Buckeyes' Rival QB Bryce Underwood Shares His Shocking Thoughts on The Game

The approach that the Michigan Wolverines are taking under head coach Kyle Whittingham is a little bit different than in the past.

Whittingham has said now on multiple occasions that he doesn't, and will not, "hate" Ohio State or Ryan Day. Now, his quarterback, Bryce Underwood, doubled down on that perspective. He said on Tuesday that he views the Ohio State game as no different than any of the other games: "It’s just another game. Just with guys in a different color. That’s how I see it."

Naturally, Ohio State fans jumped on this like moths to a flame. Just as they did with Whittingham saying that he isn't going to hate the Buckeyes, but he is still going to try to beat them.

Underwood's thoughts aren't all that different from the new approach that Ryan Day took to the game after the Buckeyes fell four straight times to the team up north. However, it is not the approach that I would take.

Rivalry games are not the same as the others. Rivalry games are different, and they do mean more, but they cannot be approached as such. If you put one game on a pedestal, then it changes the entire preparation process. 

This rivalry game specifically is one that simply means more. The way that the Buckeyes approached The Game last year was absolutely perfect. Day stopped preaching that game every day. He removed all of the week-long traditions that added more attention to the game and just the Buckeyes in their process.

The result, a relatively easy drubbing of the Wolverines in the Big House.

Maybe this is the approach that Whittingham is taking heading into this year. He is taking over a program that he pretty much has to strip down to the studs and build back up. The Wolverines' program was left in shambles after 10 years of embarrassment. 

From Jim Harbaugh to Sherrone Moore, it has been a decade of bizarre scandals and suspicious operations. Now, the Wolverines went out and hired one of the true good guys in the entire sport to change the perception of the program.

He is starting with the approach to the Ohio State game. Whether it is right or whether it is wrong isn't the discussion. The discussion is that Whittingham's message has been doubled down by his star quarterback. 

The message is being received and we will find out in three and a half months if it is the correct one.