Day is also now 1-7 against Top 5 teams in the Associated Press poll after losing 32-31 to Oregon on Saturday.
The Ducks came in as a slight favorite (-3) hosting the Buckeyes at Autzen Stadium, the first meeting between the schools as members of the Big 10, after Oregon and Washington joined the conference this year. In the opening minutes, Ohio State looked to set a fast tempo that would involve a lot of scoring. Quarterback Will Howard, the transfer from Kansas State, scored from a yard out exactly 5:00 into the game, putting the Buckeyes up early. The most valuable person wearing scarlet and gray on the opening drive however was offensive coordinator Chip Kelly.
On a 1st-and-10 from their own 47 yard line, Howard hit Will Kacmarek for 32 yards to the Oregon 21. Kelly had his offense rush to the line for a quick snap. Every replay showed that not only did Kacmarek not catch the pass cleanly, that the ball was actually juggled and intercepted by linebacker Jeffery Bassa.
On the final drive, Day let precious seconds tick away with time management, and Howard slid down as time expired, leading to the Oregon faithful rushing the field. Poor clock management has become an all too familiar recurrence in Columbus since Day took over the program.
The Buckeyes were one of the only teams in the top 25 to not have played a team in a Power Four conference with their non-conference schedule. Georgia played Clemson, Alabama went to Wisconsin, and Texas ran Michigan off their own field. Ohio State lived up to their moniker of shelling out charitable donations to Disney with their "Mickey Mouse" scheduling ofplaying Akron, and Western Michigan from the Mid American Conference (MAC), and former MAC member Marshall, now in the Sun Belt. There were plenty of memes and analysts that joked Ohio State right now is not sitting at fifth in the Big 10, but outright in first place in the MAC.
Not bad for having a $20 million NIL payroll for the 2024 season, which saw them lose 26 players to the transfer portal, while only bringing in 10. Howard was joined by All-SEC tailback Quinshon Judkins of Mississippi, who currently sit at #18, but started as #6 in the preseason polls. Judkins will be a high draft pick next spring, but Howard and Day apparently need to have episodes of “The Big Comfy Couch” interspliced during film review.
If this sounds like I am piling on, you are absolutely correct. However, there is a difference between watching as a college football elitist wearing scarlet-colored glasses, and seeing what the rest of the country does in reality.
Day is 1-3 in the College Football Playoff, with the lone win coming in the 2021 Sugar Bowl over Clemson. Ohio State was promptly wiped off the field 52-24 the following week by Alabama in the National Championship game. The Buckeyes have lost in back-to-back years against arch rival Michigan, regardless of the Conor Stallions scandal. With their 2023 loss, the Buckeyes were selected to play Missouri in the Cotton Bowl. Multiple starters decided not to play, and Day certainly did not have his team prepared. After scoring the initial points of the game with a field goal in the first quarter, the Buckeyes managed only 203 yards of total offense in a 14-3 loss.
In two weeks, Ohio State travels to Happy Valley to play Penn State, who is currently ranked at #3 in the AP poll, just one spot behind Oregon. The previous meeting in Pennsylvania saw Ohio State come away with a 44-31 win, but this may be a much better Penn State team than in years past. Despite being the #4-ranked program in the country, you would have to think that the seat under Day is getting a little warmer than he would care for with these turning point losses. Should the Nittany Lions hold serve, Love may as well start window-shopping moving companies. In Columbus, the only factor that keeps you employed is winning.
No one is untouchable. John Cooper was 111-43-4 in 12 years in Columbus, and was fired in 2000.
The question looms that if Ohio State does not win the National Championship with their current “payroll,” who is the name that you get to replace Ryan Day. Chip Kelly may be the most obvious choice, having previous head coaching success with Oregon and Notre Dame. Others have thought of former Buckeye great Mike Vrabel, who was most recently the head coach of the Tennessee Titans. Vrabel is currently a personnel and coaching consultant for the Cleveland Browns. Should the Browns look to run their season into the ground by ownership forcing the coaching staff to play quarterback Deshaun Watson, Vrabel will undoubtedly be the favorite to take over once current head coach Kevin Stefanski is made the fall guy, along with General Manager Andrew Berry.
Anyone who wants to play revisionist history that this may be an overreaction to a one-point loss to a National Championship contender in the Ducks has to realize that the initial touchdown coming off the board, and Dan Lanning deciding to go for two on their initial score turns this into a 9-point win.
Voters take notice of happenstance as a season develops. Nine points may loom as large as 30 with another loss in Columbus.
-JC24