Doubters can provide motivation.
Ohio State's defense had doubters after eight of its starters from last season were selected in the 2025 NFL draft. But all it did was make the Silver Bullets hungry to prove everyone wrong, as Caleb Downs expressed in an interview on Monday, predating the Buckeyes' clash with Indiana in the Big Ten Championship game.
Luke Montgomery spoke on how special it was for the offensive line to dominate Michigan in the fashion it did, especially for him personally as a native of Ohio. Caden Curry was Ohio State's third player representative on the Big Ten Championship Game players‘ teleconference and touched on the matchup with Indiana's offense and what it's like to play for a conference title near his hometown in Indiana.