For all the mistakes that were made, injuries, hostile environment etc, a one point loss against the #3 team despite all of the negatives from the game, I'll accept that loss..learn from your mistakes and move on..shit happens boys, it's how you recover and react from that loss is what will define you, I still have faith in this team!
This is the type of post that just drives me nuts.
Evan Stewart was a 5-star recruit, 247 #1 WR in 2022 class, won the long jump state championship in Texas, comes from a high school that plays in a 20,000 capacity stadium. Freak athlete. First round draft projection.
Dillon Gabriel has thrown for over 16,000 yards in college with 138 TD passes. Will likely finish 2nd all-time in career passing yards in NCAA history. Obviously, an elite college QB. Projected NFL draftee (because he's not prototypical size for NFL QB's).
Josh Conerly Jr. OT, 5-star recruit, Top 10 national recruit, expected to be a first round draft pick.
Jabbar Muhammad CB, ranked the #8 CB prospect in the 2025 draft class
Derrick Harmon, DT, ranked the #6 defensive tackle prospect in 2025 draft class, 1 spot behind Tyleik Williams
Jordan James, RB, a top 20 RB draft prospect, averaged 7.09 ypc last season which is better than Trey or Q did in 2023.
Etc, etc, etc, etc.
Estimates are that Oregon has spent $23 million on NIL for this year's team.
You can't except it, if you do your excepting failure. Something needs to change and it starts with the defense and the line. LJ only rushing four and putting too much pressure on the back 7 has to stop. If Day is allowing LJ to dictate who and how many play he is allowing the undermining of the director of the defense (Knowles). But having said that their are issues on the defense other than what I just mentioned. Knowles could have made some changes also during the game, for example giving Burke help over the top. Just my thoughts and observations but I'm far from being an expert. Sorry for the duplicate
100% agree. I was shocked by the doomsday feeling from a lot of commenters on Eleven Warriors immediately after the game. Although I was disappointed in the loss ( and slightly pissed), I came away realizing that Oregon is a really good team, we lost the game more than they won it in a hostile environment across multiple time zones, many of our failures are correctible, and I feel we beat this team on a neutral field next time we play them.
PSU doesn't look better than us, and we win out otherwise, will get sweet revenge against scUM, and I also feel we beat Oregon for the Big 10 championship.
A bye week will make the next two weeks seem a lot longer for our team than for us, and I am sure with our senior leadership the guys will rally, and come out chomping at the bit and kick Nebraska's ass.
Let's not turn into Alabama fans and feel like the sky is falling, if not for a OPI call or we had 1 more second on the clock, we win, and we would all be boasting today.
This team is still built to win it all!
Hickory,NC Buckeye......."Because I couldn't go for three!"
Sounds like you've celebrated a number of moral victories. Are you a happy Buffalo Bills fan having been to 4 Super Bowls? You should have higher expectations.
I respect Buffalo’s rabid fanbase. They repeatedly get their collective heart’s broken yet manage to muster up the love every season. Add Cleveland and many other teams into the mix.
Everyone loves a winner. Investing your support doesn’t guarantee a thing but it sure is fun.
Loving your team doesn't have to include being satisfied with results. Buffalo and Cleveland have had how many head coaches? Don't confuse unhappiness with results with lack of support.
Having expectations to win these big games to some degree is not entitled, it's normal expectation for this program. No one expects to win every time but if you don't expect Day to win some of these then why not? Why are your expectations so low?
Your not counting the right games. We have been talking about winning the big games... Oregon (twice), Michigan (3x), Georgia. His signature win is Notre Dame. Day wasn't hired to beat Akron, Marshall and Iowa. Every year Day has said he has 3 goals. Beat Michigan, win the BIG and win the nc. The last three years he is 0-9. You either don't know much about football or your standards are low or you are a blind loyalist.
If you're counting three of those losses, I'm counting more of the right games than you are. One team can win it all every year. You can pretend that should be us every year, but it makes you look ridiculous.
My standards aren't low. They're realistic. You aren't.
Checks notes… “TCUN are under investigation for multiple NCAA violations involving cheating”. Take away those wins, which could happen by the NCAA, and it paints a different picture.
My God do I wish people would stop saying this. Michigan either cheated, and those losses don't count. Or they didn't and you blame those losses on Day. You absolutely cannot have it both ways.
So what is it? Do you believe Michigan cheated and gained an unfair advantage, or don't you?
Exactly..... I always look at variables when I evaluate a situation. They cheated or not. If they cheated, then bullshit on their wins. If they did not cheat, then bullshit on us.
They obviously cheated, so bullshit on scUM. Therefore, stop bringing up they beat us for any wins achieved during their sign stealing era.
Hickory,NC Buckeye......."Because I couldn't go for three!"
I cannot accept fans who spent the better part of the last 12 months pointing out how Michigan had an institutional sign-stealing operation to cheat and then, when convenient, saddle Day with those three losses to Michigan. Fans have to pick one: Michigan cheated, or Day cannot beat them fairly.
Yes Michigan cheated, but TCU used it to their advantage after having only known about it for a couple weeks. Day knew they were cheating for years and still couldn’t figure out how to use it to his advantage.
Yes Michigan cheated, but TCU used it to their advantage after having only known about it for a couple weeks.
Is that how cheating works? If you build a program that was able to retain players because they are so close to winning a NC and are able to get NIL money based on fans/alumni excitement, then it’s ok and on the opponents who didn’t adjust? The cheat was a lot more than just knowing plays. It allowed for legitimate advantages that were only attainable because they beat Ohio State and made the playoffs off of cheating.
Counterpoint, TCU was likely only scouted once or twice. No way Michigan had their entire sign catalog. They also had multiple weeks to change their signs and practice new ones. It's much harder to do that in season when you're playing a game every saturday.
TCU hadn't been advanced scouted, that has been widely published. And TTUN still had some of their signs, and they did make a few false signs, enough to win. Almost as if the all-22 got them part of the way there, but needed the advance scouting piece to put it all together. Funny.
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And yet you still, out of your gracious heart, allow those fans, whom you cannot accept, to post their bad takes on this website.
Why we cannot accept a hard fought game with like 8 lead changes that literally came down to the final plays and enjoy the ride, I don't know. Especially since this game has no bearing on whether our goals this season are achievable.
We can still beat TTUN. We can still get to Indy and win. We can still make the playoff and win.
And guess what - if we win out, it means we likely get the 2 seed, which is favorable over the 1 seed because of how the automatic byes are set up (the #3 team is likely a weak ACC champion versus the #5 seed which is likely the SEC runner up and more of a #3-4). It was my first thought when the game ended that the loss could be a good thing ultimately.
Still mad about it, don't get me wrong. Just not worth going scorched earth over.
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The 12 team playoff with these much larger conferences will benefit the fans that do actually enjoy the ride. Because, every year will be a wild ride, whether they win them all or not. Our fanbase has a lot of changing to do. I doubt that it’ll be an easy change for them.
Imagine if the officials get the call right on the opening drive, that's 7 points off the board. Then tack on a couple more extra points Oregon threw away now your are down 9. Game don't look nearly as close.
Imagine they don't make that terrible OPI call. Imagine they give us that timeout and put one second back on the clock. Imagine they flag Oregon literally once for grabbing the entire game...
I don't think we were in optimum range for a FG in the Georgia game... IIRC it was an over 45yard try... with most college kickers the odds go up from 40 yards and in more than 45 yards they go down for sure... that said neither game should have come down to that if the Buckeyes had played a bit better as a team... the ball takes strange bounces and that has to be overcome to win and no team , no coach does that all the time ...
Yeah the Georgia game don't even compare other than both attempts should of been set up by the run. You have to know who you have at kicker. I'm alot more confident in Fielding. Sometimes I wish Ohio st would try to kick longer field goals against the likes of Akron and Marshall instead of going for it all the time. Just to get the kicker the work for days like last Saturday.
You're more confident in the dude who hasn't made anything beyond 40 to make a kick beyond 40...solely because you have the benefit of hindsight. There isn't a single thing wrong with the play calling at the end of either game. You just wish things had gone differently, and this is how you've chosen to deal with that.
This is the exact point that I have. Against Georgia fans wanted us to pass and we didn’t. This time we should have run right? Can the fans take a vote so Day knows what to do next time?
Yep. It's a product of people wanting a different result, but not having a clue how to get there. It's easy for them to sit on their asses and yell at the TV about how they'd have done it different and things would be better. This GlassCity character perfectly sums up some of the worst of our fanbase.
No issue at all with the pass call. Howard was cooking, and we were averaging less than 2 yards per carry in the second half. It's easy to second guess the coaching staff when something goes wrong, but "running the ball" in that moment is exactly what people were pissed at Day for against Georgia in the playoffs. Sure we were in field goal range (45 yarder), but completing a pass to the 20 (like we did) makes that field goal a lot less stressful. If you run the ball there and it gets blown up (like it had for the enter second half), or God forbid we take a loss. Now you're burning your last time out for a play that was likely to net you only a yard or two. Once again, Howard was shredding on that drive. Choosing to let him continue to cook was one of the least surprising moves of the game.
Agreed....Will is the guy and that offense can get it done hopefully without Simmons. Hopefully the defense has a come to Jesus moment...I think it was Fryer who was saying he hates it when people see him messing up when he's a Big Ten Offensive Lineman who should be eating nails in front of the media...we need a revival and we have the week to do it
We can play this game all day on both sides. Imagine if Judkins doesn't fumble and we drive down the field and go up 10-0 or 14-0, sucking all the life out of their stadium in the process. The game might look completely different.
Imagine if their ridiculous line-drive kick is another foot to the right, missed our front-line player, and roles out of bounds. We get the ball on a short field and score (like we did the next time we had the ball anyway) and go up two scores, 21-12. The game might look completely different.
The only time it's fair to play the what-if game is if literally every defining moment/call goes against one team (See 2019 OSU v Clemson). Otherwise, both teams had things go right, and both teams had things go wrong. Most of the time it averages out in the end.
If this is an isolated incident, then I agree wholeheartedly that we shouldn't dwell on the loss. However, this is an established pattern. Ryan Day cannot win big games, cannot beat quality opponents. He does not have it in him, the killer instinct!
I am extremely worried about our tradition of excellence under Ryan Day.
Not Ohio born; Not Ohio Bred; but through thy firm friendship; forever Ohio cred! Developed Here.
When will we stop accepting these loses and make the same old excuses? It's not like this is the first time day has lost to a top team for the same damn reasons. Sorry but I don't accept that they are a good team and that's why we lost. Personally I am getting sick and tired of losing big games and fans making excuses. I was never a fan of Knowles and he is mostly to blame for these loses
I get a real kick out of all these posts taking a dump on Ryan Day for "losing" this game .... if that interference call isn't made on Smith (ridiculous call), the field goal is kicked, the game is one and those same people are singing Day's praises .... as you indicated, an expected 3 point win, fell 1 second short and turned into a 1 point loss ..... we played an excellent team that played our common opponent, the Spartans, to a similar result ...
My only concerns centered around the lack of blitzing (likely done because Gabriel gets the ball out quickly, so blitzes rarely get home in time) ... Burke should have been pulled, as he was literally playing in another time zone. He allowed receivers to close on him before he decided to turn and chase (we used to call those "get beat drills" in practice). His tackling was pure Pop Warner or WWE- style .... he wasn't ready to play, the Ducks saw it and picked on him all night ...
I'm not concerned in the least - we'll run the table, win the rematch in the BIG final, then head to the final 8, the final 4 and ultimately beat Texas for the crown .... hopefully the real Buckeye fans will stay on the wagon for the rest of the season ...
I'm with you, I think Day will be ready for Lanning next round....ex defensive coordinators know all the tricks....the 12 man should have the same penalty as the NFL....15 yds....I bet Day will push that from here on out.
The loss isn't even a huge deal in the grand scheme of things with the expanded playoffs. Ohio State still controls their own destiny as far as getting a playoff bye week and winning the conference championship so literally every goal is still attainable.
The disappointing thing is having to tamper our expectations on how good this roster really is. Coming into the season it felt like we were head and shoulders above anyone else in the conference and a clear #1 or #2 in the country. Now we're just in the mix as one of the top 5 teams, which is fine but we're obviously not the super team everyone expected to see all off season and won't just be coasting to the national championship game.
... reasonable take if Day had ever recovered and reacted differently after a big game loss and then went on to win. He doesn't. At some point Day needs to demonstrate a reason to believe in him in big games. Your rah, rah speech without evidence of change means nothing. Given the resources, talent and massive financial and fan support it's reasonable to expect more than Day has delivered.
Talk to me after the rematch ..... 1 second from a field goal win and you figure that we got hammered .... the Buckeyes will beat PSU in a hostile environment, then pummel Michigan at The Shoe by a minimum of 2 touchdowns .... The rematch with the Ducks, away from their own turf and facing a two-time zone adjustment, will be a convincing win ..... write it down ....
This sounds nice. But the offensive and defensive lines are not as strong under day as they were under urban. Everyone knows this, dominating wins against teams with great o and d lines are not going to happen.
look at the 3rd down conversion rates for offense and defense. That is a true tell in big games.
it isn’t like we can’t win big games, but there are problems with this program including leadership execution and discipline, it isn’t the end of the world , but the issues are there and continue to show up.
wr as the strength of your offense is nice but it isn’t the same as having a dominating oline that can pick up 3rd. And 2. If your oline can’t keep pressure off QB the receivers are neutralized on critical 3rd downs. That isn’t just an Ohio state issue.
I've been "writing it down" and "booking it" from you Hang 100 fan boys for a long time. I wrote it down for this game when your sect was so sure about a 42-10 type win. How about you write it down and remind us when Day has a 50-50 record against really good teams.
There is no sugarcoating that this one hurts. Game management in tight games sucks. That was an NFL type of end-game situation, and the Bucks never even got to try to kick the game-winning FG. Hopefully, Kelly can emphasize those situations with Day and the team because they will arise against top-tier competition. That defense… Burke should have been subbed to at least have a chance to get his crap together. The loss of Simmons is huge; hope he heals quickly and well. Go Bucks!!
I agree related to Burke. He was clearly not in the game for much of it and sometime in the bench may have snapped him back. The Five things Oregon article has the PFF grade of how many yards Burke gave up and it is atrocious if he is supposed to be one of the top guys in the draft.
It's worse than that. When Evan Stewart caught that first pass, he was running down the sideline. Burke could have pushed him out of bounds to end the play. Instead, Burke tried to wrestle Stewart down for another 25 yards. Like he was angry and needed to put Stewart on the ground, so he winds up turning a 44-yard catch into a 69-yard bomb.
I would love (hate?) to see the defensive backfield coaching breakdown of the film with regards to the fact that it appeared we could not cover anyone the entire night. The narrative is that this group of DB's goes against the best receiver corps in the country daily in practice and iron does something or other to iron. Yet, it appeared that downfield our receivers were well covered by their DB's and our DB's had little clue as to who or how to cover anyone. Just seems a bit of a mystery.
You say that but how many of those yards are screens and dinks. It’s cool that our receivers are so fast and shifty with the ball In Their hands. But I cant help but feel like when I watch other good teams the passing seems much more dynamic. We have the most vaunted WR room in the country and I feel like they aren’t getting open a lot down field. Could be defensive scheme but if that’s the case we need to be running it down their throats.
Depends on what is considered downfield. Short to intermediate routes were open all night. They didn't run much deep though the one pass to Smith deep was completed after being late and short.
You have a point. Many of those passes were thrown at the line of scrimmage and not down field. I recall two straight completions that resulted in 3rd and 1.
I subscribe to Antichrist’s film breakdowns. You can hate him, that’s fine, but I can answer your post. Tempo and window dressing fucked the secondary BAD. It caused missed assignments 12+ yards downfield. They also looked gassed on running plays. This caused poor run fits. Some of the plays with poor run fits were 10ish yard runs. Plays that had poor run fits AND missed tackles went for 20ish+ cards. The DBs that had some of the glaringly bad run fits and missed tackles were Ransom and Hancock. Those two typically come down hill like maniacs. The difference was noticeable against Oregon.
There were also oddly timed defensive line substitutions. Melton playing near the goal line didn’t go well. He wasn’t heavy enough and got moved. Oh, and the two five star DEs, got held a bunch. They may habe drawn holding penalties if the actually tried to work anything that resembled the technique taught by LJ. But at the same time, they’ve been there for four years. At some point their coach needs to answer why the studs are taking his coaching to game day.
Yeah, out of all of it, the DL is the biggest issue to me. We can adjust our scheme to get help over the top, and you’d like to think Burke doesnt play that badly again…but I’m not sure what to do with this DL. Sawyer and JT have been here for 4 years. They are what they are at this point.
I’m not a defensive coordinator so I don’t know what the answer is with that DL.
I’m glad The Buckeyes have a bye week after this gut punch in Oregon. Knowles and the defense really need to get their act together and the Simmons loss is a major hit.
I don’t expect the Nebraska game to be a cakewalk but glad it’s in The Shoe. Happy Valley is going to be a real test for The Team and how this season is going to go.
That and the scheudling. If Oregon somehow loses to a team we don’t play and creates some tie breaking havoc that most of us that was gone forever … but … welcome back.
I wasn't at the game. But I did read about one 11W poster that was, and he said "it was so loud, it was a miracle Will could get the snap off successfully." Say what you want about PSU fans, but they bring the juice at home games. Well, so do Oregon fans. I watched Gameday for the first time in a while, and at 6 a.m. (P T.), their fans were already jacked, like I've never seen. It was still dark outside, there. And It didn't matter that their stadium only held around 60,000. They were LOUD. Tip of the hat.
These Buckeyes can still accomplish all their goals. Losing to Oregon hurts. Losing a veteran O-lineman hurts. But we lost two starting QBs in 2014, a much more critical position. Going back decades, the Buckeyes always play better as underdogs. We'll probably be dogs going into the PSU game.
Keep your head up Buckeyes. We were right there, if not for a questionable call at the end. As in 2014, I think this loss identified areas needed for improvement. And that loss to VT, 35-21, was in Ohio Stadium, so ..
Name another call that would have cost them 15 yards and :30 seconds and loss of down on the offense. Even a hold would have been only 10. False start 5, etc etc.
even a sack would have been at most, 10 yards?
so it was bad luck because it totally threw them off schedule and not enough time to reicover it.
easy to say a neutral or home field would have saved them about 50 yards of false start yards.
but yeah. In spite all that, a couple more seconds on the clock and they get a reasonable FG try off and all of Buckeye land would be feeling all rosy and delusional.
I said what I said, Dill. A one point loss, with a chance to win at the end, to a very good #3 team(this wasn't Vanderbilt) on the road, in a very loud environment. There's no shame in that.
We were at the game as well. I was able to get one picture on my phone of the decibel meter on their scoreboard at 117.9 dbs.. But I definitely saw it above 120 dbs a few times on that final drive. It was pretty freaking load.
Puzzled by the abject failure to adjust the defensive scheme to provide some support for Burke. One blitz that I can remember. It sure seemed like Day was calling plays at crucial moments. No deep throws. It's like Day has the keys to a Ferrari but refuses to exceed the speed limit. Now they are one-and-done. I hope they plan and play with bad intentions (and better execution) from here on out. I want to have faith, but Day's track record suggests stubbornness and lack of any risk taking. We shall see...
Alcohol will not solve any of your problems, but then again, neither will milk or water.
I wonder how low #10’s PFF score will be. (hint: not trying to be negative.)
Unless Oregon had a receiver deemed uncoverable you don’t provide support for your corner. (Think JSN torching a Utah running back playing corner.). There is highly regarded talent on the bench that might be gamers. Not sure if the coaches are protecting an ego, or our depth is non existent. Seems like the former to me.
I like what was said in the first paragraph about “playing it safe”. Day coaches by the numbers because he has a superior team (on paper) so those teams are supposed to win. Until they don’t. Wish we could see a greater sense of urgency, much more of a killer instinct, “put your foot on their neck” attitude going forward. The kind of attitude that would have benched Burke after getting burned 3 straight times. The kind of attitude that wouldn’t care if e lost our best linemen would attack even harder with screens and counters to protect them. The kind of fire that wouldn’t whimper away when there are 30 seconds left before the half. Throw some bombs, getting a lucky PI and a FG to end the half! This fire is what people are looking for and so disappointed that is missing. I have been a Day apologist for ling enough. It’s time to put up and go get it if you want it
Day coaches by the numbers because he has a superior team (on paper) so those teams are supposed to win. Until they don’t.
I think this sums up Day perfectly. I can only recall two games when Day got creative with the game plan, Clemson in 2020 and Georgia. Outside of those two games. Day has a tendency to think that just because he as the more talented team that they’ll automatically win. This works well for lower tier teams, which is why he’s undefeated against non ranked teams, unlike his predecessor. Near talent opponents have identified weaknesses in the past and exploited it to a win.
All of Ohio State’s pre season goals are still intact, unless undefeated season was included. I’m not overly concerned about the offense, they played well. We’ll see how they adjust to the injuries. The defense is another story, Burke is a liability against elite level WRs. He has always been and now the coaches have a tough decision to make, Even if this team wins out in the regular season, they won’t survive the playoffs unless something is done to fix what we saw from the secondary, especially Burke.
Let's call a spade a spade - I like Will Howard as our QB, but he does not have the "big arm" for those bombs you think he should have thrown ... every long ball he those requires the receiver to stop or come back to catch the ball - every opponent knows this ....
..."every opponent knows this..."
This is what Oregon took advantage of they only had to worry about defending the area 20 yards from the line of scrimmage.
This is the blueprint our opponents are going to use from here on out unless we can figure out how to take the top off of the defense, we have a weapon that probably can't be overthrown ,but we can't effectively use him it's beyond frustrating.
It would have been fun if the hype were true and we were head-and-shoulders better than everyone else, even other really good teams. Now we know it isn't true. I hope the coaches and players use that knowledge well. The season ain't over.
Denzel burnt should not be on the field. He’s awful and always has been. His tackling has always sucked and he’s lucky he hasn’t broken his neck.
Sawyer and JT non existent in a big game, what a shocker…
Caleb Downs is the only player on defense that would possibly be a starter on the 2014 team.
These guys get paid big money, they even ask fans to pay for NIL. Saturdays performance should mean they have to pay it back, because most of them played like shit. 20 million dollars to give up 500 fucking yards on defense lol. Jim Knowles can shove his cigar up his own ass. Another overhyped soft ass team, never going to change until they get a real head coach like Urban back in here.
I agree you didn't say his winning percentage was bad,but your revisionist history,"his teams played like shit more often than not" is a ridiculous statement.
You need to rewatch some of our robotic, emotionless, going through the motions, just roll the helmets out games. MOST of them were as I just described. His teams also got BLASTED in a handful of games. HISTORICAL ass beatings.
I think you need to get laid, Dill. I cannot identify one time where you've been positive on anything to do with the Buckeyes? Maybe you did and I just missed it?
Come on Philly. Day is a good coach who excels in some areas and not so much in others. He has proven he can recruit and build a team but he is a bridesmaid when it comes to taking the last step. He is not a coach that beats teams with more talent like some others (like the one we just lost to)but he is damn good at beating teams that he should except for our biggest rival. I really thought this was the year he would rise to the occasion but now I have much doubt. I will always root for OSU and enjoy but I have come to the point that we don't reach the mountain top with him as coach.
I don't know about not being allowed back on the field, but he definitely needs to be moved to second string. That was the worst, most impactful bad performance since Joe Bauserman. and he was a first year starter at the time.
I avoided this place yesterday as it gets incredibly toxic when things aren't all unicorns and farting rainbows, but I've got some bitching to do.
Saturday is 100% on the coaches. So many tactical things that should have been changed and weren't. For example:
- Why is Kelly running those cutesy side to side screens? They were too fast for that. Oregon was getting next to no pressure so go downfield.
- That Harmon kid was eating the interior line alive. Why are we not doubling him? He was the only one on their line doing anything.
- Said above but Burke was having the opposite of a game. So shade someone over to help him? Igbinosun and Hancock seemed to be handling their business just fine so help Burke.
- Smith was single covered all game. When that man is single covered, that means he's open. Give Howard a signal that says "Hey, forget the other play, Jeremiah is single covered so he's going on a streak and everyone else pass block".
- The clock management at the end was atrocious. That's all I have to say about that.
Implement any one of these and it's a different outcome. Implement all four and its a blowout.
Also Dan Lanning and Oregon are incredibly Bush league. I vote they get kicked out not because they're more competition but they are Bush league. Spitting on a guy? That bullshit onside kick? Your fans rushing the field when you're a top 5 team? All embarassing.
This is patently ridiculous aside from the spitting which I’m certain Lanning would not condone. The onside kick is ‘who wants to win this game more’ brilliance. You didn’t mention that he likely sent a 12th player on the field intentionally at the end as a way to limit a big downfield play in exchange for 5 yards and most importantly burning 4 seconds off a clock that only had 10. Those are the kinds of moves a shrewd coach who wants to win the damn game makes. Kudos to him for having the balls.
As for rushing the field. Give me a break, that was Oregon’s first ever win against a top-2 team. But aside from that, if you hate field-rushing you must hate college football. We got beat, they get the rush the field. It’s awesome, good for them.
Complaining about field rushing is like people who whine when a team already leading scores late. For all the scolding around here asking fellow fans to be happy with losing yet another big game, there sure is a lot of policing of the winning side to go along with it.
I don't recall if they stormed the field after that game but if so, yes. Absolutely. At that point they were on what, a 12 year streak against Michigan. That means you own them. Storming the field is for highly unexpected outcomes. And I'll go ahead and jump out ahead on you now - assuming we win November 30, if fans storm the field I'll be ashamed of that because there's a very high chance Michigan is unranked come that game.
And trying to win games through weak means, yes. Again, Rutgers or Indiana are more likely to try that onside kick. But this was 2 vs. 3. Both teams have been in the top 10 of the sport for a long, long time. You want to be taken seriously as a real contender, then play like a real contender.
End of the day - act like you've been there before. Oregon has such a huge inferiority complex believing they belong amongst the elites despite never reaching the top. You want the elite to find you elite? Play like it. You think UGA, Texas, Bama, or hell, even Penn State would ever try that? No, because they know they're considered amongst the top and don't need to rely on (again) Bush league garbage.
Also last I'm saying on it. We obviously disagree and have gone back and forth enough so I won't be coming back for more.
I was screaming at the TV 'throw the ball down the G.. d.... field' in the first half. I can only come up with that they didn't think our Oline could hold up so they were trying to wear them down but it wasn't working and they kept trying anyway.
The game too me was very similar to the Rose Bowl against Utah. Both teams moved at will on offense and it came down to who had the ball last. Only this time Oregon was able to muster just enough defense to win. After the Utah game, it was reported Gene Smith told Day he was giving him some blank checks. Now go out and fix this defense. Day replaced every defensive coach off that team and brought in Jim Knowles to run the defense and new assistants at every position. Is this Jim Knowles defense better than Kerry Coombs defense in big games?
Knowles is a defensive mastermind. The problem we're seeing is that his master plans require that the DL can get pressure on the QB. Time and again, in recent years, that hasn't been happening. I don't know if the guys aren't implementing LJ's teachings, if LJ isn't cooperating with the broader scheme, or what, but it is abundantly clear that the issue lies up front.
This has to be on gameplanning. I think Day and Kelley and Knowles underrated Oregon, as did I. Their skill position players (QB and receivers) were excellent.
We ultimately had needed to be more aggressive and less contain-y. In retrospect we should have taken a few more deep shots.
It's clear our team has crazy talent, but Oregon played as well as they could have. Kudos. I hate them.
We need to fix the Simmons loss (can't be fixed, but papered over) and be sure Denzel's head or body is still working.
But no more listening to our own press and no more underestimating the opposition. It's a dogfight and there are some good teams in this conference that are going to bring it.
I agree with most of what you said, but there were some factors that influenced the outcome.
1. Oregon recruits at an elite level at all positions and has done well in the portal to acquire missing pieces. This is the most talented team Ohio State will face in the regular season.
2. Home field advantage is real. The noise of the crowd obviously impacted the on field play, especially with penalties and the offensive pass interference call was a generous home field call.
3. Oregon did a great job of identifying and exploiting weaknesses, especially with Burke. They saw something on tape or gambled on his weakness from two years ago and it paid off big.
While losing sucks, I think minus the injuries to the o-line, this was a best case scenario for a loss. Weaknesses were identified before the playoffs and there is time to adjust. Ohio State moved the ball on offense. If that would have been a neutral site, Ohio State likely wins.
To be honest, I'm going to be interested to see Oregon going forward, because the first part of their season, which included a 24-point outburst against Idaho, did not give any indication they could do whatever they wanted against the Bucks. If they can't score 60 on Purdue, then I'm going to have further questions.
Many of us, including myself underrated Oregon. Before the game, I didnt think they were a national title contender - I thought they were a good Top 10 team. I was wrong on that, they are elite. They are legit on the OL/DL, have playmakers at the skill positions and a good, experienced QB.
Lanning has done a good job of building their team.
Why any tOSU fan would jump on Jim Harbuagh's backside and ride it against Ryan Day is beyond me unless, of course, that person is really a closeted SCUM fan. And no, you don't believe it for another reason.
And, not seeing a peep from any of the commenters before mine about your "treason" shows me how tone deaf our fan base really is.
Bizarro world, for sure.
Michigan. lol.
PSA: grayed out comments get read the most. Thanks!
I have heard so much about the Buckeye’s “superior talent”. They were matched on the field speed for speed and NIL for NIL. The only difference in that game was the location… that is worth a couple points.
My biggest beef is why does Knowles continue to think that rushing 4 will create pressure? It hasn’t work for the past couple of years, but we see especially in big games, the defense giving up huge chunk plays and zero pass rushing. There’s been plenty of smoke that both Knowles and Larry don’t see eye to eye and Day needs to assert himself and tell them “This is what I want and if the both of you can’t do it, I’ll replace you” Because Saban would never put up with that nonsense and the just same he would of benched Burke.
You would think Day would be fed up hearing the criticism that he’s soft, doesn’t have the killer instinct, and the ribbing from Harbaugh that he would step and shut up the critics. But instead this week I heard nothing but more criticism about him. Hopefully they learned from loss and right the ship
Is it Knowles? or is it LJ? I keep hearing rumblings of them not seeing eye to eye on what this D line should do, and Ryan Day has given LJ a pass for being and elder statesmen. I don't know this to be fact, but you keep hearing this since Knowles came to town.
I will pound you and pound you until you quit - Woody Hayes
I rarely trust the numbers I head about x coach’s record vs top-5, 10, 25 opponents because it matters when you count the ranking. In my opinion it matters that the ranking is counted after the season. For example, Notre Dame was ranked #5 when Ohio State played them in 2022 but finished #18 with a 9-4 record, hardly a top-5 quality team.
With that said I’ve tallied up Day’s record vs top-10 and then 11-25 teams as ranked at the end of the season:
2023:
Top 10: 0-2 (L: Michigan, Missouri)
Top 11-25: 2-0 (W: Notre Dame, Penn State)
2022:
Top 10: 1-2 (W: PSU; L: Michigan, Georgia)
Top 11-25: 1-0 (W: ND)
2021:
Top 10: 1-1 (W: MSU; L: Michigan)
Top 11- 25: 1-1 (W: Utah; L: Oregon)
2019:
Top 10: 1-1 (W: PSU; L: Clemson)
Top 11-25: 4-0 (W: Cincinnati, Michigan, Wisconsin (twice))
TOTALS (excluding 2020):
Top 10: 3-6
Top 11-25: 8-1
If we assume Oregon will finish in the top-10 he’ll be 3-7.
If we assume Penn State finishes in the top-10 (who knows) that’ll make for another interesting statistic for Day. If he should beat PSU 3 of his 4 top-10 wins would be over James Franklin.
The way people hate on Day (a little on this site but more in national media) is pretty nuts. OK, you can look at his record against top 5 teams - guess what, it's hard to beat top 5 teams, you are likely to take some losses. It's an arbitrary stat. On one site, someone did the whole, Day is 0-6 against Michigan, Georgia, Missouri and Oregon and whatever against everyone else. Missouri?? Really? We are counting Missouri now? Every coach is 0-whatever against the teams they lost to.
Anyhow, I still think Day is going to stick it to everyone and run the table. Getting over the hump is hard. It's going to happen this year, and I hope people then understand how good we have it.
I have read a rumor that Larry Johnson and Jim Knowles are at odds on the defensive line role in the defense, if this is true, Jim Knowles is the defensive coordinator, and responsible for their performance. Larry Johnson should either be told who's the boss, or fired. The defense is performance was pitiful. IMO
comes up every year when they struggle to get pressure in big games. Not sure its low hanging fruit, but something needs to be figured out, can't have two coaching paddling the boat in different directions.
I will pound you and pound you until you quit - Woody Hayes
It is written but reads like an opinion piece, podcasts are out there as well do your own research, I don't spoon feed anyone. I have not seen, nor will we ever see solid proof unless LJ is ran out of town, and even than it can be assumed. I am asking the question, is this smoke and mirrors or is there something there.
I will pound you and pound you until you quit - Woody Hayes
Ok. I don’t believe it’s a situation that results in a loss. It’s something to blame when a loss happens. Game plans are put together by the staff. If everybody in the room wanted one thing and LJ said “nah I’m not going that. I’m doing what I want “ . He wouldn’t be here 3 years later. It’s common sense
I can get behind that concept. And I'm not saying that is what is happening, but it still doesn't feel right does it? Did you see any stunts or twists? I didn't. LJ is the DL coordinator, at some point do you look at it and say why can't we get pressure. That group looked slow and flat footed, I know the tempo played into that as well. Just a fan looking for answers, this defense was supposed to be lights out, but instead go lit up.
I will pound you and pound you until you quit - Woody Hayes
There will be a rematch. I’ll wait to see the results in that one. I love that the 12 team cfp means it’s not over after a loss. Right now, Georgia, bama and OSU all have a loss. None of them are out of it yet and I believe Texas will soon have one as well. It’s a marathon not a sprint, even if OSU won the game I’d be saying this.
you are 100% correct on that one, which is why on Saturday I didn't lose my mind like I normally would because you don't have to be perfect every Saturday. I sat there stunned we didn't manage the clock well to pull out the win. 3 mins later I said as poorly as we played defensively, we still had a chance to win. It took a fumble, onside kick to beat us on the road in a hostile environment. The offense is fine for OSU i thought we score 30 we win, just can't give up 30+.
I will pound you and pound you until you quit - Woody Hayes
I thought I seen an interview with Knowles where he stated that his DLine is more of a contain and a run stopper rather than and attacking line. He uses 3 safeties and uses them to bring pressure. LJ might want to turn the line loose more.
I might be wrong, but I don’t think it’s a rumor, I believe there has been credible reports that LJ and Knowles have been at odds with the schemes and how to utilize the d-line. The reports I read downplayed the friction and claimed there was a “gentleman’s agreement” which included a compromise. Unfortunately, when someone has been at an organization for a long time like LJ they can be an obstacle to change. They see themselves as the culture of the organization who have survived the waves of change so their way is the best way (in their view).
Gentlemens agreement, I love what LJ did when he had the Bosas, Chase young ect, he seemed to work well with chris ash and jeff hafley. Just feels off right now with Knowles, it's too late to make big changes right now, but if I am Knowles I tell Day that LJ gotta get on board or go retire. There should be zero compromise, it's your defense run it.
I will pound you and pound you until you quit - Woody Hayes
I agree 100%. Nothing but love for LJ and what he did 10 years ago, but this is a different scheme under Knowles. Any compromise takes away from Knowles’ scheme and the reason why he was hired. LJ should have applied for the job and/or retired if he has a disagreement with Knowles (LJ’s boss).
Somethings not right with the front 6 on that defense, I've read opinion articles that say Knowles and LJ don't see eye to eye on Dline concept. I'd flat out tell LJ, I'm the D cord, so we are going to twist, stunt, and you if you can't coach it then it's time for you to move on. I just don't get it, it appears broken, the front 6 generates zero pressure, and some pretty bad tackling to boot, I'll give the Oregon RB some credit.
Here is what I noticed, several plays in space Oregon defense swarmed to the ball, several plays in space OSU had 1 maybe 2 guys in the area. A 340 lb DT blew up one of our screen plays.
I will pound you and pound you until you quit - Woody Hayes
I don't know that any of these were Ryan Day's fault. The players have to show up and play on game day. We lost by one point, on the road in a hostile environment, to the #3 team in the country. With everything we did wrong, I'm impressed we only lost by one and very easily could have kicked a FG to win at the end if it weren't for the sketchy OPI call. Get Denzel Burke right and figure out LT and I think we will be perfectly fine. If we can win in Happy Valley, I believe we ride into Indy at 11-1 and should be favored in Indy.
" And while he has two Big Ten championships and three College Football Playoff appearances, he’s still 2-7 against AP top-five opponents. That won't lead to his termination, but it’s enough to create angst in Columbus and abroad."
Why wouldn't it be grounds for firing? This guy is the John Cooper of the 2000s........How much are the OSU homers going to tolerate?
Who would you replace Day with that can walk in now and immediately win at an elite level? Who among active coaches has the best record against top 5 teams and what’s their record? Kirby Smart struggles against Alabama regularly, even when his teams are “better”. Oregon is on par with Ohio State’s talent level. In fact, many fans picked Ohio State to lose this game preseason because of the home field advantage. It wasn’t until Ohio State looked good in all three phases that the expectations changed to Ohio State winning. Some fans need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. In years past, Ohio State wouldn’t have seen a team as talented as Oregon until the playoffs or BCS. The game was an eye opener for the coaches and players. Better to lose this way now and adjust than in the one-and-done playoffs.
I agree with most of what you've said, but I've always hated the "who can we get thats better?" rationale for not wanting to replace the head coach. Its loser talk.
I am not in favor of replacing Ryan Day at this point, because when the head coach leaves there are catastrophic consequences to the program... you lose several recruits, and everyone of value on your current roster immediately goes out for bid.
That said, I'm tired of being disappointed after every big game and if this continues much longer I'm all for making a change. I'm not interested in enduring the 1990s again.
I've always hated the "who can we get thats better?" rationale for not wanting to replace the head coach. Its loser talk.
I disagree. Loser talk is panicking about a loss and wanting to make an immediate knee jerk change that could set the program back a decade. How many active college football head coaches have won a national championship? It’s not easy and any change to the head coach needs to someone who increases the likelihood of doing a better job. There aren’t many of those guys walking around.
I 100% blame the coaching staff for this loss. We got a HC on the sideline and another running the offense and neither one of these dudes can manage the final minute? Buckeyes should've won this game despite the defense shifting it's pants most the night.
After, and during, the game on Saturday, a lot of posters were making comments that seemed quite over the edge (disclaimer: I wasn’t too happy with our defensive play but try not to comment when emotions aren’t under control, lol).
There was everything from fire Ryan Day, Fire Jim Knowles, replace most of the starters, etc.
I understand that we don’t like to lose. Very few people probably do like it but the overreaction is head shaking, to say the least.
Since 1968, Ohio State has gone undefeated and untied exactly three times. Along with 1968, we were undefeated in 2002 and 2012.
It is very difficult to go through a season undefeated so I try to temper my expectations accordingly. I figure we will lose one game every year and, as long as we achieve that goal, I feel blessed that our team is that good year in, year out (although I don’t want the one loss to be to Michigan).
The sun came up on Sunday and life went on. All of our preseason goals are still attainable. I guess what I am trying to say is…enjoy the journey that is our football season before it is over. Perfection is seldom attained on the football field. Just be glad we aren’t a middle of the pack Big Ten team.
Seriously though someone said earlier that it’s a marathon not a sprint so win the next 6 games one at a time and we’ll get to beat the ducklings in Indianapolis. Undefeated seasons are few and far between but not as rare as nattys.
The first goal of this season was not “don’t lose to Oregon”, it is BEAT (mercilessly) TCUN, 2nd is win the B10, and 3rd is win the national championship. ALL GOALS ARE STILL ACHIEVABLE!
Sorry, after reading my own comment I see I misstated something. Undefeated seasons are rarer than national championships. My point is we can lose a game and still achieve our goals. Lose 2 games and it gets much tougher but not impossible. Lose none we would be ranked 1-4, lose 1 we will probably be ranked 5-8 and get a home playoff game, lose 2 we will probably be ranked 9-12, play an away playoff game or be out of the playoffs completely.
Under the old system, I’d be a lot more upset about this loss. But nothing has changed as far as attaining the season’s goals, except for our margin of error. If we rematch in Indy, this first game becomes meaningless.
But that does mean we have to take care of business in the weeks ahead. Nebraska is a decent team, Happy Valley is a hard place to play, Indiana has a potent offense and The Game is still The Game.
I always evaluate coaches based on where the opponent was ranked at the end of the year. The fact that early some team may be ranked only to finish at 6-5 is meaningless to me. So using that criteria and assuming Oregon finishes in the top 5 since they are there now, how has Day done?
Teams that finished ranked 11-25 = 8-1, the 1 losses are the Oregon loss a couple years ago as they finished 22nd that year. Average score is 34.9 to 22.9 or a 12 point margin
Teams that finished ranked 6-10 = 4-1, the loss is to Mizzou last year who finished 8th, average score is 30.6 to 18.2 or a 12.4 point margin
Teams who finished ranked in the top 5 = 1-7, the sole win being against Clemson in the semis. Average score was 30.25 to 37.5 or a negative 7.25 point margin
Overall he is 13-9 vs teams that finished ranked.
What is remarkable is that except for an oddity like Mizzou last year the offense has fairly consistently score at least 28 (12 times in the 22 games) and 15 times above 24
On the other hand there is a clear break between games 6 and above and 5 and below in terms of defense
6 and above we have averaged allowing only 21.2, but 5 and below it is 37.5 or a full 16.3 more points. Putting some slight rounding to these thats and average score of 33-21 vs 30-38.
Let’s not act like the holes on this defense haven’t been showing all year. Marshall was giving them fits, Michigan State was moving the ball really well until we had some opportunistic turnovers. The defense is soft up the middle vs the run, not very good in zone coverage and slow to react on misdirection runs or play action passes. It’s been that way all year long. Our linebackers are once again the weak spot of this defense.
Good points. We hear 'iron sharpens iron' but practice ain't playin'. The opponents are going harder than the looks the D gets in practice because they clearly weren't ready for that...
Seriously, the defensive coaches have to get on the same page. Knowles is the manager so the other coaches need to get in line as Knowles is responsible for what happens.
the biggest loss saturday was losing Simmons for the year. Look what happened to our run game after that. That is the position (along with qb) we could ill afford to lose. This was a weird game and about as bad as the defense could play and as well as gabriel could throw and we are one kickoff recovery or opi call away from winning on the road. Win out, win the big ten and beat oregon in rematch, win national title. It is all there for the taking and this team can still do it. need good enough replacement for simmons and to adjust defense to GET MORE PRESSURE. Go Buckeyes.
Sorry but this is a coaching issue....I love Ryan Day and hope we have him for awhile but...when you get to the 29 all you need is a QB run or RB to center the kick the job is done (miss the FG oh well) Dan aLanning will never admit it but the 12 man deal was on purpose, he'll gladly swap 5 yards for 5 seconds in this deal. It isn't on Will Howard unless you tag him with internal clock issues but I challenge anyone to keep count when people are trying to rip your head off...he could have just gotten five and gone down. This was chess coaching and Day got beat on a couple and a couple was all it took.
We ran three times against Georgia at the end and the fan base was screaming, saying we should throw it. Also, if the official doesn't throw a flag for a BS OPI penalty, the play call was great.
Another screwup by the officials. If there are 12 men on the field before the snap, it is a 5 yard penalty. If the play is run with 12 men on the field, it is illegal participation, which is a 15 yard penalty. Oregon should have been penalized 15 yards instead of 5. How would Oregon fans have reacted if that actually happened?
Just to add a little perspective here fellas.. We were at the game on Saturday. Nearly every single Oregon fan that we sat around, passed along our way to and from our seats, r had any sort of interaction with during the ENTIRE game, seemed genuinely surprised and relieved that their team was able to pull that one out. EVERY SINGLE ONE. They all thanked us for coming all the way out there to watch it. And are all extremely excited at the possibility of a rematch again, this time in Indianapolis. They all know damn well how much their home atmosphere at Autzen Stadium really helps that team. Consistently in the 120dbs range on that final drive.. Heck, I believe we got called for at least 4-5 false start penalties through the game, alone. Not everyone there was as confident that they can beat us again on a neutral field. So it’s not all doom and gloom, by any means. Simply do. And move on. We can still win out and get the Big Ten’s automatic qualifier. But we now have to get it done. No more losses, or we leave it up to the committee.
Oh I have no doubt the field was an issue just to several who have pointed out the false starts...some say that kind of field advantage is worth 3 to 7 points in a game..
Day is not Cooper 2.0 as anyone who actually endured those years will attest. There have not been the horrible L’s (63-14 Penn St. anyone?). In Coop’s first 6 seasons, the Bucks went like 45-22-4. Day’s winning percentage blows that away with a lot fewer off the field issues. The coaching carousel rarely benefits even a top tier program. Go Bucks and keep winning almost 90% of games a year!!
Day won't ever win the big games. He gets to freaked out and deviates from the running game, panics believing he has to pass on every down. He's never had a dominate defense. What coach couldn't have had an equal or better record with all the talent on his teams. He's too much of a rah rah fake hype coach for me, and he's proven what he is - an average coach. Hope he prepares his team for Dylan Raiola and the Nebraska Cornhuskers or it could be another disappointment.
If you can’t make a fourth and one, you don't deserve to win.
They played without their best dlineman and one of their better wr`s(spitting) so for me personally, I don`t want to face them again but will have to if we reach our goals. They are a very good team. They are oozing talent on offense for sure. Go Bucks.
There are what, 9 undefeated teams right now? Texas and Georgia play so one more could drop. Schedule for Oregon going forward is weak. Miami will drop one. We are in a good spot. What makes me sick is that we spotted them 10 points with turnovers? And still almost beat them. Things still a great team and maybe this will be the wake up call. Cause if we don’t beat Penn state we won’t be in cfp. They won’t take osu with no ranked wins. I’m wondering if Oregon will be the fastest team we will play all season
PSU is a two trick pony. That TE, the TE and the TE and then the RB. Much easier team to attack on defense unless #10 covers him…. We complain about Knowles but if a DC lets a TE have 17 catches, most of which were wide open?! Then we would have a reason to melt down.
Allar just needs to be blitzed every down until he gets PTSD. He always panicked and looks for the TE. They are a decent team but don’t give nearly the same amount of angst going in as Oregon did.
In theory I agree completely, but it's those kinds of games OSU tends to make their competition look better than they are. Michigan may look like a crappy team with terrible QB play, and they will probably have their best passing game all season because OSU somehow finds ways to elevate lesser competition. Seen that scenario happen too many times.
I haven’t seen this complaint yet so I’m going to make it….
Why was Howard doing a 5-7 step drop IN SHOTGUN on the last play with 0:06 on the clock? If he takes the snap and one step back, he’s positioned to hit the out on the sideline, or if he wants, JJ in the middle. As it happened, he takes the last step of his drop as the window for the out is beginning to close. Minor detail, but that cant happen with 6 seconds left. Ball obviously, obviously needs to come out quickly there and a long drop is the wrong move, I wish he would’ve recognized that as a vet. Not to nitpick or anything…
30 points allowed is always the magic number in modern football.
Day's record vs teams that finished the year ranked when allowing 30+ points is 3-7. The 3 wins are 2022 vs PSU where we won 44-31, The Rose Bowl come back win vs Utah 48-45 and Indiana in the Covid 2020 season where we gave up 2 late scores for a 42-35 final. The 7 losses are Sat 31-32, UM LY 24-30, UGA in the playoffs 41-42, UM 23-45, UM 27-42, Oregon 28-35, Bama 24-52.
His record when giving up 29 or fewer is 10-2. The 2 losses are Mizzou in the bowl last year and the semi final loss in his first year to Clemson 29-23.
When the defense allows more than 4 TD, we tend to lose, when we dont we tend to win. Since the Bama loss, we have scores in these games of 24-52, 28-35, 56-7, 27-42, 48-45, 21-10, 44-31, 23-45, 41-42, 17-14, 20-12, 24-30, 3-14 and 31-32. Thats' 7 losses and only 6 wins. only 1 of the 7 losses did we allow less than 30 and in only 2 of the 6 wins did we allow more than 30.
1 less score by Oregon and this would be a big road win instead of another loss...1 less big play allowed, like the 26 yard completion on The Ducks last drive which got them into FG range. Or maybe 1 sack, whatever it was, possibly just 1 play and we win instead of lose.
This program isn't winning anything significant until Day and Knowles are both GONE. As a Buckeye fan I hate to say it, but Harbaugh was right. Day was born on 3rd base and he can't seem to earn anything as a HC.
Back up the Brinks truck and call Mike Vrabel.
"Show me a gracious loser and I'll show you a bus boy." -Woody Hayes
Ah Mike vrabel the person who plays to not lose it overly passive at times and dosent like recruiting and can also lead to front office problems sure bring him in over day who builds great rosters and has been a FG or some injuries away from least 1 natty. Trust me I know all to well about Vrabel as a HC as I’m a titans fan for every year he has been here
Burke got burned and the defense wasn't getting near the QB. The offense would have been good enough to win that game if the defense showed up. And that wasn't to say the whole defense played bad, but when Burke is getting picked on all night, the defense needs to either get to the QB or Burke needs to get some help. And neither of those happened.
It was a tick tacky call on JS, but it shouldn't have come to that anyway.
All in all, a one point loss on the road to #3 isn't going to make or break this season. But it damn sure gives OSU a lot to work on.
I'm not saying Ryan Day should be fired BUT he'll NEVER win ANYTHING of substance in Columbus going forward and after this year or the next both he and tOSU will indeed have a mutual parting of the ways. Ryan Day simply due to his back history both on and off the field isn't and never was the right person to take-over for Urban Meyer, I will not explain exactly what I mean until it happens but it will happen just like I said.
Imo Ryan is John Cooper reincarnated and when he ultimately leaves in the next 2 year's I definitely see him coaching in the pro's, where the only time you'll see him on a school campus is for his family OR in some unofficial scouting compacity. At the end of as much as we HATE Harbaugh he was right about Ryan Day and every big game with fear in his eye's he loses proves it....
We got a lucky INT overturned, Oregon choked their brains out on PAT's and failed on a fourth and goal. We deserved to lose, although it's insanely saddening that we tend to lose close, big matchups (McCord's winning drive against Notre Dame excluded). Cheers to the twelve team playoff and hope the buckeyes can fight and get us a memorable home playoff game come December
One thing about why this feels so bad as opposed to just feeling like a mulligan we can afford to take on the way to the playoffs, is not only Day's record against top 5 teams, it's that we are now 2-3 in our last 5 games against Power 5 (4?) teams.
Comparing Day to Coop is rather premature at this time. However, his failure to win vs top 25 teams is alarming
What bothers me is the post-mortem comments.."gotta play & coach better, need to get this fixed et al. This was GAME 6 hello! We're still make fundamental mistakes like pre-snap penalties, poor tackling & defensive lapses.Who are the team leaders? Howard? Henderson? JT? Where's the accountability? I still confident about the 12-team playoff but that's way far off. Day IS stuck on 3rd base..
Theres a lot of things wrong with this team and it starts at the top with Day. He lacks that dog mentality that you need from a head football coach, LJ and Knowles not meshing and Day not stepping in to do something about that! unacceptable. The fact that this team doesnt tackle in practice shows on game day, like WTF is that??? Day not having the balls to take out Burke himself and replacing him with a player in Mathews, Knowles not sending more pressure, JT regressing, etc. I can go on and on.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. I thought that stepping away from being OC would help unleash the beast, but nothing has changed in the big games. Time's running out, and I'm starting to believe he'll never win a natty here.
One point I disagree wirh is that Oregon thwarted our deep passing game. A deep passing game is something we basically don't have this year. We hardly ever throw deep, and when we do, Howard usually underthrows the ball. The one weakness in his game. Oregon did stop our long pass plays that rely on yards after catch. In the second half, they brought their safeties up to stop the run becausr we do not even try to stretch the field with long throws. Gotta do it a few times to keep the good defenses of top opponents honest. We have the guys and the passing schemes to get behind the defense. Do it once in a while. Smith looks like he is capable of exploding past anyone. On our one deep pass, he had blown past the defender before he had to come back once again for an underthrown deep ball. Deep throws should be the easiest passes when your guy gets a step or two beyond the defender. Hope Howard hits a couple against Nebraska to give Penn State more field to defend vertically.
With the offense seeming a bit clunky, it still put up 31 points while starting every drive inside our own 26 yard line. Anyone would take that. They earned all their points.
You can't say Howard doesn't have the deep ball as part of his game and then sentences later state we have the guys to go deep.
The reason we do not go deep is what I have said since we got Howard, he lacks the arm strength for deep balls. Allowing him to try and take the top off the defense is allowing the defense a good shot at an interception. His lack of arm strength has been noted by scouts and is something I believe Oregon knew and planned for. It is something that hurts this team in a big way.
You have all heard from great coaches saying you win or lose in the trenches. Our OL may have been adequate but certainly not great or deep. Our DT depth must be vacant(next year looks bleak). Emphasis on the trenches has been lacking for several years and not what you would expect for OSU in the trenches. DBs, WRs, RBS, has been excellent. Emphasis comes from the top...you get what you emphasize. That starts and sometimes ends with the inner philosophy of the head guy. You can DV all you want and I personally like Day very much.
With 10 secs left & 1 TO why did Howard throw that out pattern which was woefully short? Throw the Hail Mary to Smith or Egbuka and maybe get a PI ! Not sure about Howard's arm strength although he's mostly accurate..
I always let a season play out before passing judgement on staff. Any given season is going to have it's ups and downs and wins are never guaranteed for any team.
I never bought into the pre-season hype about talent making us invincible to the prospect of finding ourselves on the losing end of a game. We are not guaranteed wins or a Natty and never were. Anyone who believed that nonsense was engaging in fantasy. Talent does not guarantee wins, nor will it ever. The only thing that guarantees a win is scoring more points than your opponent on game day, and any team can have a bad day, especially when you are playing in a Venue like Autzen.
I didn't read all of the comments so forgive me if this was already said.
I can't stand watching defensive players who think the only way to tackle is to try to make a huge hit. When did kids stop being taught to go after the legs to make a tackle? Seems like everybody wants to make that big hit that gets them on ESPN instead of playing fundamental football and taking out the legs.
I don't like giving any publicity to Harbaugh's "3rd base" comment. I hope Day has a good zinger prepared for when the NCAA invalidates all the results from 2021-2023, takes away their *title, and gives Harbaugh a 10+ year show cause.
It is very difficult to beat any team twice in one season. If/when we play Oregon again I believe there will be a very outcome. If I had to pick one to win then I’ll take the post season win.
1. I believe this loss is taken a lot worse because of the opponent. The reality is that the Ducks are playing with big boy money now and they’re at an elite level regardless of their lack of titles. Our fandom and ego has a difficult time understanding that.
2. Day has shown that he will make changes with coaching but to his detriment it’s too late or he doesn’t fully make changes. I see the Johnson Knowles scuttlebutt coming to a head. Either run Knowles D and let Johnson go or continue down this path of not pulling the bandage off at once.
3. This game mattered and then again it doesn’t. We’re conditioned to a loss like this being extremely damaging but that’s not 2024 college football. Every team with a loss right now is still very much alive to make the playoff.
On the road, hostile environment, matchup game..1 point - not much consequence in the big picture. If that game is in the Shoe - the script is flipped in my opinion. Guess what? Success on the field for natties is not typically overnight (Nick Saban and Urban Meyer are outliers). Kirby Smart - 5 years to get over the hump; Jim (le Cheat) Harbaugh - 9 years; Dabo Swinney - 8 years. So the point is, it takes some pain - a Nick Saban comes along once in a couple Generations - so let's share the pain together but if we stay the course, i'm confident we will get there.
Others will tell you, "The grass in not always greener on the other side of the fence...", I say, "Who cares about the damn lawn?" - RP
We lost by a point. That means the entire atmosphere here would be different with two more measly points.
I didn't like that we weren't physical enough, that are DB's got roasted and the DL needed more pressure. And Howard's last run was infuriating. But... two points, across 3 time zones against the most corporately-funded team that money can buy.
These are Our Boys who are being led by Good Men and I'm sticking with them. The naysayers, bitchers & whiners and toxic know-nothings can go find another team until Day wins or moves on. Me, I'm rooting for the Buckeyes now & forever! I can't change teams anyway because I'd have nothing else to wear!
The disconnect between Knowles and LJ, or front and back side of the defense needs solved or we aren't winning squat. Day is the CEO, tell these guys to work together or one or both are gone. If you're paying Knowles this kind of money, and he had very successful, very aggressive defenses at Okie State, give him total control and tell LJ either you're on board or retire, by my decision if necessary. Our DL has done little of merit over the last four years for our supposed talent. Be the CEO.
I just don't see much to lead me to believe a.) Ohio State running the table through the end of the season and b.) winning a potential rematch in the B1G CCG is a foregone conclusion.
If Oregon doesn't flub two PATs, miss a field goal and have their QB inexplicably come off a wide open receiver in the endzone on 4th and goal only to fire the ball into Cody Simon's backside, Ohio State would have been down by 2 TDs on that last possession. That was with Oregon down their best defensive player. There was a lot more than just clean up a few things and let's roll, Oregon took it to the Buckeyes and it was really their mistakes that kept it a close game. That is troubling.
I have to say, after a loss, you are never left wanting for juicy reading in the comments section.
Regardless of who the coach is, after a Buckeye loss, there will always be pure mass panic and people freaking out and calling for coaches to be fired. This phenomenon doesn't just happen here, but everywhere.
Looking at all the big game losses and the defense that surrendered 500 or more yards, and the Saturday defeat where the defense gave up 496 yards, I'd say Jim Knowles is also sharing third base with Day. Knowles needs to be blamed for the losses, as well as Day. [This is not an endorsement for Day.] Day needs to make it to the Big Ten title game. That means he has to win out -- Penn State, SCUM, and all the others.
I always wondered how Ryan Day and the team would have responded after that Georgia lost in the playoffs if we somehow still had games to play and time to correct the mistakes made against a talent equated opponent, now we will see.
Day is a great guy, an amazing recruiter, and a pretty good coach. Unfortunately, "pretty good" doesn't get it done. Time to move on or we will be having this same debate 5 years from now, waiting for success in big games.
This isn't a short take: I haven't been sold on Ryan Day since season 3. I won't rehash in detail what many here have stated, that his teams often get pushed around in the trenches even against less talented teams and certainly against the Alabamas, scums, Georgias and Oregons. Day and his teams appear to lack that killer instinct that we often saw in Meyer's teams and in teams that ultimately win championships.
I think my biggest gripe is I've never had the sense that Day bleeds scarlet and gray, and I feel he is here primarily for the big paychecks. True story: I was flying back to the States from Europe, and Ryan Day and his family were on the same flight. Typically, I do not speak to celebrities unless they speak first out of respect for their privacy. However, my wife (who had no idea who he was even after I told her) convinced me to speak. I'll never forget that, while in the terminal a couple of hours prior to boarding, I discreetly called out the universally recognized "O-H," and Day just turned and glared at me but never responded accordingly. So, I wished him good luck on the season and he muttered "thanks" in response while turning his head away. My wife noticed his demeanor and apologized for convincing me to speak. Can't imagine Tressel or Meyer would have responded the same.
I'll always back the Bucks, but I'm not sure we'll ever get off third base while Day is the coach. I hope I'm wrong.
I was picked off at 3rd base in pony league. Down four, 2 outs. I just hit a triple off the fence, we need one more run to tie. You can't lead off until the pitchers gets on the rubber. The pitches gets on the rubber, takes the signal, I take my lead, and the 3rd baseman tags me, and says "runner is out ump". Game over. Even at 12 I was a student of the game. That was a balk, and the pony league umpires wouldn't listen to me.
Any time you give a man something he doesn't earn, you cheapen him. Our kids earn what they get, and that includes respect - Woody Hayes
Going forward, I am much more concerned about the defense. If the Buckeyes are to achieve the ultimate goal of a NC, the defense has to improve. If it doesn't, that ultimate goal will be unattainable.
Quite a few "big games" in which OSU couldn't hold the opposition to under 30 points. Michigan, Georgia, Oregon, Alabama......all scored over 30 and even 40 points against the Buckeyes in the "big game" under Coach Day.
I'm a supporter of Coach Day, but he has got to get this defensive albatross figured out.
Comments Show All Comments
For all the mistakes that were made, injuries, hostile environment etc, a one point loss against the #3 team despite all of the negatives from the game, I'll accept that loss..learn from your mistakes and move on..shit happens boys, it's how you recover and react from that loss is what will define you, I still have faith in this team!
Good to see you back WB28
GO BUCKS!!! *ichigan sucks!!!
I never left, but thanks!
Get that logical, reasonable take outta here! We want someone’s head! We expect complete utter dominance at all times and locations!
-said far more people on here than I care to think about
When you have an NFL caliber college team you should expect dominance.....otherwise why all the NIL money.........
Saban on a cart eating cold pizza
But that assumes teams like Oregon haven’t built a similar roster using NIL…
GeorgiaBuckeye
Thank you! Just because it isn’t published it has been stated that Oregon not tOSU is one of the top NIL spending teams.
With that logic then every NFL team should be dominant. Ain’t gonna happen.
“Because I couldn't go for three.” - Woody Hayes
Key words being "college teams"..........
Saban on a cart eating cold pizza
Not happy about the loss obviously but we need to recognize that Oregon is an elite team. Many of us underestimated them a little bit.
This is the type of post that just drives me nuts.
Evan Stewart was a 5-star recruit, 247 #1 WR in 2022 class, won the long jump state championship in Texas, comes from a high school that plays in a 20,000 capacity stadium. Freak athlete. First round draft projection.
Dillon Gabriel has thrown for over 16,000 yards in college with 138 TD passes. Will likely finish 2nd all-time in career passing yards in NCAA history. Obviously, an elite college QB. Projected NFL draftee (because he's not prototypical size for NFL QB's).
Josh Conerly Jr. OT, 5-star recruit, Top 10 national recruit, expected to be a first round draft pick.
Jabbar Muhammad CB, ranked the #8 CB prospect in the 2025 draft class
Derrick Harmon, DT, ranked the #6 defensive tackle prospect in 2025 draft class, 1 spot behind Tyleik Williams
Jordan James, RB, a top 20 RB draft prospect, averaged 7.09 ypc last season which is better than Trey or Q did in 2023.
Etc, etc, etc, etc.
Estimates are that Oregon has spent $23 million on NIL for this year's team.
Learn a little before you say dumb shit.
vacuuming sucks
Maestro for the win.
"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read."-Groucho Marx
Goals: Beat Michigan. Win the B1G East. Beat Michigan. Win the B1G CG. Beat Michigan. Win a Natty. Beat Michigan.
You can't except it, if you do your excepting failure. Something needs to change and it starts with the defense and the line. LJ only rushing four and putting too much pressure on the back 7 has to stop. If Day is allowing LJ to dictate who and how many play he is allowing the undermining of the director of the defense (Knowles). But having said that their are issues on the defense other than what I just mentioned. Knowles could have made some changes also during the game, for example giving Burke help over the top. Just my thoughts and observations but I'm far from being an expert. Sorry for the duplicate
Dudesweet
I think you meant ‘you’re accepting...’
changes the meanings a bit
-yours, grammar nazi
He can’t except that either…
“Because I couldn't go for three.” - Woody Hayes
Hearing the same rumblings about LJ and Knowles not meshing.
I think that's very real... They gotta find some sort of compromise.
Knowles is trying to outthink the room with some of the simulated pressures
#GrindFor9
No compromise. The DC is the boss. The boss, everywhere I’ve been, has the final say.
“Jim Knowles is the head coach of the defense.”
-Ryan Day
ROLL BUCKEYES!
The orange guy demands a recount and thinks the scoreboard operators conspired to change the point totals. /s
100% agree. I was shocked by the doomsday feeling from a lot of commenters on Eleven Warriors immediately after the game. Although I was disappointed in the loss ( and slightly pissed), I came away realizing that Oregon is a really good team, we lost the game more than they won it in a hostile environment across multiple time zones, many of our failures are correctible, and I feel we beat this team on a neutral field next time we play them.
PSU doesn't look better than us, and we win out otherwise, will get sweet revenge against scUM, and I also feel we beat Oregon for the Big 10 championship.
A bye week will make the next two weeks seem a lot longer for our team than for us, and I am sure with our senior leadership the guys will rally, and come out chomping at the bit and kick Nebraska's ass.
Let's not turn into Alabama fans and feel like the sky is falling, if not for a OPI call or we had 1 more second on the clock, we win, and we would all be boasting today.
This team is still built to win it all!
Hickory,NC Buckeye......."Because I couldn't go for three!"
Anybody know Kirby Smart's record against Alabama? Asking for a friend.
Self crowned Eleven Warriors humble-off champion.
Anybody know how many recent nc Kirby Smart has won? Asking for a friend.
SalemBuckeye
The difference between them is quite literally one missed field goal.
Sounds like you've celebrated a number of moral victories. Are you a happy Buffalo Bills fan having been to 4 Super Bowls? You should have higher expectations.
SalemBuckeye
I respect Buffalo’s rabid fanbase. They repeatedly get their collective heart’s broken yet manage to muster up the love every season. Add Cleveland and many other teams into the mix.
Everyone loves a winner. Investing your support doesn’t guarantee a thing but it sure is fun.
“Because I couldn't go for three.” - Woody Hayes
Loving your team doesn't have to include being satisfied with results. Buffalo and Cleveland have had how many head coaches? Don't confuse unhappiness with results with lack of support.
SalemBuckeye
No. It sounds like I understand reality. The entitlement from some of this fanbase is embarrassing.
Having expectations to win these big games to some degree is not entitled, it's normal expectation for this program. No one expects to win every time but if you don't expect Day to win some of these then why not? Why are your expectations so low?
SalemBuckeye
Ryan Day is 61-9. 61-6 if we're being real. He's won more than "some of these."
Yes, you're acting entitled.
Your not counting the right games. We have been talking about winning the big games... Oregon (twice), Michigan (3x), Georgia. His signature win is Notre Dame. Day wasn't hired to beat Akron, Marshall and Iowa. Every year Day has said he has 3 goals. Beat Michigan, win the BIG and win the nc. The last three years he is 0-9. You either don't know much about football or your standards are low or you are a blind loyalist.
SalemBuckeye
If you're counting three of those losses, I'm counting more of the right games than you are. One team can win it all every year. You can pretend that should be us every year, but it makes you look ridiculous.
My standards aren't low. They're realistic. You aren't.
This
I bleed Scarlet and Gray
He’s lost to Michigan three straight times and has a 1-7 record against top five teams. Those are the facts. Our feelings have nothing to do with it
bobbyd
Gimme am effing break, it's not as if we lost to Vandy.
"The day they laid poor Poncho low, Lefty split for O-HI-O".
Or Appalachian State.
Checks notes… “TCUN are under investigation for multiple NCAA violations involving cheating”. Take away those wins, which could happen by the NCAA, and it paints a different picture.
GeorgiaBuckeye
My God do I wish people would stop saying this. Michigan either cheated, and those losses don't count. Or they didn't and you blame those losses on Day. You absolutely cannot have it both ways.
So what is it? Do you believe Michigan cheated and gained an unfair advantage, or don't you?
Exactly..... I always look at variables when I evaluate a situation. They cheated or not. If they cheated, then bullshit on their wins. If they did not cheat, then bullshit on us.
They obviously cheated, so bullshit on scUM. Therefore, stop bringing up they beat us for any wins achieved during their sign stealing era.
Hickory,NC Buckeye......."Because I couldn't go for three!"
I cannot accept fans who spent the better part of the last 12 months pointing out how Michigan had an institutional sign-stealing operation to cheat and then, when convenient, saddle Day with those three losses to Michigan. Fans have to pick one: Michigan cheated, or Day cannot beat them fairly.
Bingo!
Yes Michigan cheated, but TCU used it to their advantage after having only known about it for a couple weeks. Day knew they were cheating for years and still couldn’t figure out how to use it to his advantage.
Go Buckeyes!
Is that how cheating works? If you build a program that was able to retain players because they are so close to winning a NC and are able to get NIL money based on fans/alumni excitement, then it’s ok and on the opponents who didn’t adjust? The cheat was a lot more than just knowing plays. It allowed for legitimate advantages that were only attainable because they beat Ohio State and made the playoffs off of cheating.
GeorgiaBuckeye
Counterpoint, TCU was likely only scouted once or twice. No way Michigan had their entire sign catalog. They also had multiple weeks to change their signs and practice new ones. It's much harder to do that in season when you're playing a game every saturday.
TCU hadn't been advanced scouted, that has been widely published. And TTUN still had some of their signs, and they did make a few false signs, enough to win. Almost as if the all-22 got them part of the way there, but needed the advance scouting piece to put it all together. Funny.
Your signature will be publicly displayed at the end of your comments.
And yet you still, out of your gracious heart, allow those fans, whom you cannot accept, to post their bad takes on this website.
Why we cannot accept a hard fought game with like 8 lead changes that literally came down to the final plays and enjoy the ride, I don't know. Especially since this game has no bearing on whether our goals this season are achievable.
We can still beat TTUN. We can still get to Indy and win. We can still make the playoff and win.
And guess what - if we win out, it means we likely get the 2 seed, which is favorable over the 1 seed because of how the automatic byes are set up (the #3 team is likely a weak ACC champion versus the #5 seed which is likely the SEC runner up and more of a #3-4). It was my first thought when the game ended that the loss could be a good thing ultimately.
Still mad about it, don't get me wrong. Just not worth going scorched earth over.
Your signature will be publicly displayed at the end of your comments.
The 12 team playoff with these much larger conferences will benefit the fans that do actually enjoy the ride. Because, every year will be a wild ride, whether they win them all or not. Our fanbase has a lot of changing to do. I doubt that it’ll be an easy change for them.
B; And three of those losses are to national championship teams. That counts for something to someone keeping track at home.
Imagine if the officials get the call right on the opening drive, that's 7 points off the board. Then tack on a couple more extra points Oregon threw away now your are down 9. Game don't look nearly as close.
Fraudbaugh
Imagine they don't make that terrible OPI call. Imagine they give us that timeout and put one second back on the clock. Imagine they flag Oregon literally once for grabbing the entire game...
Or you run the ball instead of throwing with one of your two all American running backs. Already was in kicking range.
Fraudbaugh
I remember the whining about running the ball when we were already in field goal range against Georgia...
I don't think we were in optimum range for a FG in the Georgia game... IIRC it was an over 45yard try... with most college kickers the odds go up from 40 yards and in more than 45 yards they go down for sure... that said neither game should have come down to that if the Buckeyes had played a bit better as a team... the ball takes strange bounces and that has to be overcome to win and no team , no coach does that all the time ...
It would've been a 48 yard try from a kicker who was 7/7 on the year from 40-49 yards, including a 48 yard kick two minutes prior to that attempt.
Contrast that with a 45 yard attempt from a kicker who hasn't attempted anything over 40 yards all year.
...and we shouldn't forget that without a terrible OPI called, throwing the ball got us to the 21 with time to go.
Yeah the Georgia game don't even compare other than both attempts should of been set up by the run. You have to know who you have at kicker. I'm alot more confident in Fielding. Sometimes I wish Ohio st would try to kick longer field goals against the likes of Akron and Marshall instead of going for it all the time. Just to get the kicker the work for days like last Saturday.
Fraudbaugh
You're more confident in the dude who hasn't made anything beyond 40 to make a kick beyond 40...solely because you have the benefit of hindsight. There isn't a single thing wrong with the play calling at the end of either game. You just wish things had gone differently, and this is how you've chosen to deal with that.
Fielding has 11 more touchbacks in 6 games than ruggles had the entire season. I'm fairly confident he has a much stronger leg.
Fraudbaugh
Touchbacks? Thanks for letting me know I no longer need to take you seriously, bud.
This is the exact point that I have. Against Georgia fans wanted us to pass and we didn’t. This time we should have run right? Can the fans take a vote so Day knows what to do next time?
I bleed Scarlet and Gray
Yep. It's a product of people wanting a different result, but not having a clue how to get there. It's easy for them to sit on their asses and yell at the TV about how they'd have done it different and things would be better. This GlassCity character perfectly sums up some of the worst of our fanbase.
No issue at all with the pass call. Howard was cooking, and we were averaging less than 2 yards per carry in the second half. It's easy to second guess the coaching staff when something goes wrong, but "running the ball" in that moment is exactly what people were pissed at Day for against Georgia in the playoffs. Sure we were in field goal range (45 yarder), but completing a pass to the 20 (like we did) makes that field goal a lot less stressful. If you run the ball there and it gets blown up (like it had for the enter second half), or God forbid we take a loss. Now you're burning your last time out for a play that was likely to net you only a yard or two. Once again, Howard was shredding on that drive. Choosing to let him continue to cook was one of the least surprising moves of the game.
Agreed....Will is the guy and that offense can get it done hopefully without Simmons. Hopefully the defense has a come to Jesus moment...I think it was Fryer who was saying he hates it when people see him messing up when he's a Big Ten Offensive Lineman who should be eating nails in front of the media...we need a revival and we have the week to do it
Bbc11
We can play this game all day on both sides. Imagine if Judkins doesn't fumble and we drive down the field and go up 10-0 or 14-0, sucking all the life out of their stadium in the process. The game might look completely different.
Imagine if their ridiculous line-drive kick is another foot to the right, missed our front-line player, and roles out of bounds. We get the ball on a short field and score (like we did the next time we had the ball anyway) and go up two scores, 21-12. The game might look completely different.
The only time it's fair to play the what-if game is if literally every defining moment/call goes against one team (See 2019 OSU v Clemson). Otherwise, both teams had things go right, and both teams had things go wrong. Most of the time it averages out in the end.
If this is an isolated incident, then I agree wholeheartedly that we shouldn't dwell on the loss. However, this is an established pattern. Ryan Day cannot win big games, cannot beat quality opponents. He does not have it in him, the killer instinct!
I am extremely worried about our tradition of excellence under Ryan Day.
Not Ohio born; Not Ohio Bred; but through thy firm friendship; forever Ohio cred! Developed Here.
Does 11-1 regular seasons scream lack of excellence to you?
We are spoiled.
At Ohio State? No it doesn't. Especially when none of those are top 5 opponents.
Y'all take too much pride in beating up Rutgers and their 2 star recruits every season.
When will we stop accepting these loses and make the same old excuses? It's not like this is the first time day has lost to a top team for the same damn reasons. Sorry but I don't accept that they are a good team and that's why we lost. Personally I am getting sick and tired of losing big games and fans making excuses. I was never a fan of Knowles and he is mostly to blame for these loses
Hector m Rivera
I get a real kick out of all these posts taking a dump on Ryan Day for "losing" this game .... if that interference call isn't made on Smith (ridiculous call), the field goal is kicked, the game is one and those same people are singing Day's praises .... as you indicated, an expected 3 point win, fell 1 second short and turned into a 1 point loss ..... we played an excellent team that played our common opponent, the Spartans, to a similar result ...
My only concerns centered around the lack of blitzing (likely done because Gabriel gets the ball out quickly, so blitzes rarely get home in time) ... Burke should have been pulled, as he was literally playing in another time zone. He allowed receivers to close on him before he decided to turn and chase (we used to call those "get beat drills" in practice). His tackling was pure Pop Warner or WWE- style .... he wasn't ready to play, the Ducks saw it and picked on him all night ...
I'm not concerned in the least - we'll run the table, win the rematch in the BIG final, then head to the final 8, the final 4 and ultimately beat Texas for the crown .... hopefully the real Buckeye fans will stay on the wagon for the rest of the season ...
I'm with you, I think Day will be ready for Lanning next round....ex defensive coordinators know all the tricks....the 12 man should have the same penalty as the NFL....15 yds....I bet Day will push that from here on out.
Bbc11
The loss isn't even a huge deal in the grand scheme of things with the expanded playoffs. Ohio State still controls their own destiny as far as getting a playoff bye week and winning the conference championship so literally every goal is still attainable.
The disappointing thing is having to tamper our expectations on how good this roster really is. Coming into the season it felt like we were head and shoulders above anyone else in the conference and a clear #1 or #2 in the country. Now we're just in the mix as one of the top 5 teams, which is fine but we're obviously not the super team everyone expected to see all off season and won't just be coasting to the national championship game.
... reasonable take if Day had ever recovered and reacted differently after a big game loss and then went on to win. He doesn't. At some point Day needs to demonstrate a reason to believe in him in big games. Your rah, rah speech without evidence of change means nothing. Given the resources, talent and massive financial and fan support it's reasonable to expect more than Day has delivered.
SalemBuckeye
Talk to me after the rematch ..... 1 second from a field goal win and you figure that we got hammered .... the Buckeyes will beat PSU in a hostile environment, then pummel Michigan at The Shoe by a minimum of 2 touchdowns .... The rematch with the Ducks, away from their own turf and facing a two-time zone adjustment, will be a convincing win ..... write it down ....
This sounds nice. But the offensive and defensive lines are not as strong under day as they were under urban. Everyone knows this, dominating wins against teams with great o and d lines are not going to happen.
look at the 3rd down conversion rates for offense and defense. That is a true tell in big games.
it isn’t like we can’t win big games, but there are problems with this program including leadership execution and discipline, it isn’t the end of the world , but the issues are there and continue to show up.
wr as the strength of your offense is nice but it isn’t the same as having a dominating oline that can pick up 3rd. And 2. If your oline can’t keep pressure off QB the receivers are neutralized on critical 3rd downs. That isn’t just an Ohio state issue.
One Shoe
I certainly concur - good offensive lines make good backs, great backs and few QB's can complete passes while laying on their backs ....
I've been "writing it down" and "booking it" from you Hang 100 fan boys for a long time. I wrote it down for this game when your sect was so sure about a 42-10 type win. How about you write it down and remind us when Day has a 50-50 record against really good teams.
SalemBuckeye
If he didn't learn from a national championship loss, what makes you think he'll learn from one again Oregon?
Same spiel different year.
Hector m Rivera
There is no sugarcoating that this one hurts. Game management in tight games sucks. That was an NFL type of end-game situation, and the Bucks never even got to try to kick the game-winning FG. Hopefully, Kelly can emphasize those situations with Day and the team because they will arise against top-tier competition. That defense… Burke should have been subbed to at least have a chance to get his crap together. The loss of Simmons is huge; hope he heals quickly and well. Go Bucks!!
I agree related to Burke. He was clearly not in the game for much of it and sometime in the bench may have snapped him back. The Five things Oregon article has the PFF grade of how many yards Burke gave up and it is atrocious if he is supposed to be one of the top guys in the draft.
Buckeye_SC
He was abysmal! Really embarrassing! Even after getting beat he couldn't tackle! And this is a four year starter!
I would also like to ask where was Sawyer?!?!? Never heard his name all night!
It's worse than that. When Evan Stewart caught that first pass, he was running down the sideline. Burke could have pushed him out of bounds to end the play. Instead, Burke tried to wrestle Stewart down for another 25 yards. Like he was angry and needed to put Stewart on the ground, so he winds up turning a 44-yard catch into a 69-yard bomb.
Insane Haul Crüe
Burke lost millions in draft ranking on Saturday. Poor cover skills, no closing speed and got bitch slapped by a wr dragging him 20 yards downfield.
SalemBuckeye
I think he should have just shoved him out of bounds instead of trying to rip the ball out of his hands for 20 yards
Sometimes that is all it takes. A dose of reality for one person, and a chance for another to make a difference.
Finally out of Denver and all the crazy. Welcome to the quiet life.
I would love (hate?) to see the defensive backfield coaching breakdown of the film with regards to the fact that it appeared we could not cover anyone the entire night. The narrative is that this group of DB's goes against the best receiver corps in the country daily in practice and iron does something or other to iron. Yet, it appeared that downfield our receivers were well covered by their DB's and our DB's had little clue as to who or how to cover anyone. Just seems a bit of a mystery.
Howard did go 28-35. That can't happen against well covered receivers.
Hfhmilkan
You say that but how many of those yards are screens and dinks. It’s cool that our receivers are so fast and shifty with the ball In Their hands. But I cant help but feel like when I watch other good teams the passing seems much more dynamic. We have the most vaunted WR room in the country and I feel like they aren’t getting open a lot down field. Could be defensive scheme but if that’s the case we need to be running it down their throats.
Depends on what is considered downfield. Short to intermediate routes were open all night. They didn't run much deep though the one pass to Smith deep was completed after being late and short.
SalemBuckeye
You have a point. Many of those passes were thrown at the line of scrimmage and not down field. I recall two straight completions that resulted in 3rd and 1.
I subscribe to Antichrist’s film breakdowns. You can hate him, that’s fine, but I can answer your post. Tempo and window dressing fucked the secondary BAD. It caused missed assignments 12+ yards downfield. They also looked gassed on running plays. This caused poor run fits. Some of the plays with poor run fits were 10ish yard runs. Plays that had poor run fits AND missed tackles went for 20ish+ cards. The DBs that had some of the glaringly bad run fits and missed tackles were Ransom and Hancock. Those two typically come down hill like maniacs. The difference was noticeable against Oregon.
There were also oddly timed defensive line substitutions. Melton playing near the goal line didn’t go well. He wasn’t heavy enough and got moved. Oh, and the two five star DEs, got held a bunch. They may habe drawn holding penalties if the actually tried to work anything that resembled the technique taught by LJ. But at the same time, they’ve been there for four years. At some point their coach needs to answer why the studs are taking his coaching to game day.
ROLL BUCKEYES!
Yeah, out of all of it, the DL is the biggest issue to me. We can adjust our scheme to get help over the top, and you’d like to think Burke doesnt play that badly again…but I’m not sure what to do with this DL. Sawyer and JT have been here for 4 years. They are what they are at this point.
I’m not a defensive coordinator so I don’t know what the answer is with that DL.
I’m glad The Buckeyes have a bye week after this gut punch in Oregon. Knowles and the defense really need to get their act together and the Simmons loss is a major hit.
I don’t expect the Nebraska game to be a cakewalk but glad it’s in The Shoe. Happy Valley is going to be a real test for The Team and how this season is going to go.
I agree 100% with you.
Happy Valley will now be 'make or break', I suspect.
A good general always makes you search for his weaknesses. - Woody Hayes
That and the scheudling. If Oregon somehow loses to a team we don’t play and creates some tie breaking havoc that most of us that was gone forever … but … welcome back.
One Shoe
I wasn't at the game. But I did read about one 11W poster that was, and he said "it was so loud, it was a miracle Will could get the snap off successfully." Say what you want about PSU fans, but they bring the juice at home games. Well, so do Oregon fans. I watched Gameday for the first time in a while, and at 6 a.m. (P T.), their fans were already jacked, like I've never seen. It was still dark outside, there. And It didn't matter that their stadium only held around 60,000. They were LOUD. Tip of the hat.
These Buckeyes can still accomplish all their goals. Losing to Oregon hurts. Losing a veteran O-lineman hurts. But we lost two starting QBs in 2014, a much more critical position. Going back decades, the Buckeyes always play better as underdogs. We'll probably be dogs going into the PSU game.
Keep your head up Buckeyes. We were right there, if not for a questionable call at the end. As in 2014, I think this loss identified areas needed for improvement. And that loss to VT, 35-21, was in Ohio Stadium, so ..
I'm squeamishly optimistic.
We were right there except a questionable call? Wow
Man your takes are weird.
Captain Bucknut
Name another call that would have cost them 15 yards and :30 seconds and loss of down on the offense. Even a hold would have been only 10. False start 5, etc etc.
even a sack would have been at most, 10 yards?
so it was bad luck because it totally threw them off schedule and not enough time to reicover it.
easy to say a neutral or home field would have saved them about 50 yards of false start yards.
but yeah. In spite all that, a couple more seconds on the clock and they get a reasonable FG try off and all of Buckeye land would be feeling all rosy and delusional.
I said what I said, Dill. A one point loss, with a chance to win at the end, to a very good #3 team(this wasn't Vanderbilt) on the road, in a very loud environment. There's no shame in that.
I'm squeamishly optimistic.
We were at the game as well. I was able to get one picture on my phone of the decibel meter on their scoreboard at 117.9 dbs.. But I definitely saw it above 120 dbs a few times on that final drive. It was pretty freaking load.
https://youtu.be/KuUhr5MHEVk
Puzzled by the abject failure to adjust the defensive scheme to provide some support for Burke. One blitz that I can remember. It sure seemed like Day was calling plays at crucial moments. No deep throws. It's like Day has the keys to a Ferrari but refuses to exceed the speed limit. Now they are one-and-done. I hope they plan and play with bad intentions (and better execution) from here on out. I want to have faith, but Day's track record suggests stubbornness and lack of any risk taking. We shall see...
Alcohol will not solve any of your problems, but then again, neither will milk or water.
I wonder how low #10’s PFF score will be. (hint: not trying to be negative.)
Unless Oregon had a receiver deemed uncoverable you don’t provide support for your corner. (Think JSN torching a Utah running back playing corner.). There is highly regarded talent on the bench that might be gamers. Not sure if the coaches are protecting an ego, or our depth is non existent. Seems like the former to me.
There were blitzes. Nobody got home. Receivers left open.
Self crowned Eleven Warriors humble-off champion.
Styles blitzed and nobody picked him up. He whiffed. Coaches put him in position and he blew an easy sack
I want to move forward, but it seems like there's a good much to unpack with this team.
Go Buckeyes.
Did you check over your post before hitting save? Opinions only matter with clear titles and full details.
Reloaded my signature at a good clip, while consulting a magazine. Go Buckeyes.
I like what was said in the first paragraph about “playing it safe”. Day coaches by the numbers because he has a superior team (on paper) so those teams are supposed to win. Until they don’t. Wish we could see a greater sense of urgency, much more of a killer instinct, “put your foot on their neck” attitude going forward. The kind of attitude that would have benched Burke after getting burned 3 straight times. The kind of attitude that wouldn’t care if e lost our best linemen would attack even harder with screens and counters to protect them. The kind of fire that wouldn’t whimper away when there are 30 seconds left before the half. Throw some bombs, getting a lucky PI and a FG to end the half! This fire is what people are looking for and so disappointed that is missing. I have been a Day apologist for ling enough. It’s time to put up and go get it if you want it
Bravo! Couldn’t be said much better!!
I think this sums up Day perfectly. I can only recall two games when Day got creative with the game plan, Clemson in 2020 and Georgia. Outside of those two games. Day has a tendency to think that just because he as the more talented team that they’ll automatically win. This works well for lower tier teams, which is why he’s undefeated against non ranked teams, unlike his predecessor. Near talent opponents have identified weaknesses in the past and exploited it to a win.
All of Ohio State’s pre season goals are still intact, unless undefeated season was included. I’m not overly concerned about the offense, they played well. We’ll see how they adjust to the injuries. The defense is another story, Burke is a liability against elite level WRs. He has always been and now the coaches have a tough decision to make, Even if this team wins out in the regular season, they won’t survive the playoffs unless something is done to fix what we saw from the secondary, especially Burke.
GeorgiaBuckeye
Agreed. Wasn't the mantra, 'leave no doubt'?
Starts with you, coach
A good general always makes you search for his weaknesses. - Woody Hayes
Let's call a spade a spade - I like Will Howard as our QB, but he does not have the "big arm" for those bombs you think he should have thrown ... every long ball he those requires the receiver to stop or come back to catch the ball - every opponent knows this ....
When it is Jeremiah Smith in single coverage? AbsoBuckinlutley!!
..."every opponent knows this..."
This is what Oregon took advantage of they only had to worry about defending the area 20 yards from the line of scrimmage.
This is the blueprint our opponents are going to use from here on out unless we can figure out how to take the top off of the defense, we have a weapon that probably can't be overthrown ,but we can't effectively use him it's beyond frustrating.
Seo
Our D couldn’t apply pressure, and couldn’t prevent destabilizing chunk plays.
In Ryan Day & Ross Bjork We Trust.
It would have been fun if the hype were true and we were head-and-shoulders better than everyone else, even other really good teams. Now we know it isn't true. I hope the coaches and players use that knowledge well. The season ain't over.
Go Bucks!
Denzel burnt should not be on the field. He’s awful and always has been. His tackling has always sucked and he’s lucky he hasn’t broken his neck.
Sawyer and JT non existent in a big game, what a shocker…
Caleb Downs is the only player on defense that would possibly be a starter on the 2014 team.
These guys get paid big money, they even ask fans to pay for NIL. Saturdays performance should mean they have to pay it back, because most of them played like shit. 20 million dollars to give up 500 fucking yards on defense lol. Jim Knowles can shove his cigar up his own ass. Another overhyped soft ass team, never going to change until they get a real head coach like Urban back in here.
I agree with everything but the last sentence. Urban’s teams played like shit more often than not.
Really, the coach with the highest winning percentage in OSU football. Wow
They looked like robots 99% of the games he coached here. You are revising history. I didn’t say his win percentage was bad.
I agree you didn't say his winning percentage was bad,but your revisionist history,"his teams played like shit more often than not" is a ridiculous statement.
Seo
You need to rewatch some of our robotic, emotionless, going through the motions, just roll the helmets out games. MOST of them were as I just described. His teams also got BLASTED in a handful of games. HISTORICAL ass beatings.
I think you need to get laid, Dill. I cannot identify one time where you've been positive on anything to do with the Buckeyes? Maybe you did and I just missed it?
I'm squeamishly optimistic.
I am curious, who teams across all of college football don't play or didn't play like shit for you? Give specific names of coaches.
I don't buy one goddam drop of gas in the state of Michigan!
Come on Philly. Day is a good coach who excels in some areas and not so much in others. He has proven he can recruit and build a team but he is a bridesmaid when it comes to taking the last step. He is not a coach that beats teams with more talent like some others (like the one we just lost to)but he is damn good at beating teams that he should except for our biggest rival. I really thought this was the year he would rise to the occasion but now I have much doubt. I will always root for OSU and enjoy but I have come to the point that we don't reach the mountain top with him as coach.
Are you suggesting that Coach Day step up to the line...and then cross it?
Michigan had a coach that did that. No thank you.
NO! How in the hell did you reach that conclusion from what I said?
Your comment almost describes Harbaugh to a “T”.
Also the reason I used sarcasm font for my comment.
I don't know about not being allowed back on the field, but he definitely needs to be moved to second string. That was the worst, most impactful bad performance since Joe Bauserman. and he was a first year starter at the time.
I avoided this place yesterday as it gets incredibly toxic when things aren't all unicorns and farting rainbows, but I've got some bitching to do.
Saturday is 100% on the coaches. So many tactical things that should have been changed and weren't. For example:
- Why is Kelly running those cutesy side to side screens? They were too fast for that. Oregon was getting next to no pressure so go downfield.
- That Harmon kid was eating the interior line alive. Why are we not doubling him? He was the only one on their line doing anything.
- Said above but Burke was having the opposite of a game. So shade someone over to help him? Igbinosun and Hancock seemed to be handling their business just fine so help Burke.
- Smith was single covered all game. When that man is single covered, that means he's open. Give Howard a signal that says "Hey, forget the other play, Jeremiah is single covered so he's going on a streak and everyone else pass block".
- The clock management at the end was atrocious. That's all I have to say about that.
Implement any one of these and it's a different outcome. Implement all four and its a blowout.
Also Dan Lanning and Oregon are incredibly Bush league. I vote they get kicked out not because they're more competition but they are Bush league. Spitting on a guy? That bullshit onside kick? Your fans rushing the field when you're a top 5 team? All embarassing.
This is patently ridiculous aside from the spitting which I’m certain Lanning would not condone. The onside kick is ‘who wants to win this game more’ brilliance. You didn’t mention that he likely sent a 12th player on the field intentionally at the end as a way to limit a big downfield play in exchange for 5 yards and most importantly burning 4 seconds off a clock that only had 10. Those are the kinds of moves a shrewd coach who wants to win the damn game makes. Kudos to him for having the balls.
As for rushing the field. Give me a break, that was Oregon’s first ever win against a top-2 team. But aside from that, if you hate field-rushing you must hate college football. We got beat, they get the rush the field. It’s awesome, good for them.
Complaining about field rushing is like people who whine when a team already leading scores late. For all the scolding around here asking fellow fans to be happy with losing yet another big game, there sure is a lot of policing of the winning side to go along with it.
The most "loud mouth, disrespect" poster on 11W.
Flip it then. Buckeyes are 3 playing number 2 and win at home. Would you be embarrassed if we rushed the field? I know I would.
And the onside reeks of desperation. I would expect that of a Rutgers or Indiana. Not a top three team that's been there a long while.
Was this embarrassing?
https://www.espn.com/college-football/game/_/gameId/400869650/michigan-o...
I'm sorry, what? Trying to win a football game reeks of desperation?
I don't recall if they stormed the field after that game but if so, yes. Absolutely. At that point they were on what, a 12 year streak against Michigan. That means you own them. Storming the field is for highly unexpected outcomes. And I'll go ahead and jump out ahead on you now - assuming we win November 30, if fans storm the field I'll be ashamed of that because there's a very high chance Michigan is unranked come that game.
And trying to win games through weak means, yes. Again, Rutgers or Indiana are more likely to try that onside kick. But this was 2 vs. 3. Both teams have been in the top 10 of the sport for a long, long time. You want to be taken seriously as a real contender, then play like a real contender.
End of the day - act like you've been there before. Oregon has such a huge inferiority complex believing they belong amongst the elites despite never reaching the top. You want the elite to find you elite? Play like it. You think UGA, Texas, Bama, or hell, even Penn State would ever try that? No, because they know they're considered amongst the top and don't need to rely on (again) Bush league garbage.
Also last I'm saying on it. We obviously disagree and have gone back and forth enough so I won't be coming back for more.
No.
Agreed
A good general always makes you search for his weaknesses. - Woody Hayes
I was screaming at the TV 'throw the ball down the G.. d.... field' in the first half. I can only come up with that they didn't think our Oline could hold up so they were trying to wear them down but it wasn't working and they kept trying anyway.
" Your fans rushing the field when you're a top 5 team? All embarassing."
Trust me.... you DON'T want to see the day opposing fans DON'T rush the field after beating Ohio State.
Great fuking point!
I'm squeamishly optimistic.
The Ducks were better coached, stronger, faster, tougher and wanted it more.
I've become accustomed to not being disappointed anymore.
ONE FUCKING POINT and we executed too many plays, both side of THE ball like shit,
Nebraska will be no picnic either.
OH-IO Goodbye Columbus, Living at the Beach
The Ducks were better coached, stronger, faster, tougher and wanted it more.
I've become accustomed to not being disappointed anymore.
ONE FUCKING POINT and we executed too many plays, both side of THE ball, like shit,
Nebraska will be no picnic either.
OH-IO Goodbye Columbus, Living at the Beach
The game too me was very similar to the Rose Bowl against Utah. Both teams moved at will on offense and it came down to who had the ball last. Only this time Oregon was able to muster just enough defense to win. After the Utah game, it was reported Gene Smith told Day he was giving him some blank checks. Now go out and fix this defense. Day replaced every defensive coach off that team and brought in Jim Knowles to run the defense and new assistants at every position. Is this Jim Knowles defense better than Kerry Coombs defense in big games?
Big Play Knowles strikes again.
He and Denzel need to 'splain.
OH-IO Goodbye Columbus, Living at the Beach
Yes. Way better. Just not perfect.
And I agree the D certainly shit the bed Saturday night.
“Because I couldn't go for three.” - Woody Hayes
Knowles is a defensive mastermind. The problem we're seeing is that his master plans require that the DL can get pressure on the QB. Time and again, in recent years, that hasn't been happening. I don't know if the guys aren't implementing LJ's teachings, if LJ isn't cooperating with the broader scheme, or what, but it is abundantly clear that the issue lies up front.
Love you more, JW. 1/16/71-9/23/12
This has to be on gameplanning. I think Day and Kelley and Knowles underrated Oregon, as did I. Their skill position players (QB and receivers) were excellent.
We ultimately had needed to be more aggressive and less contain-y. In retrospect we should have taken a few more deep shots.
It's clear our team has crazy talent, but Oregon played as well as they could have. Kudos. I hate them.
We need to fix the Simmons loss (can't be fixed, but papered over) and be sure Denzel's head or body is still working.
But no more listening to our own press and no more underestimating the opposition. It's a dogfight and there are some good teams in this conference that are going to bring it.
I agree with most of what you said, but there were some factors that influenced the outcome.
1. Oregon recruits at an elite level at all positions and has done well in the portal to acquire missing pieces. This is the most talented team Ohio State will face in the regular season.
2. Home field advantage is real. The noise of the crowd obviously impacted the on field play, especially with penalties and the offensive pass interference call was a generous home field call.
3. Oregon did a great job of identifying and exploiting weaknesses, especially with Burke. They saw something on tape or gambled on his weakness from two years ago and it paid off big.
While losing sucks, I think minus the injuries to the o-line, this was a best case scenario for a loss. Weaknesses were identified before the playoffs and there is time to adjust. Ohio State moved the ball on offense. If that would have been a neutral site, Ohio State likely wins.
GeorgiaBuckeye
To be honest, I'm going to be interested to see Oregon going forward, because the first part of their season, which included a 24-point outburst against Idaho, did not give any indication they could do whatever they wanted against the Bucks. If they can't score 60 on Purdue, then I'm going to have further questions.
The most "loud mouth, disrespect" poster on 11W.
Many of us, including myself underrated Oregon. Before the game, I didnt think they were a national title contender - I thought they were a good Top 10 team. I was wrong on that, they are elite. They are legit on the OL/DL, have playmakers at the skill positions and a good, experienced QB.
Lanning has done a good job of building their team.
Chase, congrats on your $hitty article.
Why any tOSU fan would jump on Jim Harbuagh's backside and ride it against Ryan Day is beyond me unless, of course, that person is really a closeted SCUM fan. And no, you don't believe it for another reason.
And, not seeing a peep from any of the commenters before mine about your "treason" shows me how tone deaf our fan base really is.
Bizarro world, for sure.
Michigan. lol.
PSA: grayed out comments get read the most. Thanks!
When the facts are true and unpleasant, attack the author/poster. Got it. Social media 101.
And I did not DV you.
You never lose to those pricks. Ever. Ever.
The truth hurts. Day hasn't done shit with superior talent. Knowles needs to go and unfortunately I think both line coaches do as well.
“Ain’t life grand when you finally hit it!” DLR
I have heard so much about the Buckeye’s “superior talent”. They were matched on the field speed for speed and NIL for NIL. The only difference in that game was the location… that is worth a couple points.
My biggest beef is why does Knowles continue to think that rushing 4 will create pressure? It hasn’t work for the past couple of years, but we see especially in big games, the defense giving up huge chunk plays and zero pass rushing. There’s been plenty of smoke that both Knowles and Larry don’t see eye to eye and Day needs to assert himself and tell them “This is what I want and if the both of you can’t do it, I’ll replace you” Because Saban would never put up with that nonsense and the just same he would of benched Burke.
You would think Day would be fed up hearing the criticism that he’s soft, doesn’t have the killer instinct, and the ribbing from Harbaugh that he would step and shut up the critics. But instead this week I heard nothing but more criticism about him. Hopefully they learned from loss and right the ship
Is it Knowles? or is it LJ? I keep hearing rumblings of them not seeing eye to eye on what this D line should do, and Ryan Day has given LJ a pass for being and elder statesmen. I don't know this to be fact, but you keep hearing this since Knowles came to town.
I rarely trust the numbers I head about x coach’s record vs top-5, 10, 25 opponents because it matters when you count the ranking. In my opinion it matters that the ranking is counted after the season. For example, Notre Dame was ranked #5 when Ohio State played them in 2022 but finished #18 with a 9-4 record, hardly a top-5 quality team.
With that said I’ve tallied up Day’s record vs top-10 and then 11-25 teams as ranked at the end of the season:
2023:
Top 10: 0-2 (L: Michigan, Missouri)
Top 11-25: 2-0 (W: Notre Dame, Penn State)
2022:
Top 10: 1-2 (W: PSU; L: Michigan, Georgia)
Top 11-25: 1-0 (W: ND)
2021:
Top 10: 1-1 (W: MSU; L: Michigan)
Top 11- 25: 1-1 (W: Utah; L: Oregon)
2019:
Top 10: 1-1 (W: PSU; L: Clemson)
Top 11-25: 4-0 (W: Cincinnati, Michigan, Wisconsin (twice))
TOTALS (excluding 2020):
Top 10: 3-6
Top 11-25: 8-1
If we assume Oregon will finish in the top-10 he’ll be 3-7.
If we assume Penn State finishes in the top-10 (who knows) that’ll make for another interesting statistic for Day. If he should beat PSU 3 of his 4 top-10 wins would be over James Franklin.
That doesn’t always work because top teams may lose their top QB or top WR/RB etc. resulting in.a late fade on the season ranking.
There are lies, damn lies, and statistics.
—Mark Twain
Fair point but that’s not the case in any of these games.
The way people hate on Day (a little on this site but more in national media) is pretty nuts. OK, you can look at his record against top 5 teams - guess what, it's hard to beat top 5 teams, you are likely to take some losses. It's an arbitrary stat. On one site, someone did the whole, Day is 0-6 against Michigan, Georgia, Missouri and Oregon and whatever against everyone else. Missouri?? Really? We are counting Missouri now? Every coach is 0-whatever against the teams they lost to.
Anyhow, I still think Day is going to stick it to everyone and run the table. Getting over the hump is hard. It's going to happen this year, and I hope people then understand how good we have it.
I have read a rumor that Larry Johnson and Jim Knowles are at odds on the defensive line role in the defense, if this is true, Jim Knowles is the defensive coordinator, and responsible for their performance. Larry Johnson should either be told who's the boss, or fired. The defense is performance was pitiful. IMO
Robert Teague
If you don’t say that or think that during a win then a loss doesn’t automatically make it true. It’s low hanging fruit that fans grab every time
comes up every year when they struggle to get pressure in big games. Not sure its low hanging fruit, but something needs to be figured out, can't have two coaching paddling the boat in different directions.
Show me proof. All I hear is the same fans and the same podcasters saying it AFTER a loss or a bad showing. Blah blah blah
It is written but reads like an opinion piece, podcasts are out there as well do your own research, I don't spoon feed anyone. I have not seen, nor will we ever see solid proof unless LJ is ran out of town, and even than it can be assumed. I am asking the question, is this smoke and mirrors or is there something there.
Ok. I don’t believe it’s a situation that results in a loss. It’s something to blame when a loss happens. Game plans are put together by the staff. If everybody in the room wanted one thing and LJ said “nah I’m not going that. I’m doing what I want “ . He wouldn’t be here 3 years later. It’s common sense
I can get behind that concept. And I'm not saying that is what is happening, but it still doesn't feel right does it? Did you see any stunts or twists? I didn't. LJ is the DL coordinator, at some point do you look at it and say why can't we get pressure. That group looked slow and flat footed, I know the tempo played into that as well. Just a fan looking for answers, this defense was supposed to be lights out, but instead go lit up.
There will be a rematch. I’ll wait to see the results in that one. I love that the 12 team cfp means it’s not over after a loss. Right now, Georgia, bama and OSU all have a loss. None of them are out of it yet and I believe Texas will soon have one as well. It’s a marathon not a sprint, even if OSU won the game I’d be saying this.
you are 100% correct on that one, which is why on Saturday I didn't lose my mind like I normally would because you don't have to be perfect every Saturday. I sat there stunned we didn't manage the clock well to pull out the win. 3 mins later I said as poorly as we played defensively, we still had a chance to win. It took a fumble, onside kick to beat us on the road in a hostile environment. The offense is fine for OSU i thought we score 30 we win, just can't give up 30+.
I thought I seen an interview with Knowles where he stated that his DLine is more of a contain and a run stopper rather than and attacking line. He uses 3 safeties and uses them to bring pressure. LJ might want to turn the line loose more.
Go Buckeyes!
I might be wrong, but I don’t think it’s a rumor, I believe there has been credible reports that LJ and Knowles have been at odds with the schemes and how to utilize the d-line. The reports I read downplayed the friction and claimed there was a “gentleman’s agreement” which included a compromise. Unfortunately, when someone has been at an organization for a long time like LJ they can be an obstacle to change. They see themselves as the culture of the organization who have survived the waves of change so their way is the best way (in their view).
GeorgiaBuckeye
Gentlemens agreement, I love what LJ did when he had the Bosas, Chase young ect, he seemed to work well with chris ash and jeff hafley. Just feels off right now with Knowles, it's too late to make big changes right now, but if I am Knowles I tell Day that LJ gotta get on board or go retire. There should be zero compromise, it's your defense run it.
I agree 100%. Nothing but love for LJ and what he did 10 years ago, but this is a different scheme under Knowles. Any compromise takes away from Knowles’ scheme and the reason why he was hired. LJ should have applied for the job and/or retired if he has a disagreement with Knowles (LJ’s boss).
GeorgiaBuckeye
Somethings not right with the front 6 on that defense, I've read opinion articles that say Knowles and LJ don't see eye to eye on Dline concept. I'd flat out tell LJ, I'm the D cord, so we are going to twist, stunt, and you if you can't coach it then it's time for you to move on. I just don't get it, it appears broken, the front 6 generates zero pressure, and some pretty bad tackling to boot, I'll give the Oregon RB some credit.
Here is what I noticed, several plays in space Oregon defense swarmed to the ball, several plays in space OSU had 1 maybe 2 guys in the area. A 340 lb DT blew up one of our screen plays.
Judkins fumble...
Howard fumble...
Onside kick...
Horrible OPI call...
Howard sliding late running out the clock...
I don't know that any of these were Ryan Day's fault. The players have to show up and play on game day. We lost by one point, on the road in a hostile environment, to the #3 team in the country. With everything we did wrong, I'm impressed we only lost by one and very easily could have kicked a FG to win at the end if it weren't for the sketchy OPI call. Get Denzel Burke right and figure out LT and I think we will be perfectly fine. If we can win in Happy Valley, I believe we ride into Indy at 11-1 and should be favored in Indy.
That Justin’s “fumble” was a tougher Oregon defensive lineman abusing our lineman and then wanting the ball more and taking it away.
our offensive and defensive lines are the same. It started with the first Oregon under Cristobal. Their lines dominated
One Shoe
I don’t get our defensive problems. Are we in year 3 with Knowles??? Not impressed. Howard can’t throw the deep ball. That hurts our O.
" And while he has two Big Ten championships and three College Football Playoff appearances, he’s still 2-7 against AP top-five opponents. That won't lead to his termination, but it’s enough to create angst in Columbus and abroad."
Why wouldn't it be grounds for firing? This guy is the John Cooper of the 2000s........How much are the OSU homers going to tolerate?
Saban on a cart eating cold pizza
Who would you replace Day with that can walk in now and immediately win at an elite level? Who among active coaches has the best record against top 5 teams and what’s their record? Kirby Smart struggles against Alabama regularly, even when his teams are “better”. Oregon is on par with Ohio State’s talent level. In fact, many fans picked Ohio State to lose this game preseason because of the home field advantage. It wasn’t until Ohio State looked good in all three phases that the expectations changed to Ohio State winning. Some fans need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. In years past, Ohio State wouldn’t have seen a team as talented as Oregon until the playoffs or BCS. The game was an eye opener for the coaches and players. Better to lose this way now and adjust than in the one-and-done playoffs.
GeorgiaBuckeye
I agree with most of what you've said, but I've always hated the "who can we get thats better?" rationale for not wanting to replace the head coach. Its loser talk.
I am not in favor of replacing Ryan Day at this point, because when the head coach leaves there are catastrophic consequences to the program... you lose several recruits, and everyone of value on your current roster immediately goes out for bid.
That said, I'm tired of being disappointed after every big game and if this continues much longer I'm all for making a change. I'm not interested in enduring the 1990s again.
I disagree. Loser talk is panicking about a loss and wanting to make an immediate knee jerk change that could set the program back a decade. How many active college football head coaches have won a national championship? It’s not easy and any change to the head coach needs to someone who increases the likelihood of doing a better job. There aren’t many of those guys walking around.
GeorgiaBuckeye
" I'm not interested in enduring the 1990s again."
You get what I was alluding to but many didn't......That was the entire point of my downvoted grayed out post in the first place........
Saban on a cart eating cold pizza
Strange how the biggest games always result in a close loss. Clemson, Georgia and Oregon.
Not strange but predictable actually.......
Saban on a cart eating cold pizza
I 100% blame the coaching staff for this loss. We got a HC on the sideline and another running the offense and neither one of these dudes can manage the final minute? Buckeyes should've won this game despite the defense shifting it's pants most the night.
BEAT MICHIGAN.
Get amnesia, everyone. Next game. Think of this more like the nfl season. We get more shots. We need to stop acting like it’s the end of the world.
Round on the ends and "HI" in the middle. O-HI-O.
We have such an interesting fan base.
After, and during, the game on Saturday, a lot of posters were making comments that seemed quite over the edge (disclaimer: I wasn’t too happy with our defensive play but try not to comment when emotions aren’t under control, lol).
There was everything from fire Ryan Day, Fire Jim Knowles, replace most of the starters, etc.
I understand that we don’t like to lose. Very few people probably do like it but the overreaction is head shaking, to say the least.
Since 1968, Ohio State has gone undefeated and untied exactly three times. Along with 1968, we were undefeated in 2002 and 2012.
It is very difficult to go through a season undefeated so I try to temper my expectations accordingly. I figure we will lose one game every year and, as long as we achieve that goal, I feel blessed that our team is that good year in, year out (although I don’t want the one loss to be to Michigan).
The sun came up on Sunday and life went on. All of our preseason goals are still attainable. I guess what I am trying to say is…enjoy the journey that is our football season before it is over. Perfection is seldom attained on the football field. Just be glad we aren’t a middle of the pack Big Ten team.
Enjoy your day and the rest of the season.
Get that logic outta here! (JK)
Seriously though someone said earlier that it’s a marathon not a sprint so win the next 6 games one at a time and we’ll get to beat the ducklings in Indianapolis. Undefeated seasons are few and far between but not as rare as nattys.
The first goal of this season was not “don’t lose to Oregon”, it is BEAT (mercilessly) TCUN, 2nd is win the B10, and 3rd is win the national championship. ALL GOALS ARE STILL ACHIEVABLE!
Go Bucks!
Go by what I mean, not by what I say.
LEAVE NO DOUBT!
Sorry, after reading my own comment I see I misstated something. Undefeated seasons are rarer than national championships. My point is we can lose a game and still achieve our goals. Lose 2 games and it gets much tougher but not impossible. Lose none we would be ranked 1-4, lose 1 we will probably be ranked 5-8 and get a home playoff game, lose 2 we will probably be ranked 9-12, play an away playoff game or be out of the playoffs completely.
Go by what I mean, not by what I say.
LEAVE NO DOUBT!
Saban only had two undefeated seasons at Alabama. they are hard to pull off.
Also, a loss is sometimes the best thing that can happen to a team. It will serve as a wakeup call, hopefully.
Under the old system, I’d be a lot more upset about this loss. But nothing has changed as far as attaining the season’s goals, except for our margin of error. If we rematch in Indy, this first game becomes meaningless.
But that does mean we have to take care of business in the weeks ahead. Nebraska is a decent team, Happy Valley is a hard place to play, Indiana has a potent offense and The Game is still The Game.
This team can do it. We’ll see what happens.
I always evaluate coaches based on where the opponent was ranked at the end of the year. The fact that early some team may be ranked only to finish at 6-5 is meaningless to me. So using that criteria and assuming Oregon finishes in the top 5 since they are there now, how has Day done?
Teams that finished ranked 11-25 = 8-1, the 1 losses are the Oregon loss a couple years ago as they finished 22nd that year. Average score is 34.9 to 22.9 or a 12 point margin
Teams that finished ranked 6-10 = 4-1, the loss is to Mizzou last year who finished 8th, average score is 30.6 to 18.2 or a 12.4 point margin
Teams who finished ranked in the top 5 = 1-7, the sole win being against Clemson in the semis. Average score was 30.25 to 37.5 or a negative 7.25 point margin
Overall he is 13-9 vs teams that finished ranked.
What is remarkable is that except for an oddity like Mizzou last year the offense has fairly consistently score at least 28 (12 times in the 22 games) and 15 times above 24
On the other hand there is a clear break between games 6 and above and 5 and below in terms of defense
6 and above we have averaged allowing only 21.2, but 5 and below it is 37.5 or a full 16.3 more points. Putting some slight rounding to these thats and average score of 33-21 vs 30-38.
And Saturday is a perfect example of that result.
Proud of our guys. Keep fighting.
Let’s not act like the holes on this defense haven’t been showing all year. Marshall was giving them fits, Michigan State was moving the ball really well until we had some opportunistic turnovers. The defense is soft up the middle vs the run, not very good in zone coverage and slow to react on misdirection runs or play action passes. It’s been that way all year long. Our linebackers are once again the weak spot of this defense.
Buckeye4life
Good points. We hear 'iron sharpens iron' but practice ain't playin'. The opponents are going harder than the looks the D gets in practice because they clearly weren't ready for that...
Time to bring in Coach Prime /S
Seriously, the defensive coaches have to get on the same page. Knowles is the manager so the other coaches need to get in line as Knowles is responsible for what happens.
the biggest loss saturday was losing Simmons for the year. Look what happened to our run game after that. That is the position (along with qb) we could ill afford to lose. This was a weird game and about as bad as the defense could play and as well as gabriel could throw and we are one kickoff recovery or opi call away from winning on the road. Win out, win the big ten and beat oregon in rematch, win national title. It is all there for the taking and this team can still do it. need good enough replacement for simmons and to adjust defense to GET MORE PRESSURE. Go Buckeyes.
Yeah, they have a couple of weeks to get the new tackle serviceable. They’ll have to put a tight end over on that side to help out.
Sorry but this is a coaching issue....I love Ryan Day and hope we have him for awhile but...when you get to the 29 all you need is a QB run or RB to center the kick the job is done (miss the FG oh well) Dan aLanning will never admit it but the 12 man deal was on purpose, he'll gladly swap 5 yards for 5 seconds in this deal. It isn't on Will Howard unless you tag him with internal clock issues but I challenge anyone to keep count when people are trying to rip your head off...he could have just gotten five and gone down. This was chess coaching and Day got beat on a couple and a couple was all it took.
Bbc11
We ran three times against Georgia at the end and the fan base was screaming, saying we should throw it. Also, if the official doesn't throw a flag for a BS OPI penalty, the play call was great.
Another screwup by the officials. If there are 12 men on the field before the snap, it is a 5 yard penalty. If the play is run with 12 men on the field, it is illegal participation, which is a 15 yard penalty. Oregon should have been penalized 15 yards instead of 5. How would Oregon fans have reacted if that actually happened?
Ohio State ran once against Georgia, lost a yard and proceeded to throw the ball on the next two downs (both incompletions).
Just to add a little perspective here fellas.. We were at the game on Saturday. Nearly every single Oregon fan that we sat around, passed along our way to and from our seats, r had any sort of interaction with during the ENTIRE game, seemed genuinely surprised and relieved that their team was able to pull that one out. EVERY SINGLE ONE. They all thanked us for coming all the way out there to watch it. And are all extremely excited at the possibility of a rematch again, this time in Indianapolis. They all know damn well how much their home atmosphere at Autzen Stadium really helps that team. Consistently in the 120dbs range on that final drive.. Heck, I believe we got called for at least 4-5 false start penalties through the game, alone. Not everyone there was as confident that they can beat us again on a neutral field. So it’s not all doom and gloom, by any means. Simply do. And move on. We can still win out and get the Big Ten’s automatic qualifier. But we now have to get it done. No more losses, or we leave it up to the committee.
https://youtu.be/KuUhr5MHEVk
I say again Get that logical, reasonable take outta here…
Oh I have no doubt the field was an issue just to several who have pointed out the false starts...some say that kind of field advantage is worth 3 to 7 points in a game..
Bbc11
Day is not Cooper 2.0 as anyone who actually endured those years will attest. There have not been the horrible L’s (63-14 Penn St. anyone?). In Coop’s first 6 seasons, the Bucks went like 45-22-4. Day’s winning percentage blows that away with a lot fewer off the field issues. The coaching carousel rarely benefits even a top tier program. Go Bucks and keep winning almost 90% of games a year!!
Day won't ever win the big games. He gets to freaked out and deviates from the running game, panics believing he has to pass on every down. He's never had a dominate defense. What coach couldn't have had an equal or better record with all the talent on his teams. He's too much of a rah rah fake hype coach for me, and he's proven what he is - an average coach. Hope he prepares his team for Dylan Raiola and the Nebraska Cornhuskers or it could be another disappointment.
If you can’t make a fourth and one, you don't deserve to win.
We lost! Now get up and fight!!!!!
Why is everyone freaking out. Eleven Warriors proclaimed this loss a month ago.
https://www.elevenwarriors.com/the-big-ten/2024/09/149332/updated-2024-r...
We are now #4 and still control our destiny. We now know our weaknesses and can fix them.(hopefully)
NOW GET UP AND FIGHT BUCKEYES!! Nothing is handed to you, you have to earn it!
Go Buckeyes!
That attachment article is almost spooky it’s so close to reality.
Go by what I mean, not by what I say.
LEAVE NO DOUBT!
They played without their best dlineman and one of their better wr`s(spitting) so for me personally, I don`t want to face them again but will have to if we reach our goals. They are a very good team. They are oozing talent on offense for sure. Go Bucks.
C. Brian Massie
On a different note .....
Johnny Cash's version of NiN's Hurt is truly one of the best covers ever, IMHO. It really resonates with me.
There are what, 9 undefeated teams right now? Texas and Georgia play so one more could drop. Schedule for Oregon going forward is weak. Miami will drop one. We are in a good spot. What makes me sick is that we spotted them 10 points with turnovers? And still almost beat them. Things still a great team and maybe this will be the wake up call. Cause if we don’t beat Penn state we won’t be in cfp. They won’t take osu with no ranked wins. I’m wondering if Oregon will be the fastest team we will play all season
Doug
PSU is a two trick pony. That TE, the TE and the TE and then the RB. Much easier team to attack on defense unless #10 covers him…. We complain about Knowles but if a DC lets a TE have 17 catches, most of which were wide open?! Then we would have a reason to melt down.
Allar just needs to be blitzed every down until he gets PTSD. He always panicked and looks for the TE. They are a decent team but don’t give nearly the same amount of angst going in as Oregon did.
In theory I agree completely, but it's those kinds of games OSU tends to make their competition look better than they are. Michigan may look like a crappy team with terrible QB play, and they will probably have their best passing game all season because OSU somehow finds ways to elevate lesser competition. Seen that scenario happen too many times.
lol. Then you haven’t been watching them this year. That is NOT their identity
I haven’t seen this complaint yet so I’m going to make it….
Why was Howard doing a 5-7 step drop IN SHOTGUN on the last play with 0:06 on the clock? If he takes the snap and one step back, he’s positioned to hit the out on the sideline, or if he wants, JJ in the middle. As it happened, he takes the last step of his drop as the window for the out is beginning to close. Minor detail, but that cant happen with 6 seconds left. Ball obviously, obviously needs to come out quickly there and a long drop is the wrong move, I wish he would’ve recognized that as a vet. Not to nitpick or anything…
Who is more over rated?
OSU’s Defensive players or Knowles?
Time will tell!
30 points allowed is always the magic number in modern football.
Day's record vs teams that finished the year ranked when allowing 30+ points is 3-7. The 3 wins are 2022 vs PSU where we won 44-31, The Rose Bowl come back win vs Utah 48-45 and Indiana in the Covid 2020 season where we gave up 2 late scores for a 42-35 final. The 7 losses are Sat 31-32, UM LY 24-30, UGA in the playoffs 41-42, UM 23-45, UM 27-42, Oregon 28-35, Bama 24-52.
His record when giving up 29 or fewer is 10-2. The 2 losses are Mizzou in the bowl last year and the semi final loss in his first year to Clemson 29-23.
When the defense allows more than 4 TD, we tend to lose, when we dont we tend to win. Since the Bama loss, we have scores in these games of 24-52, 28-35, 56-7, 27-42, 48-45, 21-10, 44-31, 23-45, 41-42, 17-14, 20-12, 24-30, 3-14 and 31-32. Thats' 7 losses and only 6 wins. only 1 of the 7 losses did we allow less than 30 and in only 2 of the 6 wins did we allow more than 30.
1 less score by Oregon and this would be a big road win instead of another loss...1 less big play allowed, like the 26 yard completion on The Ducks last drive which got them into FG range. Or maybe 1 sack, whatever it was, possibly just 1 play and we win instead of lose.
The stupid OPI call near the end of the game DID cost us a chance at the very doable game winning field goal.
Go by what I mean, not by what I say.
LEAVE NO DOUBT!
Day and Knowles = LOSERS
This program isn't winning anything significant until Day and Knowles are both GONE. As a Buckeye fan I hate to say it, but Harbaugh was right. Day was born on 3rd base and he can't seem to earn anything as a HC.
Back up the Brinks truck and call Mike Vrabel.
"Show me a gracious loser and I'll show you a bus boy." -Woody Hayes
And yet Harbaugh couldn't beat Ohio State until he concocted the most elaborate cheating scandal in college football history.
What has Vrabel done?
BEAT MICHIGAN.
Ah Mike vrabel the person who plays to not lose it overly passive at times and dosent like recruiting and can also lead to front office problems sure bring him in over day who builds great rosters and has been a FG or some injuries away from least 1 natty. Trust me I know all to well about Vrabel as a HC as I’m a titans fan for every year he has been here
DH7 was Special R.I.P Simba
Burke got burned and the defense wasn't getting near the QB. The offense would have been good enough to win that game if the defense showed up. And that wasn't to say the whole defense played bad, but when Burke is getting picked on all night, the defense needs to either get to the QB or Burke needs to get some help. And neither of those happened.
It was a tick tacky call on JS, but it shouldn't have come to that anyway.
All in all, a one point loss on the road to #3 isn't going to make or break this season. But it damn sure gives OSU a lot to work on.
I'm not saying Ryan Day should be fired BUT he'll NEVER win ANYTHING of substance in Columbus going forward and after this year or the next both he and tOSU will indeed have a mutual parting of the ways. Ryan Day simply due to his back history both on and off the field isn't and never was the right person to take-over for Urban Meyer, I will not explain exactly what I mean until it happens but it will happen just like I said.
Imo Ryan is John Cooper reincarnated and when he ultimately leaves in the next 2 year's I definitely see him coaching in the pro's, where the only time you'll see him on a school campus is for his family OR in some unofficial scouting compacity. At the end of as much as we HATE Harbaugh he was right about Ryan Day and every big game with fear in his eye's he loses proves it....
GO BUCKS
We got a lucky INT overturned, Oregon choked their brains out on PAT's and failed on a fourth and goal. We deserved to lose, although it's insanely saddening that we tend to lose close, big matchups (McCord's winning drive against Notre Dame excluded). Cheers to the twelve team playoff and hope the buckeyes can fight and get us a memorable home playoff game come December
One thing about why this feels so bad as opposed to just feeling like a mulligan we can afford to take on the way to the playoffs, is not only Day's record against top 5 teams, it's that we are now 2-3 in our last 5 games against Power 5 (4?) teams.
Urban lost 3 straight vs P5 teams...MSU, Clemson and VT..
You're too stupid to have a good time. -Dalton
Comparing Day to Coop is rather premature at this time. However, his failure to win vs top 25 teams is alarming
What bothers me is the post-mortem comments.."gotta play & coach better, need to get this fixed et al. This was GAME 6 hello! We're still make fundamental mistakes like pre-snap penalties, poor tackling & defensive lapses.Who are the team leaders? Howard? Henderson? JT? Where's the accountability? I still confident about the 12-team playoff but that's way far off. Day IS stuck on 3rd base..
Charles Ceglio
Theres a lot of things wrong with this team and it starts at the top with Day. He lacks that dog mentality that you need from a head football coach, LJ and Knowles not meshing and Day not stepping in to do something about that! unacceptable. The fact that this team doesnt tackle in practice shows on game day, like WTF is that??? Day not having the balls to take out Burke himself and replacing him with a player in Mathews, Knowles not sending more pressure, JT regressing, etc. I can go on and on.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. I thought that stepping away from being OC would help unleash the beast, but nothing has changed in the big games. Time's running out, and I'm starting to believe he'll never win a natty here.
One point I disagree wirh is that Oregon thwarted our deep passing game. A deep passing game is something we basically don't have this year. We hardly ever throw deep, and when we do, Howard usually underthrows the ball. The one weakness in his game. Oregon did stop our long pass plays that rely on yards after catch. In the second half, they brought their safeties up to stop the run becausr we do not even try to stretch the field with long throws. Gotta do it a few times to keep the good defenses of top opponents honest. We have the guys and the passing schemes to get behind the defense. Do it once in a while. Smith looks like he is capable of exploding past anyone. On our one deep pass, he had blown past the defender before he had to come back once again for an underthrown deep ball. Deep throws should be the easiest passes when your guy gets a step or two beyond the defender. Hope Howard hits a couple against Nebraska to give Penn State more field to defend vertically.
With the offense seeming a bit clunky, it still put up 31 points while starting every drive inside our own 26 yard line. Anyone would take that. They earned all their points.
You can't say Howard doesn't have the deep ball as part of his game and then sentences later state we have the guys to go deep.
The reason we do not go deep is what I have said since we got Howard, he lacks the arm strength for deep balls. Allowing him to try and take the top off the defense is allowing the defense a good shot at an interception. His lack of arm strength has been noted by scouts and is something I believe Oregon knew and planned for. It is something that hurts this team in a big way.
"I wipe my a$$ with wolverine fur"
You have all heard from great coaches saying you win or lose in the trenches. Our OL may have been adequate but certainly not great or deep. Our DT depth must be vacant(next year looks bleak). Emphasis on the trenches has been lacking for several years and not what you would expect for OSU in the trenches. DBs, WRs, RBS, has been excellent. Emphasis comes from the top...you get what you emphasize. That starts and sometimes ends with the inner philosophy of the head guy. You can DV all you want and I personally like Day very much.
With 10 secs left & 1 TO why did Howard throw that out pattern which was woefully short? Throw the Hail Mary to Smith or Egbuka and maybe get a PI ! Not sure about Howard's arm strength although he's mostly accurate..
Charles Ceglio
I always let a season play out before passing judgement on staff. Any given season is going to have it's ups and downs and wins are never guaranteed for any team.
I never bought into the pre-season hype about talent making us invincible to the prospect of finding ourselves on the losing end of a game. We are not guaranteed wins or a Natty and never were. Anyone who believed that nonsense was engaging in fantasy. Talent does not guarantee wins, nor will it ever. The only thing that guarantees a win is scoring more points than your opponent on game day, and any team can have a bad day, especially when you are playing in a Venue like Autzen.
BubbaGumps
I didn't read all of the comments so forgive me if this was already said.
I can't stand watching defensive players who think the only way to tackle is to try to make a huge hit. When did kids stop being taught to go after the legs to make a tackle? Seems like everybody wants to make that big hit that gets them on ESPN instead of playing fundamental football and taking out the legs.
JMHO
I don't like giving any publicity to Harbaugh's "3rd base" comment. I hope Day has a good zinger prepared for when the NCAA invalidates all the results from 2021-2023, takes away their *title, and gives Harbaugh a 10+ year show cause.
It is very difficult to beat any team twice in one season. If/when we play Oregon again I believe there will be a very outcome. If I had to pick one to win then I’ll take the post season win.
1. I believe this loss is taken a lot worse because of the opponent. The reality is that the Ducks are playing with big boy money now and they’re at an elite level regardless of their lack of titles. Our fandom and ego has a difficult time understanding that.
2. Day has shown that he will make changes with coaching but to his detriment it’s too late or he doesn’t fully make changes. I see the Johnson Knowles scuttlebutt coming to a head. Either run Knowles D and let Johnson go or continue down this path of not pulling the bandage off at once.
3. This game mattered and then again it doesn’t. We’re conditioned to a loss like this being extremely damaging but that’s not 2024 college football. Every team with a loss right now is still very much alive to make the playoff.
On the road, hostile environment, matchup game..1 point - not much consequence in the big picture. If that game is in the Shoe - the script is flipped in my opinion. Guess what? Success on the field for natties is not typically overnight (Nick Saban and Urban Meyer are outliers). Kirby Smart - 5 years to get over the hump; Jim (le Cheat) Harbaugh - 9 years; Dabo Swinney - 8 years. So the point is, it takes some pain - a Nick Saban comes along once in a couple Generations - so let's share the pain together but if we stay the course, i'm confident we will get there.
Others will tell you, "The grass in not always greener on the other side of the fence...", I say, "Who cares about the damn lawn?" - RP
We lost by a point. That means the entire atmosphere here would be different with two more measly points.
I didn't like that we weren't physical enough, that are DB's got roasted and the DL needed more pressure. And Howard's last run was infuriating. But... two points, across 3 time zones against the most corporately-funded team that money can buy.
These are Our Boys who are being led by Good Men and I'm sticking with them. The naysayers, bitchers & whiners and toxic know-nothings can go find another team until Day wins or moves on. Me, I'm rooting for the Buckeyes now & forever! I can't change teams anyway because I'd have nothing else to wear!
Go Bucks!
Screw the Blue (and that gawd-awful yellow)
The disconnect between Knowles and LJ, or front and back side of the defense needs solved or we aren't winning squat. Day is the CEO, tell these guys to work together or one or both are gone. If you're paying Knowles this kind of money, and he had very successful, very aggressive defenses at Okie State, give him total control and tell LJ either you're on board or retire, by my decision if necessary. Our DL has done little of merit over the last four years for our supposed talent. Be the CEO.
OSUAlumInAZ
I just don't see much to lead me to believe a.) Ohio State running the table through the end of the season and b.) winning a potential rematch in the B1G CCG is a foregone conclusion.
If Oregon doesn't flub two PATs, miss a field goal and have their QB inexplicably come off a wide open receiver in the endzone on 4th and goal only to fire the ball into Cody Simon's backside, Ohio State would have been down by 2 TDs on that last possession. That was with Oregon down their best defensive player. There was a lot more than just clean up a few things and let's roll, Oregon took it to the Buckeyes and it was really their mistakes that kept it a close game. That is troubling.
Both teams made mistakes and left points on the board. Both have relatively equal talent. The better coached team won.
OSUAlumInAZ
A 35-7 dismantling of Iowa garnered 113 comments the Monday following that win.
At lunch time, after a loss, there are over 200 comments here. I think that speaks volumes to how our fanbase exists.
vacuuming sucks
That's because beating Iowa is just another 40 degree day here. <Wire reference>
I was told hope is not a strategy though
I have to say, after a loss, you are never left wanting for juicy reading in the comments section.
Regardless of who the coach is, after a Buckeye loss, there will always be pure mass panic and people freaking out and calling for coaches to be fired. This phenomenon doesn't just happen here, but everywhere.
BubbaGumps
Columbus was called "The graveyard of coaches" before Woody Hayes.
Looking at all the big game losses and the defense that surrendered 500 or more yards, and the Saturday defeat where the defense gave up 496 yards, I'd say Jim Knowles is also sharing third base with Day. Knowles needs to be blamed for the losses, as well as Day. [This is not an endorsement for Day.] Day needs to make it to the Big Ten title game. That means he has to win out -- Penn State, SCUM, and all the others.
I always wondered how Ryan Day and the team would have responded after that Georgia lost in the playoffs if we somehow still had games to play and time to correct the mistakes made against a talent equated opponent, now we will see.
DCharles
Day is a great guy, an amazing recruiter, and a pretty good coach. Unfortunately, "pretty good" doesn't get it done. Time to move on or we will be having this same debate 5 years from now, waiting for success in big games.
BuckeyeFourLife
This isn't a short take: I haven't been sold on Ryan Day since season 3. I won't rehash in detail what many here have stated, that his teams often get pushed around in the trenches even against less talented teams and certainly against the Alabamas, scums, Georgias and Oregons. Day and his teams appear to lack that killer instinct that we often saw in Meyer's teams and in teams that ultimately win championships.
I think my biggest gripe is I've never had the sense that Day bleeds scarlet and gray, and I feel he is here primarily for the big paychecks. True story: I was flying back to the States from Europe, and Ryan Day and his family were on the same flight. Typically, I do not speak to celebrities unless they speak first out of respect for their privacy. However, my wife (who had no idea who he was even after I told her) convinced me to speak. I'll never forget that, while in the terminal a couple of hours prior to boarding, I discreetly called out the universally recognized "O-H," and Day just turned and glared at me but never responded accordingly. So, I wished him good luck on the season and he muttered "thanks" in response while turning his head away. My wife noticed his demeanor and apologized for convincing me to speak. Can't imagine Tressel or Meyer would have responded the same.
I'll always back the Bucks, but I'm not sure we'll ever get off third base while Day is the coach. I hope I'm wrong.
Just wonder how many more big game defeats Ryan Day will be allowed...Too many almosts...need to get over the hump in the big ones occasionally....
I was picked off at 3rd base in pony league. Down four, 2 outs. I just hit a triple off the fence, we need one more run to tie. You can't lead off until the pitchers gets on the rubber. The pitches gets on the rubber, takes the signal, I take my lead, and the 3rd baseman tags me, and says "runner is out ump". Game over. Even at 12 I was a student of the game. That was a balk, and the pony league umpires wouldn't listen to me.
Any time you give a man something he doesn't earn, you cheapen him. Our kids earn what they get, and that includes respect - Woody Hayes
Going forward, I am much more concerned about the defense. If the Buckeyes are to achieve the ultimate goal of a NC, the defense has to improve. If it doesn't, that ultimate goal will be unattainable.
Quite a few "big games" in which OSU couldn't hold the opposition to under 30 points. Michigan, Georgia, Oregon, Alabama......all scored over 30 and even 40 points against the Buckeyes in the "big game" under Coach Day.
I'm a supporter of Coach Day, but he has got to get this defensive albatross figured out.