The clock has officially begun ticking on Ryan Day. A warmth is just beginning to spread on his seat. That’s what happens at Ohio State when fans and administrators, a few hours after being on the precipice of a likely Big Ten championship and berth in the College Football Playoff, see the No. 2 Buckeyes get outplayed for a second straight season by their chief rival in one of college football’s most hotly contested regular-season games.
That’s what happens when No. 3 Michigan outmans you in nearly every phase of the game while severely outcoaching you in the process. The Buckeyes fell to the hated Team Up North 45-23, blowing a 20-17 halftime lead to lose The Game in Columbus, Ohio, for the first time since 2000.
As Day was opting to punt on fourth-and-6 in plus territory, Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines accepted the challenge presented by a Buckeyes that dared them to throw to throw the ball. By the time the dust settled, Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy had thrown touchdown passes of 45, 69, and 75 yards. He outplayed Ohio State’s Heisman Trophy hopeful C.J. Stroud, and the Wolverines somehow outrushed the Buckeyes 252-143 despite being down their own Heisman contender in running back Blake Corum.
It’s the first time Ohio State has lost consecutive games to Michigan since the turn of the century (1999-2000). It’s also the second season in a row the Buckeyes won’t even play for a Big Ten title, let alone win it.
There are three primary goals at Ohio State: Beat Michigan, win the Big Ten and compete for a national championship.
Now, Ohio State fans aren’t unreasonable. At least, they aren’t any more unreasonable than other fan bases accustomed to success. If the Buckeyes don’t win the national title in a given season, it may not be ideal, but it’s understandable as long as they keep accomplishing the other objectives.
Day isn’t achieving any of those goals anymore. With the latest loss to Michigan, he is now 1-2 in his career against the Wolverines as Ohio State’s coach and hasn’t won the Big Ten since the COVID-19 season of 2020.
That’s why Day will enter the 2023 season with pressure mounting. His seat may not be ablaze, but no matter how you want to term it, Day will indeed on the hot seat.
It seems insane to think that a coach who is 45-5 in four seasons could be in anything resembling trouble — and you would be right thinking that way — but this is college…
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