglers must register online by Feb. 6 to participate; those 17 and older must have a valid Michigan fishing license. Get more registration and season information at Michigan.gov/Sturgeon.

Anglers will be notified via text message and on the ice by DNR personnel that they must immediately stop fishing for lake sturgeon.

Participating anglers must bring their own bright red flags (1-foot diameter or larger) to hang on their fishing shanties. Anyone harvesting a lake sturgeon must immediately contact DNR personnel on the ice.

Official registration of each harvested fish will take place at a DNR trailer located on or near the ice at the end of Zollner Road in the northwest part of Black Lake.

Harvest registration may include an examination of the fish’s internal organs and removal of a piece of fin tissue for DNA analysis or aging.

Lake sturgeon rehabilitation efforts in Black Lake over the last two decades have been a collaboration between the DNR, Sturgeon for Tomorrow, tribal agencies, Michigan State University and Tower-Kleber Limited Partnership. This population has increased in the past 20 years due to lake sturgeon rearing and stocking efforts, research and protection of spawning adults; this trend is expected to continue.

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Michigan

Michigan football announces spring schedule, including Spring Game date

Published

21 hours ago

February 2, 2026

Press Room

Michigan football announces spring schedule, including Spring Game date

Michigan football has set its first spring practice schedule under new coach Kyle Whittingham.

The Wolverines, who have been in winter conditioning for 18 days, will start work for 2026 on March 17, with just over a month of time – 15 practices and the annual spring game at Michigan Stadium on April 18, according to a release from the program on Monday, FEb. 2.

The kickoff time for that game, and the exact format, have not been specified. Last season, U-M aired its spring game on a tape delay on Big Ten Network so as not to expose its players to potential transfer portal suitors. This season, the lack of a late spring transfer portal windo, there’s a good chance the game will air live on the network.

U-M also named four “spring captains”: quarterback Bryce Underwood, running back Jordan Marshall, defensive lineman Trey Pierce and defensive back Rod Moore Jr.

Underwood completed 60.3% of his passes as a true freshman in 2025, finishing with 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He also rushed for 392 yards and six TDs. He will look to improve his efficiency in a new offense led by coordinator Jason Beck and assisted by quarterbacks coach Koy Detmer Jr., filling a position Michigan did not have last season.

Marshall, who will be a junior, figures to be the lead running back after Justice Haynes transferred to Georgia Tech. After Haynes was injured, Marshall averaged 6.1 yards per carry en route to 932 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Pierce, 6-foot-2, 310-pound defensive tackle who will be a senior, was a big piece of U-M’s solid run defense last season, starting all 13 games with 30 tackles (including one for loss). His brother, Christian, joined the team as a transfer from FCS Western Illinois.

Moore, meanwhile, returns for his sixth and final season. A two-time captain, Moore nearly left U-M for the 2024 NFL Draft. Instead, he returned to boost his draft stock, only to suffer an ACL tear in spring 2024. Injuries have limited him to three games since the Wolverines’ 2023 College Football Playoff championship season.

Michigan football spring 2026 leadership council

The Wolverines will also have a leadership council for the spring, which includes 11 other players who all returned from U-M’s 2025 team. All but one of them are upperclassmen as of the 2026 season. Formal captains and leadership council for the 2026 season will be elected during fall camp:

S Nico Andrighetto, fifth-year senior.

CB Zeke Berry, fifth-year senior.

DE Cameron Brandt, senior.

S Mason Curtis, junior.

DT Enow Etta, junior.

OL Blake Frazier, junior.

OL Jake Guarnera, junior.

CB Jyaire Hill, senior.

WR Andrew Marsh, sophomore.

TE Zack Marshall, senior.

OL Andrew Sprague, junior.

Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.

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Michigan

Michigan GOP can sweep 2026: Stick to issues, avoid Trump | Opinion

Published

1 day ago

February 2, 2026

Press Room

Michigan GOP can sweep 2026: Stick to issues, avoid Trump | Opinion

Rusty Hills
| Contributing columnist

The 2026 midterm election year is upon us. In Michigan, that should be a good year for Republicans.

Why is that, especially when this is a midterm election with Donald Trump in the White House? The last time that happened, in 2018, Democrats won virtually every statewide election in Michigan. And, in the most recent off-year elections, Democrats again won everywhere, from the governor’s races in New Jersey and Virginia to statewide seats in Georgia, of all places.

Nevertheless, I see three reasons why 2026 is poised to be a good year for Republicans here in Michigan.

A short list of things Democrats didn’t fix

The first is history. Since Republican William Milliken became governor in 1969, the office has flip-flopped back and forth between Democrats and Republicans. From Milliken to Democrat Jim Blanchard, then from the GOP’s John Engler to Democrat Jennifer Granholm, and most recently from Republican Rick Snyder to Democrat Gretchen Whitmer. Thus, Republicans have one of the enduring campaign themes on their side — time for a change.

Issues are the second reason Republicans should do well in 2026, because much needs fixing in Michigan.

Whitmer ran in 2018 on the slogan “fix the damn roads.” It took her seven years to get a package through the Legislature — and then, only with the prodding of the Republican House speaker.

Now, the Democrats say, they are focused on children’s literacy. Now? After holding the governor’s office for eight years? If young girls and boys have not learned how to read, then they are incapable of reading to learn. Without the ability to read, no education is possible.

Incredibly, even the state of Mississippi is doing a better job of teaching their students how to read. This is a damning indictment, and should serve as a clarion call to action. Reading is not a partisan issue.

Then there is the issue of population. Michigan’s population is aging and declining. What is worse, we are losing our best and brightest, the graduates of our great colleges and universities such as the University of Michigan, Michigan State, Michigan Tech and Wayne State. Barely half of MSU grads stay in Michigan after graduation ‒and that’s according to a study by Michigan State. This is unsustainable.

The solution is jobs. Michigan didn’t even have a tourism campaign in the 1960s, but families flocked here for good jobs and good paychecks at Ford, GM and Chrysler. Bring jobs to Michigan, and the population will take care of itself.

Republicans’ secret weapon: Mike Duggan

The third reason Republicans should do well in 2026 is the independent campaign of former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan. Duggan has a lot of skills. He is smart, tenacious and he gets things done. Detroit is 1000% better off because of his time as mayor.

What I don’t know is whether Duggan is a safecracker. He’ll need that skill to capture Republican votes this fall.

Why do I say that?

In 2022, 1,852,510 voters cast their ballot for the Republican nominee for secretary of state, Kristina Karamo. Karamo had no name ID, no discernible skill set and no money to run a campaign. She received 1.8 million votes only because she had an “R” next to her name.

If 1.8 million women and men voted for Kristina Karamo, then they’ll vote for anyone with an “R” next to their name for governor. Good luck safecracking that, Mr. Mayor.

To the extent Duggan gets any Republican support, it will come from an incredibly small group of Never-Trump Republicans. Trust me, we could all fit in a cab.

Duggan’s real support will come from voters who call themselves independents, from some Detroiters who supported him as mayor and from a handful of moderate Democrats in southeast Michigan who like what he did for Detroit.

In short, Duggan’s support will almost entirely come right out of the Democratic column.

I do not think Duggan will win. But if he gets 20% or more, then the 41% base Republican vote will put a GOP’er back in the governor’s mansion.

Eyes on the prize, GOP

The one caveat to all this, the one fly in the ointment, is President Donald Trump. In 2022, all the Republican statewide candidates asked for, and received, Trump’s endorsement. Then they proceeded to speak and act like Trump. And all of them lost by hundreds of thousands of votes.

Republicans have a great shot at winning if they focus on the issues, the cares and concerns of hardworking Michiganders who want more jobs, better schools, better roads and a plan to bring down prices.

But the GOP will snatch defeat from the jaws of victory if the party focuses on debating who won the 2020 election (spoiler alert: it was Biden), attacking Venezuela, debunked conspiracy theories, attacking Colombia, calling women ‘Piggy,’ attacking Canada, shooting peaceful protesters and attacking Greenland. If this is what Michigan Republicans support, get ready for another Dunkirk.

Victory is there for the taking, Republicans. Keep your eyes on the issues, and the votes will take care of themselves.

Contributing columnist Rusty Hills is a past chair of the Michigan Republican Party, and was the top adviser to former Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette.

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