by Kyle Golik
I questioned the “de-emphasis” of ‘The Game’ in a previous column I wrote after Ohio State was stunned by Michigan for the fourth straight year. Ohio State was playing for an appearance in the Big Ten Championship Game and potentially for the No. 1 overall seed in the College Football Playoff had it taken care of business. At minimum, the Big Ten Championship Game would have been most likely a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup. Instead, Ohio State lost the physical matchup 13-10.
The spin began the very next day from athletic director Ross Bjork. “Our full focus right now is on the College Football Playoff and making a strong run,” Bjork said to The Columbus Dispatch. “We have a ton to play for. We have a great team made up of talented players and great young men. Coach (Ryan) Day does a great job leading our program. He’s our coach.”
Bjork would then continue to emphasize the stability Day has brought to the program and the success that much of the nation would envy.
Even with Bjork’s emphasis, it did not spare these days the much-maligned Ohio State head coach Ryan Day from his own media.
Day was pressed about the fourth consecutive failure to Michigan, with Day replying, “When you don’t succeed, it completely crushes you.”
Day continued to field questions about losing to Michigan, “Yeah, I don’t know. But I can just try to go off of this game and what’s going on in this game right now. I think each game is a little bit different and unique to itself, like you said. But the results are the results. And as hard as that is to say, we came up short here again today. And not easy to swallow at all.”
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As Saturday fast approaches, Ohio State is prepared to host its first College Football Playoff at Ohio Stadium when it faces Tennessee. Ohio State possesses an all-time record of 1-13 against the SEC in bowl/postseason games, including an 0-3 mark under Day. The last time Ohio State played Tennessee featured a battle between Peyton Manning and Eddie George in the 1996 Citrus Bowl where Manning prevailed 20-14.
When you begin to consider that Ohio State NIL initiatives raised nearly $20 million for its team this year, according to Bjork back in September. Couple that, with the preseason hype of landing guys like Caleb Downs, Seth McLaughlin, Quinshon Judkins, and Will Howard, which led to Urban Meyer and Jim Tressel considering the 2024 Ohio State team the most talented they ever saw, you have to ask how a first round exit will sit in Columbus. My guess is not good.
Think of it like this: Ohio State castigated quarterback Kyle McCord, thinking he was not the solution. Granted, many Ohio State fans probably enjoyed McCord’s disaster of a performance against Pitt. However, McCord led the nation in completions, attempts, passing yards, and yards per game, finishing in the Top 10 in Heisman balloting. Conveniently, Howard is absent—much like his performance against Michigan.
A first-round home loss to Tennessee will leave a lot of questions about Day’s ability to maintain Ohio State among the elite in the nation. Some joke Day is propped up by his ability to be the Michael Jordan to James Franklin and Penn State, ironically, the Cleveland Cavaliers, to give him an annual signature win and continued torture annually. There is some truth to that when you begin considering his lack of recent success against Michigan and in the postseason.
You can imagine Bjork not wanting to have a knee-jerk reaction if Ohio State were to fall short. I don’t blame him. You will hear the same spin with a different twist if Ohio State were to lose: How many programs win 10 or more games annually, make the playoffs with such frequency, etc.
You cannot argue with Bjork. Where the conversation changes is this: the temperature of Day’s seat in 2025? It cannot be comfortable, nor should it be. I don’t feel Ohio State fans and supporters are being spoiled thinking that way. With the money being invested and the expectations for a return on investment, it has to result in Michigan wins, Big Ten Championships, and deep runs in the playoffs.
It’s a similar situation to what is going on in Oxford, Mississippi. It’s cute when Lane Kiffin goes on Twitter (X) and jabs folks; you can have a field day when you win. When you fall short of expectations, that’s when that seat gets hot. Many down there wished they still had Judkins; maybe he would have made the difference in so many close calls for the Rebels. Instead, they’re on the outside looking in.
Day is in the same precarious position in Columbus. There’s no way he is safe entering 2025 with a loss. Day has to answer for so many failures. Did they misread the McCord situation? How can they beat Michigan? With the blue-chip ratio as high as any in the nation, where are the talent and development falling short?
For Day’s sake and Bjork’s, Ohio State needs a win badly to make the Rose Bowl and hopefully atone for a disappointing regular season. A loss raises Day’s seat exponentially. If Day looked relieved after defeating Penn State, like the weight of the world was on his shoulders with immense pressure, I cannot imagine his mental state and the pressure he’d feel if they don’t win.
