Michigan Credited With Sparking Ohio State's National Championship Run

01/21/2025 05:39 PM

Ohio State followed up Michigan's national title run last season with one of its own this season. 

The Buckeyes came into the 2024 season with one of the best rosters on paper and put it all together when it mattered most, beating each team they faced in the College Football Playoff and winning their first national title in a decade. 

The Buckeyes are back on top of the college football world and Joel Klatt thinks part of the reason for it was due to the championship run that the Wolverines went on last season. 

"Throughout sports, professional and college, we see a driving factor in an organization or program's motivation, being when they see their rival do something great and there's an expectation both from the fans and internally at programs and organizations, again both professional and in the college level, where when your rival does something like win a championship, there's like, well, that's the standard," Klatt said. 

"Because we're not just gonna allow our rival to be ahead of us. Ohio State had driven the standard for so long and forced Michigan to go to Jim Harbaugh, and they were killing Jim Harbaugh, and he had to make a change. Then, all of a sudden, they did and they made a change through COVID and they brought in a younger staff with new systems and they were able to overcome Ohio State and then win a national championship. Guess what that spurs? Ohio State is like nope, we gotta do something about that."

The Buckeyes did so something about since they brought in Chip Kelly to run their offense and brought back one heck of a roster. Once everything clicked, there was no stopping them.

They'll now go for a repeat when the 2025 season starts in August. 

Related: Ohio State Recruit Sends Warning To College Football After National Title