CHICAGO Michigan football's first game in the 2025 season came against New Mexico, a relatively innocuous foe.But former safety Brandyn Hillman didn't see it that way. In fact, after spending all fall hitting people at practice that wore the same colors as he did, the defensive back couldn't wait to knock somebody else around, especially a team that looked like New Mexico, wearing cherry and silver not dissimilar to the scarlet and gray sported by the Wolverines' biggest rival."How I look at it is, they got the same colors as [expletive] Ohio State," he said of switching his mentality from hitting teammates to hitting opponents. "I just play it like that, to be honest."For decades, "The Game" has been the most important week on the schedule in both Ann Arbor and Columbus. After Jim Harbaugh lost the first five matchups to OSU in the rivalry (and then U-M bowed out of the sixth in 2020 after an outbreak of COVID-19 in the locker room), he went into 2021 saying the Wolverines were going to beat Ohio State "or die trying."U-M snapped a decade-long drought that year, which begun a four-year run, featuring two wins in each city. Fans want to hear that a coach is full of vitriol towards the Buckeyes, but when Kyle Whittingham spoke earlier this week at Big Ten Media Days, he didn't exactly play into the fans' emotions and match their energy for their rival."Hate's a strong word," Whittingham said of his feelings toward Ohio State. "But I want to win that game as badly as anybody in Ann Arbor ... Ijust think that a rivalry can be intense and emotional without the hatred factor.I don't think there's a place for that. Personally, I think Ryan Day is a good person. "To sit here and say I hate Ryan Day, I'd be making crap up because that's not true."THE TIME IS NOW: Bryce Underwood key to Michigan success Kyle Whittingham knows itWhittingham was head coach at Utah the past 21 years and on staff for 32 consecutive seasons prior to taking the job in Ann Arbor. His last role before taking over as head coach in Salt Lake City was to serve as defensive coordinator under Urban Meyer.Meyer, of course, went on to win national championships at Florida and Ohio State and went 7-0 against the Wolverines (2012-18) during his time in Columbus. Whittingham joked that Meyer would still be allowed to attend U-M practice before clarifying: "There's one week he can't come."Coming from the state of Utah which features "The Holy War" between Utah and BYU, Whittingham understands the importance of rivalries, but says it must start with respect, something that had seemingly been lost in recent years.Go back to Harbaugh's 2021 victory when he jabbed at Ryan Day and said some people were born on third base and thought they'd "hit a triple." Then there's the 2024 game, when U-M stunned OSU, 13-10, in Columbus, went to plant their flag at midfield and a melee ensued, which resulted in law enforcement pepper spraying people on the field.Whittingham never said the OSU game wouldn't be a priority, he knows it's the biggest game of the year in Ann Arbor, but he's not going to make it the ethos of his program. As he said, he's "old school" and that game will come when it comes."I haven't learned really much more than I already knew," Whittingham said when asked about the rivalry since arriving in Ann Arbor. "It's a national game. Everybody knows about it. It's 'The Game,' as we call it. It's of great importance to both sides, obviously. "But I'm an old-school coach. We've got 11 games that we play before that, so we're not going to get ahead of ourselves. [But] make no mistake, I understand the implications that it has."Tony Garciais theWolverinesbeat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at@RealTonyGarcia.This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan's Kyle Whittingham says 'hate's a strong word' for Ohio State