College Football

'The Game' Just Got More Interesting

Updated Aug. 7, 2020 1:56 p.m. ET

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Annually, the Michigan-Ohio State football game – better known as 'The Game' – is one of the most intense sporting events in all of football. And on Thursday, months prior to kickoff, the intensity was turned up a notch.

News surfaced on Thursday that during a Monday conference call between Big Ten coaches, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh accused Ohio State coach Ryan Day of breaking rules that limit on-field instruction until today.

Harbaugh was referring to a photo he saw that reportedly showed OSU linebackers coach Al Washington working with Buckeyes linebackers. 

Washington coached linebackers under Harbaugh in 2018.

According to Bucknuts.com, which first broke the news of the exchange between the two coaches, Day responded to Harbaugh with, "How about I worry about my team and you worry about yours?"

In addition, reports are that after the meeting, Day told his team that come this season's version of 'The Game,' Harbaugh and the Wolverines "better hope for a mercy rule."

When asked about the exchange on Thursday, Day chose not to speak on the matter. 

“I appreciate the question," Day said. "But I’d rather not answer that right now."

So far, in his five seasons at Michigan, Harbaugh has yet to defeat the Buckeyes. He was 0-4 against Urban Meyer and is now 0-1 against Ryan Day.  

The Wolverines are falling to the Buckeyes by an average of 19.0 points per game since Harbaugh's arrival, including a 56-27 loss last season, and overall, Ohio State has won the last eight meetings between the two teams. 

Still, Detroit Free Press columnist Shawn Windsor thinks Harbaugh was correct in calling out Day if he believed a violation had occurred, even if it stoked the flames of the rivalry that Ohio State has so often dominated in recent years. 

"[Rules] are rules. And, Harbaugh had every right to scoff at the photo of OSU’s coaches’ allegedly trying to break them, as if they needed the extra practice to beat U-M anyway. The issue for Harbaugh is that he chose to accuse Day directly, which is to say publicly, because no conference call among coaches exists in a cone of secrecy." 

On ESPN's Get Up on Friday morning, college football analyst Paul Finebaum also gave kudos to Harbaugh for speaking up on the matter.

"You have to applaud Jim Harbaugh. No matter how many times he gets sand kicked in his face ... he keeps coming back for more ... For Ryan Day, remember, this is only his second year taking over for Urban Meyer and he's acting like Nick Saban."

Still, Finebaum doesn't think Harbaugh's willingness to address the matter will do his team any favors on the field.

"Michigan is going down badly. I don't know if they'll lose by 50, but it'll be close."

'The Game' Is set to take place this October on FOX.

We'll see if either Day or Harbaugh still has that August conference call on their minds come kickoff.

Chances are, they both will.

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