Ryan Day has fashioned a fairly complicated legacy in just six years at Ohio State.
On the surface his overall record is strong, 67-10, but not spectacular.
Urban Meyer, the predecessor who left Day an overflowing cupboard of talent and infrastructure, went 83-9 in seven years, was 7-0 against Michigan, registered just the sixth unblemished season in school history (12-0 in 2012), and won the 2014 national championship.
Day has accomplished none of those things, and fallen woefully short against evenly-matched teams — worst of all against Michigan 1-4.
Ohio State football lists three on-field goals for the program. 1. Beat Michigan. 2. Win the Big Ten championship. 3. Win the national championship.
There have only been eight national titles in 134 years, so not achieving No. 3 is understandable.
No. 2 is a bit trickier. The Buckeyes have claimed 39 Big Ten crowns since the school joined the Big Ten in 1912 (actually 40, but the 2010 title was stripped. Remember that note, Michigan fans). Not achieving this goal for any length of time can become problematic.
The No. 1 goal, however, isn’t up for debate. Failing to check this box with any consistency at all is considered cause for termination.
This is precisely why Ryan Day’s seat is hot despite Ohio State reaching the quarterfinals of the college football playoffs.
Day and the Buckeyes hammered Michigan in his first go-around with the Wolverines, 56-27 in 2019. That’s the only time he has achieved the No. 1 goal of the program.
(These photos, from Ohio State’s 42-17 playoff-opening win over Tennessee on Dec. 21, are courtesy of The Ohio State University.)
Ohio State was a whopping 23-point favorite over Michigan this year, at home, and coughed up a 13-10 hairball that some have branded the worst loss in school history. It’s hard to overstate how bad that defeat was considering the Buckeyes pumped $20 million into the team’s payroll.
Before the campaign began, both Jim Tressel and Urban Meyer declared the 2024 Ohio State roster just might be the best in all of college football over the past decade.
What did Day do with that armada of talent? The Buckeyes finished fourth in the Big Ten.
That scenario makes the Jan. 1 Rose Bowl date with undefeated and No. 1-ranked Oregon such an interesting matchup. Ohio State lost 32-31 at Oregon earlier this season. Yet the oddsmakers have the Buckeyes listed as a 2.5-point favorite.
Obviously, Las Vegas gamblers believe Day has the superior team, too. Still, that hasn’t helped him in the past.
Since his hiring, Day has exactly one signature victory, a 49-28 win over Clemson in the Jan. 1, 2021 Sugar Bowl. That was a national semifinal date that set up an embarrassing 52-24 blowout loss to Alabama in the ensuing national championship game.
We are six years into the Ryan Day Era at Ohio State. Every player in the program was recruited under his watch. But not one player on his current team has ever beaten Michigan.
Ohio State hasn’t even been to a Big Ten championship game since 2020, let alone won it.
A national title? Fuhgeddaboudit
Sorry Kirk Herbstreit, but pointing out these shortcomings, when they are listed as core goals for the program, hardly makes one part of a “Lunatic Fringe.” That was the argument the TV broadcaster laughably pushed last week in a 42-17 beating of wildly overmatched Tennessee at Ohio Stadium.
But Day has a chance to rewrite his legacy this year. Can he beat a team that can look him in the eye from a talent standpoint?
He’ll get that chance against Oregon in the Rose Bowl, and perhaps even two more times if the Buckeyes can survive and advance. A run all the way to hoisting a national championship trophy instantly mutes all criticism.
Make no mistake, a loss in Pasadena won’t be fatal. But yet another loss with one of, if not the most expensive roster in all of college football will give Day three defeats this year alone despite wielding overwhelming material.
He won’t have that kind of talent cushion next year, and a looming loss in Ann Arbor would probably finish his career in Columbus — and it should.
The ball is in Day’s court. It’s time for him to win a game just like this.