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Ohio State coach Ryan Day has no fix, quick or otherwise, for how to beat Michigan
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- Ohio State coach Ryan Day has no fix, quick or otherwise, for how to beat Michigan
Not to be too much of a Grinch about it, but the three words that best describe Ohio State 's pathetic 13-10 loss to unranked Michigan Saturday are stink, stank, stunk.
And Ryan Day , with trusty sidekick Chip Kelly calling the plays, had a huge hand in causing the nasty smell. The two offensive "geniuses" called runs again and again … and again … that went nowhere, even as the OSU passing game was at least going somewhere. It was as if Day and Kelly wanted to prove that the Ohio State "toughness" narrative of the past three seasons was dead and buried. Instead, it is Day's job security that feels like it is 6 feet under.
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I have staunchly defended Day for most of his six seasons running the program, with a caveat: Beat Michigan . Or else. You know Else? He wears a mask, carries a chainsaw and is out for blood.
"Else" was heard yelling from the stands at Ross Bjork as the Ohio State athletic director walked toward the tunnel leading to the locker room after the loss.
"We gotta fix it, Ross," an angry OSU fan yelled, with "it" being Day's 1-4 record against the Wolverines , including four consecutive losses.
Ryan Day increasingly looks like John Cooper 2.0
Day's inability to figure out this rivalry game increasingly feels as alarming as when John Cooper began his OSU career 0-4-1 against the maize and blue (and finished 2-10-1). Cooper did himself no favors early on, famously filming a hot tub commercial that did not endear him to frustrated fans as the Michigan "problem" lingered. Day has avoided similar awkward advertising "exposure" but is in just as much hot water after being on the wrong side of what arguably was the biggest upset in the history of The Game.
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The Buckeyes entered Saturday 10-1 and ranked No. 2 in the nation. They were neck-and-neck with Georgia as preseason favorites to win the national championship. It still could happen, but after watching what went down in the Horseshoe, I'm not sure they even win their first playoff game – yes, they're making the playoff – on Dec. 20th or 21st, likely at home.
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Imagine if that were to happen. Return most of your starters, spend a mint on NIL and come up big in the transfer portal and you don't even play in a bowl game? Ouch. But that is a "what-if" better left for another day.
Or another coach not named Day? I have believed in the 45-year-old coach through the good (66 of 76 games ranked in the top five, with three trips to the playoff) and bad (late November, duh), but there is no denying his teams spit the bit against Michigan. And Saturday was the worst of them all, which is why what feels like a now vocal majority wants someone other than Day running the show.
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A fed-up fan made an employment pitch after spotting Urban Meyer walking near the south end zone late in the game.
"We need you!" the voice rang out.
Meyer was 7-0 against the team that dared to share his initials. Day is 47-0 against unranked teams. Oops, make that 47-1. Michigan was unranked at 6-5, but still came away with the win despite arriving in Columbus with a so-so quarterback and without its best player on offense (tight end Colston Loveland ) and best pass defender (cornerback Will Johnson ), both out with injuries.
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One argument that Day's supporters make is that his record against the invaders from the north should not be compared to that of his predecessor because Meyer's first three wins in the series came against hopelessly overmatched Michigan teams coached by Brady Hoke.
Fair enough, until Saturday. Michigan is a shell of the team that won the national championship last season. The Wolverines had no business winning this game, yet they planted their flag – or tried to, anyway – in the heart of Buckeye Nation. And the melee that followed was not a good look for a coach on the hot seat. Simply put, UM has OSU's number.
So what went wrong this time? Pretty much everything, beginning with the atrocious game plan that resulted in inefficient numbers that are almost hard to believe. The Buckeyes finished with 77 yards rushing on 26 attempts while trying to shove square pegs into holes already filled by Michigan defenders. But the passing game, while underutilized, also didn't deserve any awards. Ohio State had 16 first downs to Michigan's 13, but the Buckeyes' last one came with 5:59 left in the third quarter.
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The special teams that deserved fist bumps the past two games? Far from special. Jayden Fielding missed field goal attempts of 38 and 34 yards. Make one and it's probably off to overtime. Make both and Day is off the hook.
Ohio State quarterback Will Howard threw two interceptions and generally played like the pressure of his first Michigan game got to him.
Then there was the Ohio State defense, which played well until it didn't. Needing to get a stop with the score tied at 10 and Michigan facing a third-and-6 at OSU's 44 with just over two minutes left, the Buckeyes allowed UM tailback Kalel Mullings to bounce to the outside for 27 yards after getting hit at the line of scrimmage.
Ohio State coach Ryan Day is 47-1 against unranked teams after Saturday's 13-10 loss to Michigan.
That one hurt. So did the illegal substitution penalty against OSU on third-and-2 that came seconds later, giving UM a first-and-goal at the 5-yard line and allowing the Wolverines to eat clock, which became critical when kicker Dominic Zvada booted the go-ahead field goal with 45 seconds left.
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Add it up – poor decision-making on offense, shaky quarterback play, late defensive lapses and shoddy special teams play – and you have a recipe for disaster. Even then, recipes are nothing more than pieces of paper with instructions on them. They need ingredients to create the concoction, and over the past four seasons Ohio State has lacked that one essential ingredient, whether it be toughness, or willpower or a belief that it really can win The Game.
And failing to add those ingredients ultimately falls on the cook. Day.
"Everybody wants to win this game in the worst way, and nobody wants to win it more than we do," Day said. "It's our No. 1 goal every year, and when you don't do that there's disappointment and frustration.
"I don't blame anybody for being upset. I'm upset more than anybody. And those players are, too. And the coaches and everybody that goes at it."
Ohio State coach Ryan Day is 1-4 against Michigan.
How upset is Bjork, who ultimately will make the call on how long Day remains in charge?
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"Now is not the time," Bjork said when I asked about Day's job status. "This is about the team."
Exactly. The team matters most, which is why losing four consecutive times to Michigan requires a hard look at the whole operation. It is one thing to win the games you should, but to win the games you must is the difference between going down in Ohio State history as a winner or loser. A champion or chump.
And Day currently is on the wrong side of that history. Does OSU want him to stick around long enough to change that? Does he want to stick around? That may be the more interesting question. Either way, there is no joy in Ohioville. Day and the supposedly mighty Buckeyes again struck out.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football coach Ryan Day did not help his job status vs. UM
