Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Seven weeks can make all the difference in the world.
At least they can for someone like Ryan Day. Seven Saturdays ago, he was about as low as an Ohio State head coach can get. It had just suffered its fourth straight loss against Michigan — and a postgame brawl that broke out after Wolverine players tried to plant a Block M flag in the middle of Ohio Stadium. Day stood transfixed on the court, asking everyone and no one at the same time, ‘What happened?’
The future looked unimaginably dark. I was writing at the time that “anything short of a state title combined with Saturday’s embarrassing three-point loss to a deeply flawed Wolverine squad should lead to Day’s firing.” I was not alone in my harsh criticism. I also didn’t think it was likely that Day’s Buckeyes would string together the three wins needed to even reach the national championship game after such a disappointing game against that team up north.
I was wrong.
And I don’t think Day needs to win the title anymore to keep his job, for the record. His hot seat cooled after Ohio State shelled Tennessee, stunned Oregon and beat Texas to advance to the national championship game in the past month. They were big games and big moments — and he prepared his team perfectly for all of them. Those count as big wins for a coach who has historically struggled in games of that magnitude.
If a head coach bears the brunt of the criticism when a team fails to live up to its potential against a hated rival, that same head coach deserves a lot of credit for how his program has responded.
“When you’re having great moments, you have to make sure you appreciate everyone who’s doing all the hard work, and when things aren’t going well, we all have to take ownership of it,” Day said before the Rose Bowl. “It’s part of the job and I understand that. And I take ultimate responsibility for everything that happens in the program.
Defense leads Ohio State to CFP final
Nicole Auerbach reacts to Ohio State claiming a Cotton Bowl win against Texas and how they punched a ticket to battle Notre Dame in Atlanta.
“Our guys understand that life is about resilience, and you’re ultimately defined by how you deal with adversity in your life — that things are going to be tough along the way, but how you respond is critically important.”
Ohio State responded to the Michigan loss by spending a week identifying its problems and what went wrong. An intense team meeting was held, during which some key figures in the program faced some difficult truths. Quarterback Will Howard he said later that it was important to diffuse things because that was the only way to solve them. Security Caleb Downs he said that every person in the program who failed to fulfill their responsibility that day caused the entire team to fail to complete their work – and that those who did not do what they should have deserved to be held accountable.
That’s when the Buckeye staff got to work. The second week featured plans to address and incorporate issues, as well as an overall plan to move forward, putting the low point of the season in the rearview mirror. The team also learned that their first-round opponent will be Tennessee, so they can finally prepare for their next big game.
By the time the actual game week rolled around, Ohio State players were itching to get on the field. “It (was) a long time for us – weeks,” Day said. “Saying that it doesn’t bother you, it does. We have a lot of pride in who we are.”
The Buckeyes answered the bell against No. 9 Tennessee, jumping out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter using all of their best offensive weapons early and often. They answered the bell again against No. 1 seed Oregon with 34 unanswered points to blow the game open in the quarterfinal round. And they answered the bell once again against Texas in a game that remained close because of Ohio State’s drive-killing penalties, a victory scored by the captain Jack Sawyer‘s scoop-and-score touchdown to seal the semifinal victory and send the Buckeyes to the national championship game.
Ohio State had to evolve in the middle of the game to top Texas
Nicole Auerbach and Joshua break down Ohio State’s win over Texas in the Cotton Bowl, including Jack Sawyer cementing his legacy as a Buckeye, a coaching matchup as well as a game-defining one.
A lot of fans and a lot of pundits had Ohio State in the title game before the season even started, based in large part on its $20 million roster and the sheer amount of talent on this team. But there were also plenty of doubts after underwhelming performances and slow starts in the regular season, as well as that head-scratching loss to Michigan.
“When you go into the season with the expectations that we had, you’re never really going to please everybody,” Howard said. “It’s about how you bounce back from those tough times. It will never be perfect. You’ll never have a perfect game, you’ll never have a perfect season, very rarely. You have to be able to bounce back from whatever happens and be resilient.
“The thing about this team that I love so much is that every time we get knocked down, we come right back. I think we showed that in the last game. I just want to finish this thing the right way for these guys and for this university.”
Sawyer forced a fumble, recovered it and returned it for a touchdown in the final moments of Ohio State’s CFP semifinal victory. It was one of the defining moments of the season.
We all knew Ohio State could be the kind of team that destroys opponents. We just didn’t see it all come together until the College Football Playoff started. It was both amazing to watch as a fan of offensive football and frustrating to see after not seeing him week in and week out during the regular season.
Day would tell you that the Ohio State team we’ve seen this postseason isn’t the same one that lost to Michigan because it’s learned from its past. After the Buckeyes beat the Longhorns last week, he said he didn’t think Ohio State would have lost a fourth-quarter victory the way it did without going through tough times first. He’s probably right, and it’s probably no coincidence that it was Sawyer who forced the game-winning fumble (and then recovered it and went 83 yards down the field for a touchdown). Sawyer grew up not far from Columbus, dreaming of beating Michigan and winning back-to-back national titles. He didn’t achieve the first, but he is 60 minutes away from achieving the second. No one fought harder for Day and for this team to be in a position to redeem its season than Sawyer.
“When things are going well, you have to hug the guys you love the most, and when things aren’t, you have to hug them even tighter,” Day said. “You just hang on and keep rocking. Such is life, and this team is resilient. When you surround yourself with great people with great character, you realize that you are going through tough times.
“At the end of the day, we wanted to win a national championship, and the way we got here was not what we expected. It wasn’t what we planned.”
But they’re there, and that’s what matters. So much has already been forced out at this point, but a national championship trophy would certainly be a fitting end to an incredible redemption for Dan himself. By the way, he should probably still beat Michigan next year. There are many fans who expect titles and wins over the Wolverines, which is fine because this fan base is allowed to demand excellence. But life in Columbus sure looks a lot different for both Day and his family after just seven short weeks.
Dan talks a lot about leaving the doubt. He thinks he wants his team to finish strong, so both teams playing and everyone watching know which team is superior. It is a message that the outcome is not left to chance or the officials. It allows Ohio State to define itself to the rest of the world.
Well, over the past month, Day has left no doubt about himself either. He is now a great coach. And he is only four quarters away from winning his first national championship title.
