How does Ryan Day stack up against previous OSU coaches vs. Michigan?

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — Ryan Day's 1-3 record against Michigan is causing Ohio State fans some distress.

Some think he should be fired, harkening back to the olden days of Urban Meyer and his 7-0 record against the Wolverines, or Jim Tressel's 9-1 record against them.

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One thing that hasn't been discussed so much is the degree of difficulty in beating a Michigan program that is 12-0 in back-to-back seasons for the first time in its storied history.

We dug into the numbers posted by some of Day's top predecessors at Ohio State:

Woody Hayes (1951-1978)
OSU record: 205-61-10 (.771 winning percentage)
Record vs. Michigan: 16-11-1
Big Ten championships: 13 in 28 years (6 shared)
Michigan's overall record during those years: 189-85-7 (.690)
Michigan Big Ten titles during those years: 13 in 28 years (7 shared)

Earle Bruce (1979-1987)
OSU record: 81-26-1 (.757)
Record vs. Michigan: 5-4
Big Ten championships: 4 in 9 years (2 shared)
Michigan's overall record during those years: 79-29-1 (.731)
Michigan Big Ten titles during those years: 3 in 9 years (1 shared)

John Cooper (1988-2000)
OSU record: 111-43-4 (.721)
Record vs. Michigan: 2-10-1
Big Ten championships: 3 in 13 years (all shared)
Michigan's overall record during those years: 121-33-4 (.786)
Michigan Big Ten titles during those years: 8 in 13 years (3 shared)

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Jim Tressel (2001-2010)
OSU record: 94-22 (.810)
Record vs. Michigan: 9-1
Big Ten championships: 6 in 9 years (3 shared)
Michigan's overall record during those years: 79-46 (.632)
Michigan Big Ten titles during those years: 2 in 9 years (1 shared)

Urban Meyer (2012-2018)
OSU record: 83-9 (.902)
Record vs. Michigan: 7-0
Big Ten championships: 3 in 7 years
Michigan's overall record during those years: 58-32 (.644)
Michigan Big Ten titles during those years: 0 in 7 years

Ryan Day (2019-Present)
OSU record: 56-7* (.888)
Record vs. Michigan: 1-3
Big Ten championships: 2 in 5 years
Michigan's overall record during those years: 48-11 (.813)
Michigan Big Ten titles during those years: 3 in 5 years
* Includes 3-0 as interim coach in 2018

Going by Michigan’s winning percentages from each era, the Wolverines have been at their best vs. Day compared to the other OSU coaches. The combined dominance by Tressel and Meyer came during a stretch when Michigan logged its worst overall winning percentage among all the periods that were researched, a combined .637. Surely Tressel's and Meyer's many victories in the rivalry contributed to that poor winning percentage, but it's worth noting that Michigan lost four or more games nine times during that 2001-2018 stretch, including 2008-2010, when the Wolverines lost nine, seven and six games, respectively.

Also worth noting are the sign-stealing cloud hanging over Ann Arbor, as well as the 2020 game that never happened. Coached by Ryan Day, Ohio State was 6-0 and Michigan was 2-4 heading into that week before the game was canceled because of COVID.