I agree.   That was pretty damn clever.

I bet the Texas Longhorns will respond to you by saying...."hold our beer".   Then again, we will see what happens on Saturday.

It wasn't a wakeup call for the fans.  We have been reading this book since the Clemson game in 2019. 

To me, Ryan Day is at the same juncture Urban Meyer was in 2014 after the loss to VA TECH.   After that loss, Meyer's Buckeyes had lost 3 of their most recent 5 games going back to the loss to Sparty to determine the Big Ten Champ.  Immediately after, they lost to Clemson in the Orange Bowl, QB career-ending injury to Braxton Miller.  Then they won their opener in 2014 before losing to VT.  In a documentary of that season, Shelley said that Urban told her (very uncharacteristically) after the VT loss that "we are going to be fine".   We can only wonder what Ryan Day said to his wife upon getting home from Oregon on Sunday.........

Well.....you're presumably a member of our awful fan base, so welcome to the club!

Well, that was said last year by some folks too.   Then he landed Eddrick Houston and all was forgiven.   Smh........

Lots of love and respect for Tressel but including him in a definition of teams playing "Loose" and to win is a bit off.  Hanawi referred to the Texas game in 2005 and I would add the Penn State game in the same year and the USC game at home in 2009.  In both games Tressel was accused of "playing not to lose instead of to win".    Like I said.....I will hold Tress (and Urban) in the highest regard.  Heck, I even met and chatted with Tress one time.  But to say his teams played "loose".....eh, not always the case.  But, at the end of the day, his team's achievement in 2002 was something Ryan Day's has not been able to attain, and there are doubts creeping him.

Many were saying the same or similar things about LJ last year and there were whispers in '22.   It should have started when Michigan shoved the D linemens' dicks in the dirt in the 2021 game, but nah.  When LJ landed Eddrick Houston in the spring, first there were hosannas, then comments filled with snark toward posters who were openly doubting whether LJ should still be on the sideline late last year.  I don't know if the rumors are true that he is holding up the works, but his unit is one of the team's true weaknesses at worst, or disappointments at best.  (the LBs are close behind) There is no doubt that LJ is a HOF coach.  But as each year goes by we are left to wonder if his best year's are behind him.  Penn State may have had its issues in big games in recent years, but their D lines by and large have been elite, and yes, without LJ still wearing blue and white.  I expect we will find that out in 3 weeks.

You have your opinion, I have mine.  He is a featured writer in a newspaper.  That's more than any of us can say as contributors to a message board.  

Florida 08 had Tim Tebow as its leader ......inexplicably leading a group of thugs that would have made the current guys at UGA look like choir boys.  But he was the alpha and willed his team.  I don't see an alpha on this team.  Will Howard is trying to become one, but it's getting late. And saying that Oregon didn't really beat them but the Buckeyes beat themselves does nothing to accept ownership of the loss with a promise not to let it happen again.  

It was also Hafley's Defense that folded like a cheap suit with the 2019 Clemson game on the line.  We took a lead late in the 4th quarter and then Clemson scored a TD in less than 5 plays.  This....against a Defense that sent a handful of players to the NFL, some of whom are still playing in it.   The lack of closure to win big games and the Defense's inability to get key stops started in Ryan Day's first year as a Head Coach.  

True post, CA.  But realists now......over time will become fatalists if what we see continues.   Sooner or later, and I am not saying that time is now, but Ryan Day's teams will need to learn to win big, spotlight games other than what they have shown vs. Notre Dame and Penn State.  The clock is ticking and patience is growing thin.  You are your record and Ryan Day has two.  His over-all record is one to be respected and envied.  His record in marquee matchups is now under some serious scrutiny and deservedly so. Time will tell as to whether Ryan Day gets over the hump and wins a national championship or goes down in history as one of the biggest squanderers of talent as an Ohio State football head coach.  

IF he isn't elite, then what does that say about our Defense?  Better not answer that.  He threw as good of a long ball against us on Saturday as any QB in a long, long time.  You can say he had all day to throw and you would be right.  But his pass and spirals were as tight as CJs....and that is saying something.  He can move in the pocket and he will have a future in the NFL.   Not as a HOFer but as a QB regardless.  He shredded us on Saturday.  Gotta give him that.  

I couldn't agree more.  But we know it won't happen.  

As Rob Oller wrote in the Dispatch.....or paraphrasing:  "Sorry Will.  Oregon DID beat you.  You didn't beat yourselves."    I can forgive it since it was in the heat of the moment, but his beloved team was beaten.  Oregon was given nothing except a touchdown hole to dig out of when Kacmarek was stripped of the pass that he caught.  The general theme of this team needs to be....cut the talk  Go show it on the field.  

Well, brewster.  In 2007 we were losing 2-0 at Halftime vs. Akron IIRC.   Later that year we played for the national championship.  So...there's that.  And as for "nonsense"....there was plenty of that snarkiness leveled at people who thought the Oregon game might come down to the wire....so......

 I'm beginning to think this guy was a 2 million dollar mistake.

You don't have to begin to think it.  He was -- and is in the absence of a total turnaround over the next 6 or 7 weeks.  

Preach, brother,  Preach. 

I know it is only his first year as a coach -- no need to remind me.  And learning how to coach is a process in itself.  But I dare say if James Laurinaitis' name was James Smith, people would be asking...."who is this guy and what is he doing?"

I agree with you.  But to paraphrase the old line about “chicks loving the long ball”…..sports writers do too.  And Howard’s glaring weakness with the deep ball is something scribes will glom onto.  It’s just the way it is. He is a great young man and leader.  I don’t see a future for him in the NFL, but I don’t care about that and I doubt most of us do either.   Regardless, a lot of football yet to be played.  But don’t be surprised to see teams begin to crowd the LOS with Simmons out for the season and the long ball “perceived” not to be a threat unless proven otherwise.  

And maybe the guys on the other team have schollies too.....oh, wait......they're getting paid too.  Especially at Oregon. 

Eh.......If it were much, much worse, he would be back in New Hampshire coaching, 15.  

Two or three years ago, Oregon played us and beat us at Noon.....9:00 AM their time.  I see your point, powell, but Ryan Day's teams on the biggest stage are slowly running out of excuses.  It's put up or shut up time all the way around.  The bullshit has to end.  There are no more Akrons or Marshalls on the schedule. 

Post of the year, brooksie. 

I am 67 and will be at the NEB with my daughter for the game and I will be yelling my ass off.  And while you're at it, nuts, please make sure your Social Security contribution from your paycheck is current.  I see a Callaway Driver that I'd like to buy...............

I know you are putting in the context of facing a freshman QB, but since the Clemson game in 2019, if there is one thing we know, there are serious issues with this Defense when it faces quality competition and a critical stop is needed.  You don't need to remind me that Nebraska doesn't fall into the category of an elite offense, but regardless, the credibility of this D is suspect from the line to the secondary to its coaching staff.  I don't know how much more proof we need, B.  I am tired of listening to Knowles' b.s. and how much love everyone has for L.J.   It's put up for or shut up time.