by Kyle Golik
Ryan Day, ever since he took over for Urban Meyer at Ohio State, has faced harsh criticisms from fans, media, and rivals. Notably, when Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh responded to Day’s comments that Ohio State would hang 100 on Michigan, “Some people are born on third base and act like they’ve hit a triple.”
After a second consecutive defeat to rival Michigan, there seemed to be this groundswell from deep depths in Columbus questioning if Day was the right coach for Ohio State.
It didn’t get any better in the College Football Semifinal at the Peach Bowl against Georgia, where Ohio State came up just short, after rallying after key injuries to Marvin Harrison Jr. and Cade Stover, and even setting up a game-winning field goal opportunity.
This spring, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith gave Day a public vote of confidence referring to Day as his CEO. It was a head-scratching decision and one that many said was unnecessary.
The losses that blinded an Ohio State base that has been incredibly spoiled the last two decades forgot the dominance Day demonstrated. He entered this season with a 45-6 record, winner of 31 of 33 Big Ten conference games, and three College Football Playoff appearances.
Leading up to the titanic clash against Notre Dame in South Bend, Ohio State got some great bulletin board material from former Notre Dame and hall of fame coach Lou Holtz.
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Holtz appeared on ESPN’s Pat McAfee Show and unloaded on Ohio State saying, “Everybody that beats him does so because they’re more physical than Ohio State, just tell Ohio State this: you tell them they better bring their lunch, because it’s going to be a full day’s work.”
Holtz continued, “He has lost to Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Michigan twice — and everybody who beats them does so because they’re more physical than Ohio State, I think Notre Dame will take that same approach.”
Apparently, Day caught wind of Holtz’s comments, and much like a certain Colorado coach, he kept his receipts.
The game turned out to be a clean defensive struggle highlighted by two defenses that entered the game in the Top 5 in total defense nationally. With offense at a premium, it was a game that Day shined in his development of first-year starting quarterback Kyle McCord, who didn’t allow the stage to get bigger than him.
McCord finished the day with an efficient 21 for 37 passing for 240 yards, but it was the final drive where McCord stepped up, completing five key passes for 73 yards plus overcoming an intentional grounding penalty.
On the most consequential play of the game, and likely the season for both teams, everything Holtz criticized Ohio State for, it turned out Notre Dame was not the better prepared, better talented, more physical.
On the deciding play, Notre Dame couldn’t get 11 players on the field. They did this two plays in a row. Ohio State lined up and physically took over, allowing Chip Trayanum to get the deciding score.
“You can’t draw it up any better than that, down four points with a chance to go down and win it,” McCord said. “Historic stadium, great defense. Like I said, it wasn’t perfect, but to come away with the win, it feels really, really good.”
McCord, during his postgame comments, referred to the Notre Dame defense as soft as he was able to convert a critical fourth down and a third-and-19 with no timeouts.
Following the final gun, with the adrenaline pumping getting the late touchdown to get Ohio State’s first regular season out-of-conference true road game against a ranked opponent since 2016, Day let the emotions pour and decided to blast Holtz, who questioned everything about his program.
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“I’d like to know where Lou Holtz is right now,” Day said during a postgame interview with NBC. “What he said about our team, I cannot believe. This is a tough team right here. We’re proud to be from Ohio. It’s always been Ohio against the world, and it’ll continue to be Ohio against the world. But I’ll tell you what: I love those kids. We’ve got a tough team.”
Day postgame elaborated on the Holtz comments, “It was brewing for a couple days,” said Day of his team’s performance. “I said it earlier and I’ll say it again: a lot of people took a lot of shots at this team over the last 48 hours. It really hit home to me. The way that our team played — not only did we physically get after (Notre Dame) last year, but we did it again here at the end of the game. And I think it says a lot about this time.”
“I’m really upset and disrespected by what Lou Holtz said publicly about our team and Ohio State and Buckeye nation. We’re not going to stand for that, because that’s not even close to true. We had one bad half a couple years ago up in Ann Arbor (against Michigan), we did in the second half. But every game we play in, we’re physical. We are. I don’t know where that narrative comes from, but that ends tonight.
“This team right here showed toughness, they showed grit, they didn’t give up and they found a way to get that last yard.”
What Holtz and Ohio State critics failed to remember, even with the recent struggles in high-profile games, Day has led Ohio State to a record of 17-4 against ranked opponents. During his time, Ohio State is also 17-1 in true road games, including a 4-1 record against ranked opponents in true road games.
Ohio State’s character win against Notre Dame reminded Holtz and the nation that this is an elite program. The Buckeyes aren’t going to be shoved around and can win these character games where they got to win with shear force and determination.
Day and his Buckeyes are determined to win their first national championship as a group, and a statement has been delivered to the rest of the nation: this isn’t going to be a Buckeye team that will be pushed around.
Getting through Ohio State is you are going to have to beat them, and they have demonstrated Saturday in South Bend why it is so tough to do.
