I have defended Ryan Day. I have stood up for this team, even during their struggles. I have tried my best to have a wait and see attitude with Will Howard after Kyle McCord's struggles last season. But I am done having any mercy on this team.
Michigan was 6-5 coming in. They weren't going anywhere, even with an upset win. Ohio State was expected to win the Big Ten, and put an end to the Wolverines' dominance as perennial Conference Champs. And with a roster reportedly worth $20 Million in NIL money to boot.
Yet here we are again, after another loss to the Michigan Wolverines. A supremely annoying, incomprehensible, maddening, downright infuriating loss!
And this one was probably the worst one in the losing streak. At least during the last three years, Michigan was a great football team. But there's absolutely no excuse for this loss. None.
I still don't exactly know why things have gone so wrong over the last four seasons. But I think I have a good idea of where to point the finger. Starting with the man in charge...
Ryan Day
Unless Ohio State limps into the College Football Playoff, Coach Day may have very well coached his last game in Columbus today. And I honestly believe that those in charge should seriously consider firing him. Yes, I went there.
The only chance Ryan Day has of saving his job now, is if the Buckeyes somehow find their way into the back end of the CFP field, and make a 2014-type run to win the National Championship. That's it. He has no room for error.
Every year for the last four times, we've heard some variation of, "Man, it sucks to lose this one. I really thought we had a chance at it. I need to live with the results and own them."
IF YOU HAD DONE SOMETHING ABOUT PREPARATION IN THE 364 DAYS LEADING UP TO IT, MAYBE YOU WOULD HAVE HAD A CHANCE AT WINNING THE GAME, COACH! GOOD LORD! WHAT WERE YOU DOING ALL YEAR?!
Sorry folks. I don't like to yell. But I had to let it out. It's become the Ohio State version of Hue Jackson's infamous, "I gotta watch the tape to see what we can do better." And that infuriates me to no end. It makes my blood boil. It's a broken record, and absolutely nothing changes.
And rumor also has it that Coach Day responded to Michigan attempting to plant their flag at the end of the game with this, and I quote: "Our guys weren't going to let that happen."
Oh really? Because it sure looks like they let it happen. The fact that Jack Sawyer and the rest of the Buckeyes showed more fight after the game than during it, is just embarrassing. It's pathetic. And that comes down to poor coaching.
Ryan Day could be a great person, and a really nice guy. I've never met the man. But he is not, never has been, and likely never will be, a great football coach. He hardly ever wins when it matters the most. He just can't get it done in the clutch for whatever reason.
The Buckeyes just looked like they were playing timid. They had no intensity during four quarters of action, and reserved all the bad attitude until the clock ran out and it was far too late to do anything.
But Coach Day isn't the only one to blame for today's loss. If he's 1A, then the next guy I'm going to rip apart is 1B.
Chip Kelly
My brother-in-law is currently the wide receivers coach at Madeira High School near Cincinnati. But he's been a high school offensive coordinator before and done really well.
I always ask him if he were the Ohio State OC, if he'd be salivating with the number of weapons this offense has.
And he always lets me know what he would do if he had the headset on. He loves getting creative and torching defenses whenever he can.
But Chip Kelly's play calling looked like what I would call... if I were playing College Football 25 here at my apartment for fun, and not trying to snap a three-game skid to our arch-rivals!
I usually love running the football. But when it's not working, you have to try something else.
This was the football version of jacking up threes, going ofer, and hoping something went down. It was ridiculous.
77 yards on 26 carries just isn't good enough. I've never been so irritated to see halfback draws and dives over. And over. And over. And over again.
Ohio State is normally explosive. It's usually "Wide Receiver U." You usually see the Buckeyes put up anywhere from 30-40 points a game. But that's because Chip Kelly digs into his bag of tricks and works his magic to keep opposing defenses guessing. But I've never seen a more vanilla gameplan in my life.
For as creative as Chip Kelly usually is, coaching like this is something that could lead to him being fired. And he would deserve to get canned too. I have no clue what he was thinking. All this offensive firepower, and his unit manages to score just ten points?! Make it make sense!
Ohio State was so one-dimensional today. And their supposed field general looked like he was heaving passes in his backyard. And not in a good way either.
Will Howard
I will say that Will Howard still is a better quarterback than Kyle McCord was last year, even if that's a low bar.
But I do not understand why Howard feels he has to force bad throws so often. I don't understand his fascination with hero ball.
If you need to make check downs, do it. If you need to toss a pass out into the flat and set up a screen, do it. If you need to toss a short pass over the middle, do it. Move the ball any way you can.
But for the love of all that is holy, don't force the ball, and don't turn it over!
Both of Howard's turnovers killed potential Ohio State scoring drives. Those throws weren't on the receiver either. They looked like they were entirely his fault. I don't know what he saw, and I don't know what he was thinking. Apparently he wasn't.
You know it's a bad day, when the opposing quarterback went 9-16 for 62 yards, tossed two picks, had a quarterback rating under 36...and STILL beat you! Yikes!
And the last reason we lost, makes me scratch my head too...
Jayden Fielding
Like I said in one of my previous articles, you only notice the special teams unit when they do something bad. And in this case, Ohio State kicker Jayden Fielding stuck out like a sore thumb.
I understand The Game is the biggest game of the year. I understand his nerves were probably through the roof. But as a kicker, you have one job: Kick the ball through the uprights. It's one of the most pressure-packed jobs in sports, probably right next to being a closer on a baseball team. You have to control your nerves and do your job.
If you can't handle the pressure that comes with being a kicker, you shouldn't be counted on to make clutch kicks. Some guys have antifreeze flowing in their veins. Some don't, and that's okay. Just don't let them be kickers.
Jayden Fielding left six points on the table. If he makes those kicks, it's at least 16-13 Ohio State and we're not having this discussion right now. But this job might not be for him, sadly.
And coaching the Buckeyes might not be for Ryan Day. If he doesn't pull off the miracle and win the National Championship in late January, I know exactly who I'd want to replace him.
"Coach Vrabel, Ross Bjork, the Ohio State AD is on line one..."
Some of you might not know who Mike Vrabel is. But if I had to use one word to describe him, it would be salty.
Vrabel was born in Akron in 1975, grew up in Cuyahoga Falls, and played defensive end for the Buckeyes from 1993-1996. He was teammates with other Buckeye greats such as Andy Katzenmoyer, Shawn Springs, and Antoine Winfield. As well as current Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell. Fickell and Vrabel were in the trenches together when they were Buckeye players. Luke was the noseguard.
Vrabel was also consensus All-American for Ohio State in 1996 as a senior. But perhaps most importantly, he is an Ohio guy. I know that might sound like a silly justification to some people, especially when it comes to possibly being the next head coach of a huge college football program like Ohio State.
But I would argue it's the EXACT kind of qualification every Buckeye head coach needs. Or at least is definitely on the list.
Ryan Day is from New Hampshire. He didn't grow up here. John Cooper didn't either. He's from Tennessee. I don't think either of those men understand how big The Game is around here. They don't get it. And I don't think it's possible for them to ever understand it, sadly. It's an Ohio thing.
Woody Hayes was next door neighbors with legendary pitcher Cy Young when he was growing up as a boy in Clifton, Ohio. Paul Brown was born in Norwalk, Ohio. Urban Meyer was born in Toledo and raised in Ashtabula. Jim Tressel was born in Mentor, Ohio and made a name for himself in Youngstown, Ohio. See a pattern here?
Almost every championship-winning Buckeye head coach has some kind of tie to the state. Most of them were born here. They're usually Ohio guys. There's just something about this rivalry that can't be learned or taught to outsiders. It's ingrained. You're born into it. There's a reason babies born in Columbus in late November are wrapped in "Beat Michigan!" blankets. It's that serious around here.
If you're an outsider who thinks "Ah, it's just another game," that attitude can't be helped. If you're an outsider who tries so hard to prove that it matters to you, only for your team to show that it doesn't, that can't be helped either.
You either get it, or you don't. You're either a true Buckeye or you're not. That stomach-churning hatred for the Maize and Blue either flows through your body 365 days a year, or it doesn't.
And the Buckeyes need to get a guy who understands all those things with every fiber of his being. I think Mike Vrabel just might be that guy. He hates losing more than he loves winning. He's more focused on his teams being tough instead of talking about it.
And he knows how badly this fanbase and this state wants to beat the Wolverines. He doesn't have to act it out or show it for everyone else to believe him. It's in his blood. It's in his soul. It's a Buckeye thing.
I only hope if this is the end of the Day era, that Ohio State AD Ross Bjork goes back to basics and gets an Ohio guy who truly understands what this game means. Then and only then, will this rivalry swing back the other way. Until then, the Maize and Blue winning streak will continue.
Statistical Leaders
Will Howard: 19-33, 175 yards, TD, 2 INTs
Quinshon Judkins: 12 carries, 46 yards
Carnell Tate: 6 catches, 58 yards
Source
ESPN
Picture Credit
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