I don't buy this comparison at all! Stupid to even mention it Give the guy a chance he has been here 10.5 months. I watched his defenses play several times they were stifling fast physical defenses that would fit in any place. may have to make some personnel adjustments But give him a chance!
The stubbornness is fairly common with most coaches. Day with his persistence to a basic veer (stretch these days) and WR screens, when the defense is aligned and built for it and he keeps doing it.
College coaching is different than you coaching your kid in the youth league or even high school, Knowles has an a army of guys coaching positions under him, he asks these coaches to have their athletes ready to run what ever he calls, Saturday he asked these coaches to be ready to run zero coverage, it was obvious that the corners & safeties were not ready for this! I saw kids tackle with bad technique and bad fundamentals (the 1st TD) I saw kids bite up on the run and a WR run a simple route because the Safety got his head turned. These things happened and it on the position coaches. I'm not going to say Fire someone, I'm saying give Knowles the chance to correct these things!
Let’s bear in mind that Harbaugh went 0–7 before winning 2 games. So Ryan day at 1-2 still has a better win loss percentage.
We need to pump the brakes on the panic button, because even if Ryan day were to lose the next one, Day would still have a better win loss record than John Cooper. And as long as no one Beach John Cooper’s record in my lifetime I will die a happy man.
Knowles is using two WR’s at CB. They are not Chris Gamble. Kerry Coombs missing on Clark Phillips had massive implications for us.
McAllister was a stopgap fix. CJ and Styles will be better next year as 2nd years. Knowles needs real CB’s not converted stop gap players. It’s not like Burke and Browne haven’t been lost all year because I can tell you I’ve yelled at the screen for the entire year.
I think Ohio State fans don’t want to admit just how weak our secondary was and that it’s going to take more than just a great defensive coordinator to magically fix all of the problems. If I recall correctly Knowles said that they had only deployed like 20 to 25% of their playbook.
If I must choose between peace and righteousness, I choose righteousness! -Theodore Roosevelt.
Side note - I'm glad you posted this. While I had a strong hunch Ryan Day feels more burdened by the tradition here, rather than embracing it - this shit right here is exactly why the program has lost its identity.
It does hurt. But there is so much more to extract from this short video: A young coach who rose to the top of the college football world very quickly, and now not able to handle the pressure of losing twice to a - on paper - inferior team, itching to get back to the locker room. A coach who has not slept well for days, if not weeks. A coach who visibly cannot handle the pressure of the TTUN week and game well, and showing his fears and frustrations to his players.
I do like coach Day a lot, and he could turn into a Saban. I also think that he does need coaching himself - not football coaching, but leadership coaching, perhaps from Tressel? He should be able to turn these tough times into learning opportunities.
But Saban was not given an elite program on a silver platter. Alabama was down and out when he took over. He had proven himself at LSU. I was one of those “wait and see’ers” when Day became the HC and I am still in that category.
Thank you for posting the whole video. Too often we share video clips that don’t include all the relevant data and we don’t get the full view just a slanted view that supports an opinion. I’ve mentioned it before I think on Twitter but I’ve met Day, spent almost 45m talking to him. It was when Meyer was hosting NPF’s family for his official.
I had to visit Pickerington for a funeral of her childhood friend, and on a whim I took my then 6 years old son up to campus to show him where I worked (MS&E so Maquigg, Fontana, Watts). We drove over to West campus and I noticed a lot of cars at the WHAC. Upon going to the door and seeing our OC, he opened the door like “who the heck are you”. I explained why I was there and my son quietly had unzipped his jacket and was wearing a JT Barrett jersey. When coach Day realized that we were fans his whole demeanor changed and he let us in to look at the trophies. After about 10 minutes it became apparent that I had a pretty broad background as a fan of Ohio State, my dad used to fly for the boosters, the ones that flew out to interview Cooper and tentatively interviewed Holtz (though it was never official), and Day asked my son “so you really like JT, do you know any other QB’s?”, and of course my son answered Dwayne Haskins.
He asked my son “Richie, how would you like to meet Dwayne?” My jaw drops when coach day open the facility doors and yelled for Haskins to come out to the lobby. Duane spent at least 15 minutes talking to my son and in the process my son met several other buckeyes, Togai, Cornell, Jaylen Jones, etc. I have about 30 pictures of him next to people. My son still has the Buckeye that Coach Hinton gave him as we left.
From what I saw, I think Ryan Day is the real deal. I am not someone who thinks we made a mistake, all great leaders have lost. That’s what made them great.
If I must choose between peace and righteousness, I choose righteousness! -Theodore Roosevelt.
And every person who brushes this off or makes an excuse as to why this isn’t at least a little deal (if not a big deal) is contributing to what is destroying the identity of the Buckeye football program. History and tradition are the roots that bind this whole thing together. It’s what allows you to grab onto and pull yourself up off the mat when adversity hits. Upholding the standards and history of Buckeye Nation should be a way of life. If you’re gonna shit on tradition you damn well better implement some new traditions of your own that you believe in - and then hold your program to them.
Cuz without them, you end up with a bunch of 4 and 5 star individuals giving lip service every time they get in front of a mic - regurgitating what they've been told you want to hear - all the while not truly believing in the stuff they've been told to sell us.
Not saying he has to go - just saying it hurts to see a coach not respect tradition. It’s such a beautiful part of the game… win or lose… you respect what Ohio (and friendship) means.
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Ryan Day feels more burdened by the tradition here, rather than embracing it
This feels spot on and I hate admitting it.
I hear what these coaches say about the rivalry, but during the Tressel years and certainly with Urban the gravity of this game was truly felt and embraced and the pride that is associated with representing Ohio State on this grand stage and beating your rival was paramount. The tenor among this administration doesn’t seem to have the same ferocity and that’s reflected in their performance.
Attitude reflects leadership and seeing things like this makes me sick.
I didn't think I could get more pissed off about about Saturday, until now. I get that every one of those guys was upset about getting embarrassed again, but being a Buckeye matters. The fact that no one in that video seems to care speaks volumes.
I don't know about that. I was in the camp that Day deserves the right to fix what is broken. But this video shows me that what's broken is a lot more than Cover 1/0 or Mesh routes or strength and conditioning. It was evident in the 4th quarter meltdown and it's even more evident after watching whatever the hell is on that video clip. You've got a hell of lot of work to do, Ryan.
The whole clip shows Day calling on his players to stay out there for Carmen.
I can't imagine how disappointed he feels. Am I dissapointed, too? Of course... I am pissed we didnt make adjustments. I am pissed we didnt throw more vertically or use the tight end effectively, or throw to a RB out of the backfield. And pissed that we made undisciplined penalties. of course!!
The much shorter clip posted by @brrryani on Twitter is yet another example of something taken out of context.
@brrryani's post is deceptive and manipulative.
I should have known better. I was fooled. I reacted and posted without thinking. I was wrong to do so. And what I wrote about Day was wrong. I apologize to Ryan Day.
I agree. Beating them next year will be tough. They will lose some key players as well. They will have edwards ,stokes and jj. We will have a different qb. Still a 5 star. Same Recievers and running backs. New faces on secondary so hopefully we can hit the portal on that. But like in 2001. You never know
Any comparison between last year's beat down and this year's loss is ridiculous ..... from the opening kick off last year, both sides of the ball were kicked all over the field at will by TTUN .... take out the 5 long plays, which were the result of a missed tackle, a DB biting on a double move and a LB deflecting his gap responsibility and TTUN managed 92 yards rushing on 33 carries (2.7 ypc), a 50% completion rate and 166 yards passing - not really gaudy numbers ..... a loss because of player mistakes, poor discipline (a head butt - really ??) Is exactly that - a loss - no comparison to last year, as TTUN imposed their will on OSU .... so, take a deep breath, stand behind the team and let's see how things shake out ...
Glad to see someone else who gets it. Last year was the perfect storm for Michigan with lots of 5-6 year players, they physically imposed their will. CJ ran for his life all game. This year I was shocked at how much time CJ had. Michigan only had 10 yards rushing in the first half. This year it was a coaching fiasco. Last year Michigan got into Days head and it impacted him this year. Does he recover mentally?
"You ever hear of the saying "you run into an asshole in the morning, you ran into an asshole; you run into assholes all day, you're the asshole." - Raylan Givens
Tru dat....we as fans better get some damn perspective on this whole thing...Day was destroyed by this it's in his voice and posture he can't believe it happened we collectively need to dust our shit off get back up and figure this crap out....he can get after the coach side we can get after the fan side. I survived Cooper like a lot of you while hitting kegs and eggs every damn Saturday. I'm not torpedoing an 11 and 1 team and a coach that's 45 and 5 over all for 1 fucked up The Game...okay 2...get a hold of yourselves. He has the chance to adjust and Knowles deserves 2 or 3 years to get this D going with 1 down right now. He sees what happened let's see what an extension and 2 mil will get us. I do agree the fight went out at some point need to get back in the saddle GO UTAH...IF ONLY TO GET US BACK IN THE SADDLE....with nothing to lose! What are we ichigan fans or Vols fans unbelievable.
You could say that for probably 3 or 4 of our victories this year in that we made 4-5 key plays that turned the game (NW, Iowa, Maryland, Penn St). It all counts the same.
Should we discount the 2018 victory against scUM because we had a punt block for a TD, Parris jet sweep, Olave twice, and Johnnie Dixon all for big TD plays? They beat our asses both years it’s just that this year you could clearly see they shouldn’t have. We choked this year and/or quit. Last year they outmanned us.. Both years outcoached.
The players will always make mistakes and never play perfect so I hate blaming them, but scoring 3 points with our talent and allowing that many big plays on D is on the coaches.
Plays go both ways. Alabama, the gold standard for college football, is two bad plays away from being undefeated and likely ranked 1. They are two other lucky plays away from being 8-4 and ranked in the mid 20s. Yes, this sucks, but I’m sure you’ve heard that football is a game of inches. It’s also a mental game. Anyone who thought our domination of the last two decades was never going to end was probably kidding themselves. Doesn’t mean we can’t begin a new streak, hopefully next year, but the sky isnt falling yet. We keep saying the players have become apathetic, but the fan base has as well. We just expect a win every year, but Michigan has (barf) become one of the best programs in the country. It took Harbaugh getting his teeth kicked in 5 times and ducking a 6th to make the changes.
It turns out that desire and talent aren’t enough to win big games. You have to execute.
The team was plenty motivated but didn’t make the necessary plays to win, on either side of the ball. You can’t give up over 300 yards on 5 plays defensively and only score 3 points in a half and expect to beat anyone.
“If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.”
-Jack Handey
You know who I saw with said desire, talent, and execution? Chip Trayanum and Xavier effin Johnson, and in X's case he's played that way since game one! I can't say that for the other 10 guys on the field or the defensive 11. Ryan Day choked after the 1st series and that scared mentality trickled down to the rest of the team.
He did. There's a link in these comments to a video that shows the entire context of that situation. Coach was reminding everyone to stay for Carmen and that they need to gather up for it. A reminder, there were several times during Urban's tenure when many of the players left the field and didn't sing Carmen after a loss. That short clip in the tweet is very misleading as to what the situation was. He was very frustrated about the result but he made sure the players stayed out for Carmen.
Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
I tell you one thing that's not going to help. Next years home schedule is AWFUL. First time in my lifetime I've heard so many decades+ season ticket holders thinking ( for the first time) about not renewing. So many games will be up for sale well below face value..
Although I suppose that's a part of the dea these daysl. That Michigan Illinois game had THOUSANDS of empty seats.
If a bunch tickets are going for less than face next year maybe I will actually be able to go to a game. I haven't been in the shoe for a non-spring game since 2004.
Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
The 2022 Buckeyes are reminiscent of John Cooper’s last two teams at Ohio State. His teams we’re undisciplined, could care less about winning the Game, had no heart, and flat out quit. Ryan Day has much work to do to remedy this culture.
Does he have it in him? I am looking now at Ohio State notching a third straight loss against SCUM next season to go 1-3 and getting closer to Cooper’s record.
Has anyone been hearing of this so called "country club" culture that exists with Day in the Woody since the game? If it does, then that has to be changed.
But what else? Right up front, Day must give up the play calling on offense. Give Wilson the keys and/or bring in an offensive analyst. What about Tom Herman for that? Another factor? Strength and conditioning. Does Mickey Mariotti need to go?
We saw all the red flags here from the very beginning. The CB play never improved after the ND game (and that 1st play in the game where they completed that 50 plus yard pass). The conservative play calling and the god awful bubble screens.
And when you have CJ commenting after the game “I don’t think one game defines us. I don’t think this game defines our team". The game does define you, Ask JT Barrett here and Troy Smith who went a combined 7-0.
It starts with the Coaching. And Day and his staff need to do a serious eval this offseason
"Just remember one thing. I can do your job, but you can't do mine." - Woody Hayes to an OSU professor
Yeah, the more clips I see of Day after the game (which I didn't see live because I couldn't stomach watching any more after the last INT from Stroud), the more I realize this clown just isn't going to get it done. He doesn't have a resilient bone in his body and just looks like some spineless character that got time-warped into this century straight out of "Leave it to Beaver".
I hope he proves me wrong, but until he does I'd bet my every last donut that he doesn't (If was was actually a gambling man).
Nobody is happy about losing Saturday or losing two in a row to these fuckheads but before everyone runs Day out of town let’s objectively evaluate the situation. TTUN hadn’t won in Columbus in 22 years before Saturday. Did we really believe they would never win again in the shoe? If someone would have told you after the 2000 game that they wouldnt win again in Columbus until 2022 would you have believed them? Probably not. Until last year we had won 9 in a row and I’m including 2020 where we all know they pussed out and faked covid which makes us 18-4 over the last 22 games. Pretty damn good and as much as we hate those cocksuckers they’re not Northwestern, Indiana, or Rutgers. They’ve won alot of games in their history even though they haven’t won an undisputed natty since Truman was president. In the 100 plus years of this rivalry both programs have gone on runs which is simple probability and law of averages. Now this being said, Day is paid alot of money to figure out how to fix this shit and not let these fuckers go on a Cooperesque run. I think Knowles did a good job this year masking the defensive shit show he inherited from the last two years and obviously there is alot of work to do. We have obviously missed on our defensive back recruiting and Day has to get into the portal and get some help immediately after the season ends. Im certain nobody feels any worse about this than Day and he is not dumb. He will make the necessary changes to get this defense back to Buckeye standards as both last years and this years loss are primarily due to complete failures of the defense.
YES!! Dude 75% of Ohio State Fans are Childish, Spoiled, Idiots that think they know football and how a team should be ran. They are really stupid, crying, whiny assholes, who think Ohio State should never lose a game in any sport or it takes time to get a philosophy installed. Any time Ohio State gets behind they are ready to fire everyone from Gene Smith to the Trainers. I bet they are all perfect at work and at home!!
As part of this 75% I’d like to welcome you to the club of “whiny assholes”.
We’ll get over it. One day. Maybe. I can deal with the Clemson, Iowa, Purdue, Michigan State, Bama, and Oregon losses but seeing Jim Harbaugh smile makes we fuckin vomit.
I can only speak for myself, but it is absolutely, 1000% not because we lost to Michigan. They are a very good team and obviously they were able to beat us. I could have accepted a well-played, hard fought loss. That's not what happened on Saturday. The last two quarters were the worst 30 minutes of Ohio State football that I've ever seen. Drops, penalties, missed tackles, blown coverages, mistakes on fake punts that would have turned the game around, etc. I don't want to say that the team "quit" because some guys were playing hard. But it sure looked like the team melted when the hest got turned up. THAT is why I'm upset, not because we lost a game to Michigan. Wins are earned, not given, but we had every advantage on Saturday and still lost by 22.
I agree with you 100%. I was at the game and we were all honestly excited at halftime. We'd stopped their run game. Their two TDs were because of a missed tackle/all out blitz and a poor coverage by a second-teamer. Then we just did not show up for the second half.
If you looked on the field throughout the second half, there weren't a lot of leaders out there. The only guys I saw who were really jacked up were JTT, Sawyer, Stover, Wypler, and Curry on special teams. These teams the last two years just haven't had "that guy" (Barrett, Fields, Mangold, Hawk, Boren,...). You know, the guy who simply WON'T LOSE, especially to those assholes up north. And, as much as people here don't like it, that's where your Ohio-bred players can be of benefit. A lot of those players quit in the fourth quarter.
I'd like to see Day be as ruthless with the players as he's been with his coaches. If you're not good enough and tough enough, transfer. If there's a guy in the transfer portal who's better than who we have, go get him. If you don't have the right attitude, sit your ass on the bench.
Nothing is too difficult for the person that doesn't have to do it.
Totally agree, on all points. I suddenly have a much greater appreciation for Joe Thomas Barret IV and Justin Freaking Fields. We don't have "that guy" on this team.
Think about Fields getting hurt in Ann Arbor, limping back into the game, and immediately throwing a TD pass to Garrett Wilson. Or, getting smashed in the ribs by a Clemson player and proceeding to throw multiple TD passes against them. That's a leader who has a willingness to win. We need that type of leader.
Nothing is too difficult for the person that doesn't have to do it.
Day brought in Knowles last season to fix the defense.
That was already supposed to be taken care of.
Day isn’t responsible for the defensive failures this season, that’s 100% on Knowles.
It was game 12 and he knew our personnel and what we were facing.
He had a year to prepare.
Don’t blame Day for that.
Day has to fix the offense and culture, not the defense.
Let's be honest, the offense should have had at least three more TDs on that scoreboard by halftime. The offense has not looked good for several weeks--against lesser competition, and a QB that either A.) Refuses to run or B.) Has been coached not to run has been a very big disservice to offensive production. If you are going to have a pure pocket passer, the run game needs to be a lot better.
I can't get on Knowles because he did the best he could with what he had, and the corners particularly just have not been that good. And there has been progress, but he needs another year or two to get the players that fit his system.
Do you guys remember what Jim Tressel and Urban Meyer made as their first commitment to Ohio State Football? To close the borders of Ohio and keep guys like John Simon, Troy Smith any of the guys who were PLAYERS not Great Athletes but wanted to win for Ohio and developed into Great Buckeyes through work and were leaders. Can you tell me who the vocal and by example leaders of this team are? What players play like their hair is on fire like Vrabel or Fickel?? Can anyone name who leads in the gym for workouts or who stay after practice and put in the extra time to make themselves better? Do you remember where Hawk, Carpenter, Simon, Hartline, Ginn are all from? Do you ever see anyone getting in a huddle grabbing a face mask and willing them to get better or get off the field on 3rd down? This team Has No Leaders on the field!
Which, frankly, I didn't think was ever going to happen. Most people didn't. If there are Michigan fans who say that they were true believers in Harbaugh before 2021, they're almost certainly lying out of their asses. But the rivalry has officially shifted, and now it's up to Ryan Day and Ohio State to wrench the ship's wheel away from the Wolverines.
I think people pay too much attention to the W/L record and not enough at the scores. Yes, OSU won 16 (or 17 depending on how you look at it) of 19 from 2001 - 2019. And, there were absolutely periods where it felt useless for UM to even show up like the Rich Rod years and 2019 & 2020. But, there were a heck of a lot of games in there that UM very easily could have won. At least half of those 16 wins were by one score or less and several endings involved close officiating calls that went against UM that lead to eventual game winning TDs for OSU. Now, that's not an excuse to say UM should have won the game. But, it is a good reason to say these felt like winnable games for UM and they just missed. It didn't feel inevitable that OSU would keep winning forever until like 2020. But, I will say it made many UM fans begin to recognize some built in advantages OSU has such as being the only P5 school in their state, the only OH school in the B1G, having more in-state talent, not having another program like ND on their border, and only having one rival instead of 3. That means UM will have to do more to get the same amount of talent and may never realistically be more talented than OSU for any long stretch of time assuming OSU has a decent coach.
the reason why The Game means so much (aside from the latent hatred that gives our lives meaning) is that Michigan is the gatekeeper to the postseason. Lose to them, and you can kiss all hopes of a national championship goodbye. Or can you? Because right now it looks like the Buckeyes are one USC upset away from getting in anyway (not that's something I actually want right now), and once the College Football Playoff expands, as long as the Buckeyes win 10 or more games they're good to go.
This is precisely why I've been banging my drum about why the playoffs need to expand. You could in theory be both the #2 in the division and the #3 team in the country some years in the B1G East and it seems fundamentally unfair to have one of the top teams in the country essentially blocked from post season play just because UM & OSU just happen to play each other the last game of the year since eternity.
That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.
Good analysis. You are absolutely correct that during the Buckeyes dominance of this century many of those wins couldve easily gone the other way. 02, 05, 06, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17 all close hard fought games which a play here or there go the other way. And of course blowouts in 08, 10, 18, and 19 and unfortunately the other way the last two years. The fact that the Buckeyes have dominated in the win loss column this century has led many in our fanbase to develop a false sense that TTUN will never win again much less two in a row. And of course now that the history of this series has repeated itself like history always does these same fans are ready to burn down the whole damn thing.
It’s terrifying when a Michigan fan is one of the few on here who is rational about this. I’m the first to admit, I spent the better part of a 5 hour drive home from watching the game with my family cursing Ryan day and his entire family tree, but after actually thinking on it I’ve settled down and put it into perspective. Of course this was bound to happen eventually, no streak at any level of sports lasts forever, and Harbaugh took his lumps before making the needed changes to actually build an elite team. Do Day and The rest of the staff need to make changes? Clearly, and that may mean bringing in better position coaches, recruiting different types of players, hitting the portal, I don’t know. What I do know is that the fans who want to burn the whole program down and start from scratch are insane. We would be just as likely to end up as the next Texas as we would be the next Alabama doing that. Sure, he’s on a short leash, and the deck will be stacked against him next year with a much harder road schedule. If true, noticeable improvement and changes aren’t obvious then sure, put him on the hot seat, but maybe everyone should step away from the ledge for a little bit.
I get what you're saying about the scores being close, but in the end the results matter. John Cooper often lost close, but that doesn't mean he's looked upon fondly here.
I get what you're saying about the scores being close, but in the end the results matter. John Cooper often lost close, but that doesn't mean he's looked upon fondly here.
I think results should cause us to reflect on our process. If there is a problem with the process, then yes make changes that are more likely to impact the results. But, when the process is on point and you merely lose a close game that little tweaks or a 50/50 call could have changed the outcome, then realize it's just bad luck and don't make wholesale changes.
That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.
But, I will say it made many UM fans begin to recognize some built in advantages OSU has such as being the only P5 school in their state, the only OH school in the B1G, having more in-state talent, not having another program like ND on their border,
Not to be “that guy” but Notre Dame is in a state that borders Ohio. So yea, we are fighting ND and Michigan for the same recruits. But your analysis is very good.
Buckeye football isn’t every thing on Saturday. It’s the only thing on Saturday
Not to be “that guy” but Notre Dame is in a state that borders Ohio. So yea, we are fighting ND and Michigan for the same recruits.
ND is in South Bend, IN. Yes, Ohio borders Indiana, but South Bend is not sitting on the border to Ohio. South Bend sits on the border to Michigan in the same way Toledo borders MI. This is why Toledo has lots of UM fans and Southwestern Michigan has lots of ND fans. There is a difference.
That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.
Hopefully OSU gets another shot at them in January. A National Championship with a regular season loss to the SkunWeasels will still suck. We need to play them again. The National Championship game could become The Game part 2. CJ, JSN, Williams and Treyveon will be healthy and need redemption.
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
He is not sure if he will play in a non CFP game. I presumed that meant he is not sure if he is coming back or not. I think that loss is eating at him more than we think.
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
When Stanford was in a horrible slump they fired their coach after a 1 - 11 season. They hired Jim Harbaugh from San Diego State of San Jose State or somewhere. The first thing he said when he got to Palo Alto was 'we're going to build a Bully". It took a few years but that's exactly what he did and soon Stanford was beating USC's ass in Los Angeles.
Then Harbaugh decamped to the NFL . San Francisco. Not a bad move. Went to the Super Bowl. Maybe his style didn't translate well to the NFL. He wouldn't be the first (looking at you, Nick Saban).
Then he came to Michigan where the cupboard was really bare. He followed Lloyd ('why recruit?') Carr, Rich Rodriguez ( who built a team of fast little guys who routinely got their asses kicked in the B1G) and then, sigh, Brady Hoke. It took him 5 years of withering abuse, a salary "reconstruction" and misery but, yeah, guess what, there's a Bully in the B1G Ten now and it's name is not Ohio State.
Ryan Day seems like a nice guy. He gives good press conference. He says the right things. But next year he has to take Our Boys to Ann Arbor and face down the Bully. If he can do it, great. If he can't, Happy Trails, Mr. Nice Guy.
Down vote the shit out of me. I couldn't care less.
Unfortunately I think you are dead on with your analysis. I think it took jimmy a lot longer than the TTUN fanbase had expected when he was hired but it appears based on the last two years that he has finally arrived. Day has got to respond with no exception next year in AA or this could get out of hand again. And a side benefit for jimmy now that he has finally broken through is that I would expect his recruiting to really improve. His recruiting classes based on the ratings have been significantly lower than ours since his arrival.
That's why the 2020 forfeit was sad. Brilliant move on his part to avoid losing by 50 and going 0-6. There was no way he survives that and he knew it. He had to announce a "spirited practice" on Sunday to rub it in how he got over OSU.
I know this won't be popular, but it appears that CJ and company turned this football team into some sort of religious experience where everything they did they felt the need to praise their god as if he was showing them favor over their opponents.
And, they actually believed he was on their side until Michigan showed them he wasn't. Then, they didn't know what to do and quit.
Enough of that. There's a time and place for that and it isn't in public and especially not on the football field. All that did was distract from the fight in front of them and likely prepared them less for battle.
I sure hope whatever qb is up next throws whatever notes they were taking from CJ in the trash and becomes their own person. Hug your teammates. Celebrate with them and be a good, tough football player that leads by example on the field.
Waiting to see how the CFP pans out after the conference championships...... Sliver of hope and wouldnt it be poetic justice if Ohio St beats TTUN for the National Championship? Thats the stuff that is legendary, like winning the National Championship with the third string QB.
I agree with the Buckeyes giving up. You know why they gave up? Because they feel they are allowed to heck, look at Day on the sideline when the chips are down he’s a sad panda not an angry win hungry SOB that he needs to be. The team looks like a culture that allows mental mistakes and 99% of you effort 99% of the time not 110% of your effort 110% of the time and reaching deep every snap in practice and beyond. Our High School team one year had a T shirt that had MTEXE on it meaning Mental Toughness Equals Extra Effort. These guys with the exception of a few are riding their talent and when pressed hard enough give up instead of reaching deeper to find something that might could make a difference. They aren’t being held to the standard of perfection, zero penalties, anything less than more than your best effort, you sit. It starts with the coaches to develop and inspire the sum of the parts to be greater than the whole (especially in college football), which it seems is now lacking.
I've been reading your weekly Threat Levels since early in the 2021 season. My god have I enjoyed them. I know the purpose of the column is comedic with a sprinkle of legitimate analysis, but I've felt that for two years (up until the week before the game both years) you've mostly dismissed Michigan's success and Harbaugh et al.'s coaching prowess.
Perhaps you can find a sliver of joy or relief or something in knowing that one Michigan alum (and perhaps others) enjoy reading these every week. Glad the rivalry is competitive again. See you next year.
The UM arrogance is back. Every OSU discussion on twitter has UM fans running their mouths now. Just really sad that it took Day only 2 years to destroy what Tressel and Meyer took 17 years to build.
Y’all have deserved this for far too long. You won’t win next year, don’t think about it. You don’t deserve to. Your pompous arrogance assumes it’s your right to win every year. Ohio played great yesterday in the trenches it just didn’t materialize into victory . Something finally changed for Michigan last year and it’s not stopping anytime soon. Good luck in your bowl .
Lol y’all just lucky we have a incompetent coach if urban didn’t cower out or if we got a real coach Jim harbaugh would still be on the sideline eating buggers in shock every year.
"Because right now it looks like the Buckeyes are one USC upset away from getting in anyway (not that's something I actually want right now)"
I feel you Johnny. And it's not because I won't cheer for these guys if they backdoor into the CFP. It's that I just watched these dudes and their head coach flat out give up and lay down and die in the 4th quarter just like last year. Hard to really get excited to watch a group like that play again.
I've seen this coming for awhile now and Hairball gets a contract extension and large bonus for their victory. Well done Day and Knowles....what a circus world.
College football is cyclical. We've been spoiled as Buckeye fans over this great run under Tressel and Meyer. Unfortunately, I believe that run has now come to its conclusion. I know my expectations going forward will now be tempered a bit. Day seems to be a decent guy but I just don't feel that he has that "dawg" in him like Saban, Meyer, Hairball and others. OSU is sliding into that "Tier 2" of college football after the results on the field. Nothing wrong with that as the Bucks will still be in the mix for New Years 6 games in the future, but the current bell cow of the B1G is Michigan with USC and Riley coming in and I don't see that changing in the near future with Day at the helm.
MilwaukeeBuck: I think you are right but its more substantive than that. I think the football cycle has moved. I think defenses have adapted to the RPO. I think 8 years ago that teams couldn't win if they couldn't score 50. And Dabo, and Saban were all running QB point focused. Now defenses have answered. I think Day's best shot was 2019. He missed. Now he must adapt and reimagine an offense that has a low gear to continue when points are hard to come by. Who's to say whether or not he will make the evolution.
The person on our offense playing with real fire in their belly is Hayden who won us the Maryland game with that fire and wasn't given much opportunity in the Michigan game.
Playing Trayanum and Xavier ahead of him was insane.
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I hate this feeling.
TBDSNITL: The best damn screen name in the land!
I don't buy this comparison at all! Stupid to even mention it Give the guy a chance he has been here 10.5 months. I watched his defenses play several times they were stifling fast physical defenses that would fit in any place. may have to make some personnel adjustments But give him a chance!
Easy now, Bob. I think Hoody was just making a comment about how much Don Brown and Coach Knowles look alike.
As you get older, three things happen: The first is your memory goes, and I can't remember the other two.
He had a chance to make adjustments in the Game and didn’t.
TTUN hit a couple of huge passes in the first half.
Despite that, no adjustments. Cover 0 and our guys on islands.
Continuous selling out for the run in the box so if that was breached, we were screwed- hence the exact same 2 Edwards runs to the house.
That is my issue with Knowles. He did nothing but sit back and stubbornly watch them destroy us with huge plays while we all screamed WTF?
Can he fix it? Sure. Why didn’t he do anything on Saturday then?
The ‘19 team was our best ever.
The stubbornness is fairly common with most coaches. Day with his persistence to a basic veer (stretch these days) and WR screens, when the defense is aligned and built for it and he keeps doing it.
#walkaway
College coaching is different than you coaching your kid in the youth league or even high school, Knowles has an a army of guys coaching positions under him, he asks these coaches to have their athletes ready to run what ever he calls, Saturday he asked these coaches to be ready to run zero coverage, it was obvious that the corners & safeties were not ready for this! I saw kids tackle with bad technique and bad fundamentals (the 1st TD) I saw kids bite up on the run and a WR run a simple route because the Safety got his head turned. These things happened and it on the position coaches. I'm not going to say Fire someone, I'm saying give Knowles the chance to correct these things!
Let’s bear in mind that Harbaugh went 0–7 before winning 2 games. So Ryan day at 1-2 still has a better win loss percentage.
We need to pump the brakes on the panic button, because even if Ryan day were to lose the next one, Day would still have a better win loss record than John Cooper. And as long as no one Beach John Cooper’s record in my lifetime I will die a happy man.
Knowles is using two WR’s at CB. They are not Chris Gamble. Kerry Coombs missing on Clark Phillips had massive implications for us.
McAllister was a stopgap fix. CJ and Styles will be better next year as 2nd years. Knowles needs real CB’s not converted stop gap players. It’s not like Burke and Browne haven’t been lost all year because I can tell you I’ve yelled at the screen for the entire year.
I think Ohio State fans don’t want to admit just how weak our secondary was and that it’s going to take more than just a great defensive coordinator to magically fix all of the problems. If I recall correctly Knowles said that they had only deployed like 20 to 25% of their playbook.
If I must choose between peace and righteousness, I choose righteousness! -Theodore Roosevelt.
Nope, not gonna read that lol
We can't stop here; this is bat country...
Sorry I use talk to type and ends up being more than I realize
If I must choose between peace and righteousness, I choose righteousness! -Theodore Roosevelt.
Thank you, Johnny. I knew you come through. Pulitzer I tell ya...
There is no harmony in this rivalry's refrain
From the Turds point of view, the Ohio State threat level is Low. We’ve got a lot of work to do.
Side note - I'm glad you posted this. While I had a strong hunch Ryan Day feels more burdened by the tradition here, rather than embracing it - this shit right here is exactly why the program has lost its identity.
There is no harmony in this rivalry's refrain
Hadn’t seen this.
Genuinely hurts.
How firm they friendship OHIO is - and should be treated as a magical thing.
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It does hurt. But there is so much more to extract from this short video: A young coach who rose to the top of the college football world very quickly, and now not able to handle the pressure of losing twice to a - on paper - inferior team, itching to get back to the locker room. A coach who has not slept well for days, if not weeks. A coach who visibly cannot handle the pressure of the TTUN week and game well, and showing his fears and frustrations to his players.
I do like coach Day a lot, and he could turn into a Saban. I also think that he does need coaching himself - not football coaching, but leadership coaching, perhaps from Tressel? He should be able to turn these tough times into learning opportunities.
Saban didn't become Saban until into his 50ies.
STscarlett
But Saban was not given an elite program on a silver platter. Alabama was down and out when he took over. He had proven himself at LSU. I was one of those “wait and see’ers” when Day became the HC and I am still in that category.
You need to see the whole clip, where Day is making sure the players stay.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nudr9xbrf3Q
Go Bucks!
-Beantown Buckeye
Thanks for posting this. I saw someone else mentioning that this was out there.
Thanks. Helps...
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Thank you for posting the whole video. Too often we share video clips that don’t include all the relevant data and we don’t get the full view just a slanted view that supports an opinion. I’ve mentioned it before I think on Twitter but I’ve met Day, spent almost 45m talking to him. It was when Meyer was hosting NPF’s family for his official.
I had to visit Pickerington for a funeral of her childhood friend, and on a whim I took my then 6 years old son up to campus to show him where I worked (MS&E so Maquigg, Fontana, Watts). We drove over to West campus and I noticed a lot of cars at the WHAC. Upon going to the door and seeing our OC, he opened the door like “who the heck are you”. I explained why I was there and my son quietly had unzipped his jacket and was wearing a JT Barrett jersey. When coach Day realized that we were fans his whole demeanor changed and he let us in to look at the trophies. After about 10 minutes it became apparent that I had a pretty broad background as a fan of Ohio State, my dad used to fly for the boosters, the ones that flew out to interview Cooper and tentatively interviewed Holtz (though it was never official), and Day asked my son “so you really like JT, do you know any other QB’s?”, and of course my son answered Dwayne Haskins.
He asked my son “Richie, how would you like to meet Dwayne?” My jaw drops when coach day open the facility doors and yelled for Haskins to come out to the lobby. Duane spent at least 15 minutes talking to my son and in the process my son met several other buckeyes, Togai, Cornell, Jaylen Jones, etc. I have about 30 pictures of him next to people. My son still has the Buckeye that Coach Hinton gave him as we left.
From what I saw, I think Ryan Day is the real deal. I am not someone who thinks we made a mistake, all great leaders have lost. That’s what made them great.
If I must choose between peace and righteousness, I choose righteousness! -Theodore Roosevelt.
Thanks for sharing this.
“If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.”
-Jack Handey
And every person who brushes this off or makes an excuse as to why this isn’t at least a little deal (if not a big deal) is contributing to what is destroying the identity of the Buckeye football program. History and tradition are the roots that bind this whole thing together. It’s what allows you to grab onto and pull yourself up off the mat when adversity hits. Upholding the standards and history of Buckeye Nation should be a way of life. If you’re gonna shit on tradition you damn well better implement some new traditions of your own that you believe in - and then hold your program to them.
Cuz without them, you end up with a bunch of 4 and 5 star individuals giving lip service every time they get in front of a mic - regurgitating what they've been told you want to hear - all the while not truly believing in the stuff they've been told to sell us.
There is no harmony in this rivalry's refrain
Wha did Day say? I can’t make it. Lol I’m older.
Seeing this pissed me off almost as much as losing. Now i think he has to go sooner than later
Boy, I got vision and the rest of the world wears bifocals! - Butch Cassidy
Not saying he has to go - just saying it hurts to see a coach not respect tradition. It’s such a beautiful part of the game… win or lose… you respect what Ohio (and friendship) means.
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This feels spot on and I hate admitting it.
I hear what these coaches say about the rivalry, but during the Tressel years and certainly with Urban the gravity of this game was truly felt and embraced and the pride that is associated with representing Ohio State on this grand stage and beating your rival was paramount. The tenor among this administration doesn’t seem to have the same ferocity and that’s reflected in their performance.
Attitude reflects leadership and seeing things like this makes me sick.
That is genuinely infuriating.
I didn't think I could get more pissed off about about Saturday, until now. I get that every one of those guys was upset about getting embarrassed again, but being a Buckeye matters. The fact that no one in that video seems to care speaks volumes.
We can't stop here; this is bat country...
You don't scorn traditions. Ryan Day should resign.
TBDSNITL: The best damn screen name in the land!
I don't know about that. I was in the camp that Day deserves the right to fix what is broken. But this video shows me that what's broken is a lot more than Cover 1/0 or Mesh routes or strength and conditioning. It was evident in the 4th quarter meltdown and it's even more evident after watching whatever the hell is on that video clip. You've got a hell of lot of work to do, Ryan.
We can't stop here; this is bat country...
Can I get a Bring Urban back, PLEASE!!!! This lil twitter video just streams it, quite frankly...
"There's nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you."
Woody Hayes
The whole clip shows Day calling on his players to stay out there for Carmen.
I can't imagine how disappointed he feels. Am I dissapointed, too? Of course... I am pissed we didnt make adjustments. I am pissed we didnt throw more vertically or use the tight end effectively, or throw to a RB out of the backfield. And pissed that we made undisciplined penalties. of course!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nudr9xbrf3Q
Go Bucks!
-Beantown Buckeye
Thanks for posting, Beantown Buckeye. +1.
The much shorter clip posted by @brrryani on Twitter is yet another example of something taken out of context.
@brrryani's post is deceptive and manipulative.
I should have known better. I was fooled. I reacted and posted without thinking. I was wrong to do so. And what I wrote about Day was wrong. I apologize to Ryan Day.
TBDSNITL: The best damn screen name in the land!
Thanks for posting this, BB.
Jim Harbaugh looks like a doofus, win or lose. So we have that going for us.
Lol! Silver lining
“If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.”
-Jack Handey
And boogers everywhere are not safe when Harbaugh is around so there’s that.
If I must choose between peace and righteousness, I choose righteousness! -Theodore Roosevelt.
I wasn’t sure you’d do a final Threat Level. Glad you did. Oh, and F those hosers.
I agree. Beating them next year will be tough. They will lose some key players as well. They will have edwards ,stokes and jj. We will have a different qb. Still a 5 star. Same Recievers and running backs. New faces on secondary so hopefully we can hit the portal on that. But like in 2001. You never know
Doug
The portal works both ways....unfortunately
Bbc11
Maybe our secondary is fine and we just need some new position coaches or shuffling them up a bit.
The ‘19 team was our best ever.
How do ALL the 4*'s look horrible? I have to believe its the coaching.
Bingo.
The ‘19 team was our best ever.
He ate some good boogers.
#walkaway
Any comparison between last year's beat down and this year's loss is ridiculous ..... from the opening kick off last year, both sides of the ball were kicked all over the field at will by TTUN .... take out the 5 long plays, which were the result of a missed tackle, a DB biting on a double move and a LB deflecting his gap responsibility and TTUN managed 92 yards rushing on 33 carries (2.7 ypc), a 50% completion rate and 166 yards passing - not really gaudy numbers ..... a loss because of player mistakes, poor discipline (a head butt - really ??) Is exactly that - a loss - no comparison to last year, as TTUN imposed their will on OSU .... so, take a deep breath, stand behind the team and let's see how things shake out ...
Glad to see someone else who gets it. Last year was the perfect storm for Michigan with lots of 5-6 year players, they physically imposed their will. CJ ran for his life all game. This year I was shocked at how much time CJ had. Michigan only had 10 yards rushing in the first half. This year it was a coaching fiasco. Last year Michigan got into Days head and it impacted him this year. Does he recover mentally?
Shatinkycat1
This is the correct take.
Well said. Two very different games.
"You ever hear of the saying "you run into an asshole in the morning, you ran into an asshole; you run into assholes all day, you're the asshole." - Raylan Givens
Tru dat....we as fans better get some damn perspective on this whole thing...Day was destroyed by this it's in his voice and posture he can't believe it happened we collectively need to dust our shit off get back up and figure this crap out....he can get after the coach side we can get after the fan side. I survived Cooper like a lot of you while hitting kegs and eggs every damn Saturday. I'm not torpedoing an 11 and 1 team and a coach that's 45 and 5 over all for 1 fucked up The Game...okay 2...get a hold of yourselves. He has the chance to adjust and Knowles deserves 2 or 3 years to get this D going with 1 down right now. He sees what happened let's see what an extension and 2 mil will get us. I do agree the fight went out at some point need to get back in the saddle GO UTAH...IF ONLY TO GET US BACK IN THE SADDLE....with nothing to lose! What are we ichigan fans or Vols fans unbelievable.
Bbc11
Great speech. It reminded me of the Bluto Blutarski “did America give up after the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?” speech from Animal House. Lol.
As you get older, three things happen: The first is your memory goes, and I can't remember the other two.
You could say that for probably 3 or 4 of our victories this year in that we made 4-5 key plays that turned the game (NW, Iowa, Maryland, Penn St). It all counts the same.
Should we discount the 2018 victory against scUM because we had a punt block for a TD, Parris jet sweep, Olave twice, and Johnnie Dixon all for big TD plays? They beat our asses both years it’s just that this year you could clearly see they shouldn’t have. We choked this year and/or quit. Last year they outmanned us.. Both years outcoached.
The players will always make mistakes and never play perfect so I hate blaming them, but scoring 3 points with our talent and allowing that many big plays on D is on the coaches.
We went from a blowout to getting blown out.
Who is to blame for that?
The ‘19 team was our best ever.
Plays go both ways. Alabama, the gold standard for college football, is two bad plays away from being undefeated and likely ranked 1. They are two other lucky plays away from being 8-4 and ranked in the mid 20s. Yes, this sucks, but I’m sure you’ve heard that football is a game of inches. It’s also a mental game. Anyone who thought our domination of the last two decades was never going to end was probably kidding themselves. Doesn’t mean we can’t begin a new streak, hopefully next year, but the sky isnt falling yet. We keep saying the players have become apathetic, but the fan base has as well. We just expect a win every year, but Michigan has (barf) become one of the best programs in the country. It took Harbaugh getting his teeth kicked in 5 times and ducking a 6th to make the changes.
Just win baby
It turns out that desire and talent aren’t enough to win big games. You have to execute.
The team was plenty motivated but didn’t make the necessary plays to win, on either side of the ball. You can’t give up over 300 yards on 5 plays defensively and only score 3 points in a half and expect to beat anyone.
“If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.”
-Jack Handey
And the penalties
Bbc11
You know who I saw with said desire, talent, and execution? Chip Trayanum and Xavier effin Johnson, and in X's case he's played that way since game one! I can't say that for the other 10 guys on the field or the defensive 11. Ryan Day choked after the 1st series and that scared mentality trickled down to the rest of the team.
"Put ya' weight on it"
I don't care if Michigan just hung 100 on them. Have some pride in Carmen Ohio.
Agreed.
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Agreed
Bbc11
He did. There's a link in these comments to a video that shows the entire context of that situation. Coach was reminding everyone to stay for Carmen and that they need to gather up for it. A reminder, there were several times during Urban's tenure when many of the players left the field and didn't sing Carmen after a loss. That short clip in the tweet is very misleading as to what the situation was. He was very frustrated about the result but he made sure the players stayed out for Carmen.
Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
We were expecting Ryan Day to fix this from over 12 months ago……
https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-state-football/2021/11/126527/nebras...
I tell you one thing that's not going to help. Next years home schedule is AWFUL. First time in my lifetime I've heard so many decades+ season ticket holders thinking ( for the first time) about not renewing. So many games will be up for sale well below face value..
Although I suppose that's a part of the dea these daysl. That Michigan Illinois game had THOUSANDS of empty seats.
Go Bucks!!
Getting tickets BELOW face value would be great for me!
Nothing is too difficult for the person that doesn't have to do it.
If a bunch tickets are going for less than face next year maybe I will actually be able to go to a game. I haven't been in the shoe for a non-spring game since 2004.
Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
The 2022 Buckeyes are reminiscent of John Cooper’s last two teams at Ohio State. His teams we’re undisciplined, could care less about winning the Game, had no heart, and flat out quit. Ryan Day has much work to do to remedy this culture.
Does he have it in him? I am looking now at Ohio State notching a third straight loss against SCUM next season to go 1-3 and getting closer to Cooper’s record.
This...and it shows the ppl born before this time. Bc they don't get RD could very well be the next Cooper.
"There's nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you."
Woody Hayes
Has anyone been hearing of this so called "country club" culture that exists with Day in the Woody since the game? If it does, then that has to be changed.
But what else? Right up front, Day must give up the play calling on offense. Give Wilson the keys and/or bring in an offensive analyst. What about Tom Herman for that? Another factor? Strength and conditioning. Does Mickey Mariotti need to go?
We saw all the red flags here from the very beginning. The CB play never improved after the ND game (and that 1st play in the game where they completed that 50 plus yard pass). The conservative play calling and the god awful bubble screens.
And when you have CJ commenting after the game “I don’t think one game defines us. I don’t think this game defines our team". The game does define you, Ask JT Barrett here and Troy Smith who went a combined 7-0.
It starts with the Coaching. And Day and his staff need to do a serious eval this offseason
"Just remember one thing. I can do your job, but you can't do mine." - Woody Hayes to an OSU professor
/eyeroll
Round on the ends and "HI" in the middle. O-HI-O.
You ain't clever! YOU. YOU. YOU. You got nothin'.
TBDSNITL: The best damn screen name in the land!
At least we scored more against Michigan than we did against ND or North Western.
Losing to Michigan is unacceptable and inexcusable. Day is officially on a short leash. I can see where this is heading because it’s happened before.
Hopefully it doesn’t take 12-13 years to do something about it. Like Coombs, he’s a great position coach.
As you get older, three things happen: The first is your memory goes, and I can't remember the other two.
There's way too much riding on this new media deal.
Day better think hard. NOW.
If Day has ANY doubt about beating scum, in 2023. Any doubt. Day better get out. NOW...
TBDSNITL: The best damn screen name in the land!
Didn't realize you had so much riding on the B1G media deal.
;-{)}
Yeah, the more clips I see of Day after the game (which I didn't see live because I couldn't stomach watching any more after the last INT from Stroud), the more I realize this clown just isn't going to get it done. He doesn't have a resilient bone in his body and just looks like some spineless character that got time-warped into this century straight out of "Leave it to Beaver".
I hope he proves me wrong, but until he does I'd bet my every last donut that he doesn't (If was was actually a gambling man).
Not sure what you were getting at but you take that shit back about The Cleavers.
Life is short. Filled with stuff.
The Cleavers were a fine American family - when TV was still being viewed in B&W.
Nobody is happy about losing Saturday or losing two in a row to these fuckheads but before everyone runs Day out of town let’s objectively evaluate the situation. TTUN hadn’t won in Columbus in 22 years before Saturday. Did we really believe they would never win again in the shoe? If someone would have told you after the 2000 game that they wouldnt win again in Columbus until 2022 would you have believed them? Probably not. Until last year we had won 9 in a row and I’m including 2020 where we all know they pussed out and faked covid which makes us 18-4 over the last 22 games. Pretty damn good and as much as we hate those cocksuckers they’re not Northwestern, Indiana, or Rutgers. They’ve won alot of games in their history even though they haven’t won an undisputed natty since Truman was president. In the 100 plus years of this rivalry both programs have gone on runs which is simple probability and law of averages. Now this being said, Day is paid alot of money to figure out how to fix this shit and not let these fuckers go on a Cooperesque run. I think Knowles did a good job this year masking the defensive shit show he inherited from the last two years and obviously there is alot of work to do. We have obviously missed on our defensive back recruiting and Day has to get into the portal and get some help immediately after the season ends. Im certain nobody feels any worse about this than Day and he is not dumb. He will make the necessary changes to get this defense back to Buckeye standards as both last years and this years loss are primarily due to complete failures of the defense.
Tim Weaver
YES!! Dude 75% of Ohio State Fans are Childish, Spoiled, Idiots that think they know football and how a team should be ran. They are really stupid, crying, whiny assholes, who think Ohio State should never lose a game in any sport or it takes time to get a philosophy installed. Any time Ohio State gets behind they are ready to fire everyone from Gene Smith to the Trainers. I bet they are all perfect at work and at home!!
F*** your bullshit, Homes.
JTatumCCS
Spoken like a real winner
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“They are really stupid, crying, whiny assholes”
As part of this 75% I’d like to welcome you to the club of “whiny assholes”.
We’ll get over it. One day. Maybe. I can deal with the Clemson, Iowa, Purdue, Michigan State, Bama, and Oregon losses but seeing Jim Harbaugh smile makes we fuckin vomit.
I can only speak for myself, but it is absolutely, 1000% not because we lost to Michigan. They are a very good team and obviously they were able to beat us. I could have accepted a well-played, hard fought loss. That's not what happened on Saturday. The last two quarters were the worst 30 minutes of Ohio State football that I've ever seen. Drops, penalties, missed tackles, blown coverages, mistakes on fake punts that would have turned the game around, etc. I don't want to say that the team "quit" because some guys were playing hard. But it sure looked like the team melted when the hest got turned up. THAT is why I'm upset, not because we lost a game to Michigan. Wins are earned, not given, but we had every advantage on Saturday and still lost by 22.
We can't stop here; this is bat country...
I agree with you 100%. I was at the game and we were all honestly excited at halftime. We'd stopped their run game. Their two TDs were because of a missed tackle/all out blitz and a poor coverage by a second-teamer. Then we just did not show up for the second half.
If you looked on the field throughout the second half, there weren't a lot of leaders out there. The only guys I saw who were really jacked up were JTT, Sawyer, Stover, Wypler, and Curry on special teams. These teams the last two years just haven't had "that guy" (Barrett, Fields, Mangold, Hawk, Boren,...). You know, the guy who simply WON'T LOSE, especially to those assholes up north. And, as much as people here don't like it, that's where your Ohio-bred players can be of benefit. A lot of those players quit in the fourth quarter.
I'd like to see Day be as ruthless with the players as he's been with his coaches. If you're not good enough and tough enough, transfer. If there's a guy in the transfer portal who's better than who we have, go get him. If you don't have the right attitude, sit your ass on the bench.
Nothing is too difficult for the person that doesn't have to do it.
Totally agree, on all points. I suddenly have a much greater appreciation for Joe Thomas Barret IV and Justin Freaking Fields. We don't have "that guy" on this team.
We can't stop here; this is bat country...
Think about Fields getting hurt in Ann Arbor, limping back into the game, and immediately throwing a TD pass to Garrett Wilson. Or, getting smashed in the ribs by a Clemson player and proceeding to throw multiple TD passes against them. That's a leader who has a willingness to win. We need that type of leader.
Nothing is too difficult for the person that doesn't have to do it.
Did we really believe they would never win again in the shoe?
Yes.
FYI-
Day brought in Knowles last season to fix the defense.
That was already supposed to be taken care of.
Day isn’t responsible for the defensive failures this season, that’s 100% on Knowles.
It was game 12 and he knew our personnel and what we were facing.
He had a year to prepare.
Don’t blame Day for that.
Day has to fix the offense and culture, not the defense.
The ‘19 team was our best ever.
Let's be honest, the offense should have had at least three more TDs on that scoreboard by halftime. The offense has not looked good for several weeks--against lesser competition, and a QB that either A.) Refuses to run or B.) Has been coached not to run has been a very big disservice to offensive production. If you are going to have a pure pocket passer, the run game needs to be a lot better.
I can't get on Knowles because he did the best he could with what he had, and the corners particularly just have not been that good. And there has been progress, but he needs another year or two to get the players that fit his system.
Do you guys remember what Jim Tressel and Urban Meyer made as their first commitment to Ohio State Football? To close the borders of Ohio and keep guys like John Simon, Troy Smith any of the guys who were PLAYERS not Great Athletes but wanted to win for Ohio and developed into Great Buckeyes through work and were leaders. Can you tell me who the vocal and by example leaders of this team are? What players play like their hair is on fire like Vrabel or Fickel?? Can anyone name who leads in the gym for workouts or who stay after practice and put in the extra time to make themselves better? Do you remember where Hawk, Carpenter, Simon, Hartline, Ginn are all from? Do you ever see anyone getting in a huddle grabbing a face mask and willing them to get better or get off the field on 3rd down? This team Has No Leaders on the field!
I think people pay too much attention to the W/L record and not enough at the scores. Yes, OSU won 16 (or 17 depending on how you look at it) of 19 from 2001 - 2019. And, there were absolutely periods where it felt useless for UM to even show up like the Rich Rod years and 2019 & 2020. But, there were a heck of a lot of games in there that UM very easily could have won. At least half of those 16 wins were by one score or less and several endings involved close officiating calls that went against UM that lead to eventual game winning TDs for OSU. Now, that's not an excuse to say UM should have won the game. But, it is a good reason to say these felt like winnable games for UM and they just missed. It didn't feel inevitable that OSU would keep winning forever until like 2020. But, I will say it made many UM fans begin to recognize some built in advantages OSU has such as being the only P5 school in their state, the only OH school in the B1G, having more in-state talent, not having another program like ND on their border, and only having one rival instead of 3. That means UM will have to do more to get the same amount of talent and may never realistically be more talented than OSU for any long stretch of time assuming OSU has a decent coach.
This is precisely why I've been banging my drum about why the playoffs need to expand. You could in theory be both the #2 in the division and the #3 team in the country some years in the B1G East and it seems fundamentally unfair to have one of the top teams in the country essentially blocked from post season play just because UM & OSU just happen to play each other the last game of the year since eternity.
That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.
Well that is going to happen Next!
Good analysis. You are absolutely correct that during the Buckeyes dominance of this century many of those wins couldve easily gone the other way. 02, 05, 06, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17 all close hard fought games which a play here or there go the other way. And of course blowouts in 08, 10, 18, and 19 and unfortunately the other way the last two years. The fact that the Buckeyes have dominated in the win loss column this century has led many in our fanbase to develop a false sense that TTUN will never win again much less two in a row. And of course now that the history of this series has repeated itself like history always does these same fans are ready to burn down the whole damn thing.
Tim Weaver
It’s terrifying when a Michigan fan is one of the few on here who is rational about this. I’m the first to admit, I spent the better part of a 5 hour drive home from watching the game with my family cursing Ryan day and his entire family tree, but after actually thinking on it I’ve settled down and put it into perspective. Of course this was bound to happen eventually, no streak at any level of sports lasts forever, and Harbaugh took his lumps before making the needed changes to actually build an elite team. Do Day and The rest of the staff need to make changes? Clearly, and that may mean bringing in better position coaches, recruiting different types of players, hitting the portal, I don’t know. What I do know is that the fans who want to burn the whole program down and start from scratch are insane. We would be just as likely to end up as the next Texas as we would be the next Alabama doing that. Sure, he’s on a short leash, and the deck will be stacked against him next year with a much harder road schedule. If true, noticeable improvement and changes aren’t obvious then sure, put him on the hot seat, but maybe everyone should step away from the ledge for a little bit.
Just win baby
I get what you're saying about the scores being close, but in the end the results matter. John Cooper often lost close, but that doesn't mean he's looked upon fondly here.
I think results should cause us to reflect on our process. If there is a problem with the process, then yes make changes that are more likely to impact the results. But, when the process is on point and you merely lose a close game that little tweaks or a 50/50 call could have changed the outcome, then realize it's just bad luck and don't make wholesale changes.
That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.
Not to be “that guy” but Notre Dame is in a state that borders Ohio. So yea, we are fighting ND and Michigan for the same recruits. But your analysis is very good.
Buckeye football isn’t every thing on Saturday. It’s the only thing on Saturday
ND is in South Bend, IN. Yes, Ohio borders Indiana, but South Bend is not sitting on the border to Ohio. South Bend sits on the border to Michigan in the same way Toledo borders MI. This is why Toledo has lots of UM fans and Southwestern Michigan has lots of ND fans. There is a difference.
That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.
Hopefully OSU gets another shot at them in January. A National Championship with a regular season loss to the SkunWeasels will still suck. We need to play them again. The National Championship game could become The Game part 2. CJ, JSN, Williams and Treyveon will be healthy and need redemption.
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
I thought CJ said he wasn’t sure if he was playing in the bowl game?
As you get older, three things happen: The first is your memory goes, and I can't remember the other two.
He is not sure if he will play in a non CFP game. I presumed that meant he is not sure if he is coming back or not. I think that loss is eating at him more than we think.
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
When Stanford was in a horrible slump they fired their coach after a 1 - 11 season. They hired Jim Harbaugh from San Diego State of San Jose State or somewhere. The first thing he said when he got to Palo Alto was 'we're going to build a Bully". It took a few years but that's exactly what he did and soon Stanford was beating USC's ass in Los Angeles.
Then Harbaugh decamped to the NFL . San Francisco. Not a bad move. Went to the Super Bowl. Maybe his style didn't translate well to the NFL. He wouldn't be the first (looking at you, Nick Saban).
Then he came to Michigan where the cupboard was really bare. He followed Lloyd ('why recruit?') Carr, Rich Rodriguez ( who built a team of fast little guys who routinely got their asses kicked in the B1G) and then, sigh, Brady Hoke. It took him 5 years of withering abuse, a salary "reconstruction" and misery but, yeah, guess what, there's a Bully in the B1G Ten now and it's name is not Ohio State.
Ryan Day seems like a nice guy. He gives good press conference. He says the right things. But next year he has to take Our Boys to Ann Arbor and face down the Bully. If he can do it, great. If he can't, Happy Trails, Mr. Nice Guy.
Down vote the shit out of me. I couldn't care less.
JTatumCCS
Unfortunately I think you are dead on with your analysis. I think it took jimmy a lot longer than the TTUN fanbase had expected when he was hired but it appears based on the last two years that he has finally arrived. Day has got to respond with no exception next year in AA or this could get out of hand again. And a side benefit for jimmy now that he has finally broken through is that I would expect his recruiting to really improve. His recruiting classes based on the ratings have been significantly lower than ours since his arrival.
Tim Weaver
Nope, not downvoting the truth. Football really isn't complicated. Day coaches like it is.
OSUAlumInAZ
It’s a nice story and all but it ends with getting destroyed in the playoffs after nearly a decade in misery.
No thanks.
Day has his issues for sure but we are building national championship contenders here, not striving to win a down B1G and stop there.
TTUN is built to do what they did and then run out of gas. They don’t have another level.
Day is building something that is bigger and faster than that that has more levels to compete with the most elite teams each year.
He has failed this season for sure, so far at least.
But let’s see what he does to correct it.
I am not 100% all-in on him like I was before but I think he can fix this.
The ‘19 team was our best ever.
That's why the 2020 forfeit was sad. Brilliant move on his part to avoid losing by 50 and going 0-6. There was no way he survives that and he knew it. He had to announce a "spirited practice" on Sunday to rub it in how he got over OSU.
CJ Stroud has amazing arm talent and will likely be an NFL starter someday. But in the college game., I would rather have JT Barrett.
puddy
Worst db performance I've ever seen by an Ohio State team. Michigan owns the Big now; Ryan, you own this loss buddy.
OSUAlumInAZ
I know this won't be popular, but it appears that CJ and company turned this football team into some sort of religious experience where everything they did they felt the need to praise their god as if he was showing them favor over their opponents.
And, they actually believed he was on their side until Michigan showed them he wasn't. Then, they didn't know what to do and quit.
Enough of that. There's a time and place for that and it isn't in public and especially not on the football field. All that did was distract from the fight in front of them and likely prepared them less for battle.
I sure hope whatever qb is up next throws whatever notes they were taking from CJ in the trash and becomes their own person. Hug your teammates. Celebrate with them and be a good, tough football player that leads by example on the field.
Read about our 1975 team and how Cornelius Greene rallied them with a prayer. It did anything but distract them from the fight. It united them.
Waiting to see how the CFP pans out after the conference championships...... Sliver of hope and wouldnt it be poetic justice if Ohio St beats TTUN for the National Championship? Thats the stuff that is legendary, like winning the National Championship with the third string QB.
CBus love
I’m getting there it would be a nice one last shot at redemption. That would atone for the short comings!
And a second loss in a month would make campus implode on itself like the house at the end of Poltergeist...
Priority #1: Beat Michigan
I agree with the Buckeyes giving up. You know why they gave up? Because they feel they are allowed to heck, look at Day on the sideline when the chips are down he’s a sad panda not an angry win hungry SOB that he needs to be. The team looks like a culture that allows mental mistakes and 99% of you effort 99% of the time not 110% of your effort 110% of the time and reaching deep every snap in practice and beyond. Our High School team one year had a T shirt that had MTEXE on it meaning Mental Toughness Equals Extra Effort. These guys with the exception of a few are riding their talent and when pressed hard enough give up instead of reaching deeper to find something that might could make a difference. They aren’t being held to the standard of perfection, zero penalties, anything less than more than your best effort, you sit. It starts with the coaches to develop and inspire the sum of the parts to be greater than the whole (especially in college football), which it seems is now lacking.
Johnny,
I've been reading your weekly Threat Levels since early in the 2021 season. My god have I enjoyed them. I know the purpose of the column is comedic with a sprinkle of legitimate analysis, but I've felt that for two years (up until the week before the game both years) you've mostly dismissed Michigan's success and Harbaugh et al.'s coaching prowess.
Perhaps you can find a sliver of joy or relief or something in knowing that one Michigan alum (and perhaps others) enjoy reading these every week. Glad the rivalry is competitive again. See you next year.
go blue
I'd even go one step further, just because I was a math major in college. Threat Level: Uncountably Infinite.
Love your columns!
Go Bucks!
OSUAlumInAZ
The UM arrogance is back. Every OSU discussion on twitter has UM fans running their mouths now. Just really sad that it took Day only 2 years to destroy what Tressel and Meyer took 17 years to build.
Ryan day should’ve been packing his bags right after the game.
Caleb nause
Ryan day should’ve been packing his bags right after the game.
Caleb nause
Y’all have deserved this for far too long. You won’t win next year, don’t think about it. You don’t deserve to. Your pompous arrogance assumes it’s your right to win every year. Ohio played great yesterday in the trenches it just didn’t materialize into victory . Something finally changed for Michigan last year and it’s not stopping anytime soon. Good luck in your bowl .
Try
Lol y’all just lucky we have a incompetent coach if urban didn’t cower out or if we got a real coach Jim harbaugh would still be on the sideline eating buggers in shock every year.
Caleb nause
If we would’ve had tressel and meyer they would’ve made arrogant pricks like J.J McCarthy cry.
Caleb nause
"Because right now it looks like the Buckeyes are one USC upset away from getting in anyway (not that's something I actually want right now)"
I feel you Johnny. And it's not because I won't cheer for these guys if they backdoor into the CFP. It's that I just watched these dudes and their head coach flat out give up and lay down and die in the 4th quarter just like last year. Hard to really get excited to watch a group like that play again.
"We didn't play with enough force tonight"
I've seen this coming for awhile now and Hairball gets a contract extension and large bonus for their victory. Well done Day and Knowles....what a circus world.
Saban on a cart eating cold pizza
College football is cyclical. We've been spoiled as Buckeye fans over this great run under Tressel and Meyer. Unfortunately, I believe that run has now come to its conclusion. I know my expectations going forward will now be tempered a bit. Day seems to be a decent guy but I just don't feel that he has that "dawg" in him like Saban, Meyer, Hairball and others. OSU is sliding into that "Tier 2" of college football after the results on the field. Nothing wrong with that as the Bucks will still be in the mix for New Years 6 games in the future, but the current bell cow of the B1G is Michigan with USC and Riley coming in and I don't see that changing in the near future with Day at the helm.
MilwaukeeBuck: I think you are right but its more substantive than that. I think the football cycle has moved. I think defenses have adapted to the RPO. I think 8 years ago that teams couldn't win if they couldn't score 50. And Dabo, and Saban were all running QB point focused. Now defenses have answered. I think Day's best shot was 2019. He missed. Now he must adapt and reimagine an offense that has a low gear to continue when points are hard to come by. Who's to say whether or not he will make the evolution.
"we ain't come to play school"
It's hard to equate such a loss to UM after they (UM) snatched victory from the jaws of defeat the week before. Is Illinois that much better than OSU?
The person on our offense playing with real fire in their belly is Hayden who won us the Maryland game with that fire and wasn't given much opportunity in the Michigan game.
Playing Trayanum and Xavier ahead of him was insane.