ANN ARBOR, Mich.—The Ohio State Buckeyes filed silently out of the Michigan Stadium tunnel and grabbed to-go boxes of Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken off of a table, food for a glum ride home. Outside, friends and family were on the other side of a row of barriers across from the idling buses. Echoes of Michigan’s celebration could be heard, but this was a scarlet-and-gray island of solemnity.
Kyle McCord was one of the last out, eye black still streaked across his cheeks and right ankle still taped. Hood up, earphones wrapped around his temples, his countenance was misery personified.
The Ohio State quarterback is a world-class stoic, but when he saw his family waiting, a sad sigh escaped him. McCord leaned down to hug his mom, Stacy, for a long time. His shoulders heaved. He hugged a few other family members, one with tears streaming down her face. There was nothing much to say, no words to fix the broken feeling that came with the final score: Michigan 30, Ohio State 24.
