THE SITUATIONAL: Film Study from Hell

Screw Michigan. That’s all I got. 

the tone at the end really helped, THANKS! 

The way Day blew up the defense last ear gives me a modicum of hope that he might just relinquish the pla calling to Wilson upstairs. It seems like something that would clear up the issues.

Thank you for these masterful quotes, and I can tell you're my age, Ramzy. I'm glad you get it...

"OSU won the analytics contest. Maybe we should start a Gold Cargo Shorts tradition to celebrate."

"If you're hired to lead Ohio State's football program, a full indoctrination into the Michigan rivalry is required onboarding - especially for an interloper from, say, Tennessee or New Hampshire.

Reader, if you think that's dramatic or cringey you must be from somewhere else. You do not get it. And that's fine, you're allowed to be an infidel in Ohio State's toxic football religiousphere. Ohio State's head coach is not. That's a showstopper."

Love everything about this.  I will read it at least 10 times today.  My mind won’t stop replaying everything but this summarizes all the feels for me.  Thanks as always.  Go Bucks.  May this never happen again.

I find it really hard to believe that Knowles didn't review the Mich tape from the 2021 game.

Great read!

Was hoping after a victory this weeks The Solo would have been Pop goes the weasel by 3rd Base. 
Unfortunately, I got the Gas Face. 
Don’t worry your pretty little heads Dudes and Beckys, it’s going to get better. 

Thank you Ramzy y Kyle 

Go Buckeyes 

Beat Michigan 

What a well done piece - sad that it had to be written but will be the ultimate treatise on this game.  Go Utah…

It was very spot on - the game was my girls first TTUN game and my oldest was 13-0 going into this game - and she left 13-1… the sinking feeling start with with her about halfway through the second quarter and she wasn’t even as angry as she was after the 2019 Fiesta Bowl - this was just shock combined with disgust and disappointment- but also knowing - this game was a total domination.  
 

My oldest. Emerosn, had an interesting perspective since she herself is a high level golfer for her age - she felt the team was waiting for someone else to make a play - just not them… and she’s to young to know this - but it ‘‘twas the same as it was in ‘96…

the moment for me was not quite the botched fake punt - it was the 3rd and 3 before the Xavier Johnson Jetscreen that failed - there was a tv timeout due to a UM injury.  Stroud was tossing passes on the sideline while Day and the rest of the offense was dialing up the play???  Excuse me - why isn’t CJ in the middle of this at the time.  I remember the 4th and 14 v Miami - Krenzel wasn’t warming up on the sidelines (though he may have needed to more than CJ ever did) he was discussing the plays with Tressel… to me that moment told me all I needed to know.

Ohio State - with Ryan day - needs a Czar of football.  I propose we hire Speilman or JT or even Urban to fill this role to add in the details and passion we need.

Essentially- TTUN took a long look in the mirror in 2020 and basically made their program a carbon copy of Tresselball - and if it didn’t involve beating us to a pulp with less talented players - it’s a real site to see.

Thank you for this, Ramzy.  As someone who grew up in Central Ohio, spent 8 years at OSU, and has been watching The Game since 1968, I am completely behind your perspective on The Rivalry and what it means. My biggest fear has always been OSU losing it's "edge" and not taking The Game with the seriousness, intensity, & gravity it deserves.  I still have "Post-Traumatic Cooper Stress Syndrome".  Can we make sure your article winds up in Day's hands?

And now I'm going to go re-read it.  Excellent work.

I kept wondering how many times Michigan was going to get away with lining up a freshman on Marvin Harrison Jr in press man. As many times as they wanted after that final score in the 2nd half apparently.

I don't understand running the ball and scheming to get 1 on 1 matchups that you don't take advantage of. It's weird.

I was wondering what the hell happened with that punt.  How dumb.

That first clip was sort of the same thing we saw with one of their long TD runs... where another defender isn't going 100% because he thinks someone else has the play managed.. In that clip notice how Sawyer lets up a little, and then when he realizes Brown whiffs, kicks it back into gear and just misses.. if he just plays to the whistle he probably makes the tackle for a 10 yard gain...

I still don't mind the cover 0....... but if you are going to do it, as seen in the clip, it's GOT TO BE something a beat faster than Ransom getting the free shot. That's the difference.. when Denzel Ward at 4.3 would get a free shot he'd get home... Ransom is mid 4.5 guy.... that's all the world in coverage zero..

Same thing we saw with Sawyer we saw with Burke.. where he is sort of jogging thinking Ransom has Edwards, and when Ransoms misses he then kicks into gear..

That's just discipline.... playing to the whistle... not silver bullets.. all just go back to lack of team discipline imo.. that's on the head coach.

Go Bucks!!!

It would be beneficial for Day and Knowles to read this write-up....they probably have a little more spare time now unfortunately.

I would be curious from anyone posting who was at the GAME on Saturday, preferably in C deck, as to whether ANYONE was getting open on passing plays.  Despite Ramzy's (nice work today, btw) assertion that 2 of TTUN's DBs "sucked" , every time I saw a pass play it seemed Michigan's DB were draped all our over MHJr, EE or Fleming.  No YAC and every pass seemed contested.  So....what exactly WAS open?

"If you gash them with a running play, run it again. If your Biletnikoff finalist makes a catch, target him again. If something starts working, hammer that button until it breaks, because it breaks their spirit. There's no reward for randomizing things."

So true. 

I was hoping for Clemson 2020 and instead got Clemson 2019 (minus the bad reffing). 

Day needs to see himself as the CEO, like was said. Hand over the keys, hire the right people, and OBSESS over the details. Hire as many analysts as is needed to statistically and mathematically prove what is and isn't effective and what needs to change. 

OSU didn't get outmuscled like it did a year ago. They were plenty tough and didn't sleep walk into this game. And they still got crushed because they weren't technically sound and failed to execute when it matters most. They were not prepared to win and it showed big time. 

The talent is there. The will is there. Put it all together, Coach Day. 

This is the one we've all been waiting for. Can someone sit Coach Day down in front of a laptop and make him read this? I think a reality check is in order. 

Lot of anger and finger pointing in this write up. Shit happens. 

The defense was 3 tackles away from reducing the yards total to 300 yards and 21 points (the pass where Brown misses the tackle and the 2 long Edwards runs) - the other 2 long passes were players getting beat, period. The Edwards runs were the D selling out to try and get into the backfield etc as well/

Offense was the issue as if they had taken advantage in the 1st half and continued to score in the 2nd it would had been different. This was not the same as last year at all, the D didnt get bullied around, the O line did a good job. The game plan on Offense was not sound. Over the last 2 years, while Stroud has statistically produced, the defenses are able to jump routes, minimize separation and limit the Offenses effectiveness and only through vastly superior wide receiver talent are the plays working. teams are seeing the film and able to diagnose the plays quickly and stay with the recievers. There isnt enough CHANGE and variation going on at this time. They need new blood in the offense to shake things up. Whether it be a play caller, or something else, they need that to keep the defenses guessing more

The Cheesecake Factory analogy for the offense is so unbelievably apt, but most especially the running game.

Our offense seems to be a little but of everything instead of sticking to a simple scheme that our players can execute out of a variety of formations. The result is a running game where our players are a tenth of a second slow, which is a tenth of a second too slow in The Game.

This is probably the best article all week.  No, actually the best article all year,.  

KUDOS!  GO BUCKS!

This is exactly the article this fanbase needs. Thank you, Ramzy and Kyle.

There is a time and place (situational) for an element of trickery in The Game that includes unsung players.  TTUN ran a RB jump pass using a converted LB for a big gain and first down. However, it needs to be the exception, not the rule.

For Day, it seems like his play-calling is more focused on the play itself and not what the defense is doing.  In the clip above (Swing pass to X Johnson), CJ needs to audible to the run call (or hand it off if it's an RPO). That's at least 5-7 yds if he hands it off. I completely agree that Coach Day needs to give up the play-calling.

"Day forfeited the advantages of flawless weather, superior star talent"

(this isn't meant to be a smartass post/question) - but why is superior talent brought up so much? OSU has better WRs, that's clear, and a great QB. That's where Ohio State is better than Michigan - but where else on the field is the talent different or superior to Michigans? It sure isn't on either line, LBs, or DBs.

Star ratings from recruiting sites are an estimate, but if players are not getting coached, potential and star rating doesn't matter - it's literally all about performance on the field, and I think it's pretty clear that Michigan performs at all levels as well and mostly better than Ohio State.

Interesting reading this and hearing film breakdowns by some others (full disclosure: Ross Fulton on Twitter and Menace2Sports). Reason I even listened to Zach's show was because he had Gareon Conley on to give his perspective of what he saw.

tl;dr: Biggest takeaways from Smith for offense and Conley about the defense was it was CJ's lack of stepping up in biggest games and Defensive secondary being lost:

OFFENSE:

They think it's not Day as a playcaller as much as it is just Stroud (they didn't disparage him so curb your urge you haterz)... not fair to compare him to Justin Fields either, but they think the offense is actually better in some respects than what Justin had, but clearly have see regression in 3rd down and red zone with Stroud vs Fields (no mention of whether or not it was because Justin was better at RPO and knew when to keep and run) - interesting stats were thrown out as both were in Day's offense for 2 years (3 total for Stroud):

CJ vs Fields as 2 year starters (with emphasis on big game performances

*They felt Fields had an even more difficult road in that 3 of the 6 were against CFP teams (Clemson x2 + Bama)

Their conclusion is CJ hasn't been as good as needed to win in those 6 games (why did CJ not take shots to MHJ in single coverage whereas Bryce and Caleb have shown they are willing to take those shots) - so more of a lack of mental toughness. Physical skills are there.

- My opinion in all this... why is Day not coaching more of the need for mental toughness into CJ? Why is he, himself calling plays that don't accentuate MHJ like we did with JSN in the bowl game? Only Day knows...

DEFENSE:

Gareon was so good at painting a picture of what it was like during his time. Basically, it was as I posted before that there was an discomfort and edginess due to Urban having the asshole factor. Not going to keep typing this as it is elsewhere. 

Of note, in his opinion, IT WAS NOT THAT KNOWLES CALLED THE WRONG PLAY BY RUNNING COVER ZERO. He mentioned that when he played they played PRESS QUARTERS where DBs had NO HELP ALL GAME, and they would run it like that almost 7+ times a game, so even though Knowles used cover zero 11+ times, in his analysis, the DBs and Safetys did not understand their assignment NOR did they use the proper technique, so it wasn't the playcall, in his opinion, it's the lack of understanding the playcall, their assignment, and using proper technique (eg, Brown press-bailing on a cover zero was not what DBs are taught to do - he was just supposed to 1. tackle him or 2. reroute him towards the pursuit - ie towards his teammates in middle of field, not sideline). He also had criticism for what Ransom was doing, too.

- My opinion: DBs/Safetys are not on same page with what Knowles is calling or want to do... that lack of confidence has had them failing all season but bailed out by front 7 a lot... exposed.

Anyhoo.... it is what it is, but looks like 'experts' are pointing to this being CJ Stroud's fault on offense even though the Head Coach will always have to take the blame... for Defense, I'm wondering if Knowles doesn't feel like he can work with the coaches brought in by Day... whatever the case is, that ish needs to be fixed not just for post-season, but for as long as he is DC.

That’s a lot of words to basically say K.I.S.S. Keep it simple stupid. Like, if trayanum is running well then keep running him til they do something different to stop him. Or maybe like, if the pass rush isn’t getting home after a handful of tries then maybe it’s a good idea to mind your deep third in case it happens again. I’m ok with using less heralded players to make a play that’s unexpected. Didn’t harbaugh use a lb’er at rb to throw a pass by simply running him straight up the middle one time early in the game? I don’t think day is cooper even if this has some cooper-like similarities but I’m sure if the wordsmiths keep saying it enough it might very well be spoken into existence in the minds of the faithful followers. I’m just not sure what that accomplishes in the end. 

Some coworkers and I were talking about this very subject. Since Saturday, I've been saying that Day doesn't truly understand the Rivalry, and until this morning it didn't dawn on me that he couldn't possibly understand it like those of us who have lived it. He called plays, especially in the 2nd half, like a man who was concerned with the prestige, or embarrassment, bestowed upon coaches as a result of the game, not as a man who wanted to win because he hated to see ttun win. I'm not sure that Day can learn it, but after 2 years of listening to Harbaugh gloat (which he's 100% entitled to), if he doesn't have a greater understanding now, I fear that he never will. 

And yet scUM didn't beat us with Blake Corum or Schoonmaker or Ronnie Bell.  This Coco guy and a sucky JJ and an injured Dononvan Edwards, plus a cast of no-name DBs handed us our lunch.  Sometimes Ramzy's a great read, and I agree with some points like the criminal failure to involve Marvin more, but Ramzy drama often doesn't hold up when analyzed.

"This brings me to my biggest takeaway from The Game: Ryan Day needs to give up calling plays for this team."

Could not agree more with this.  I have never liked HC's that call the offense or defense.  Their job is to be in charge of the team.  If you are calling plays for one side of the ball, how can you interact with the opposite during the game, while the game is going on and not just at halftime?  It is a team sport and the HC should be involved with the whole team.

Damn this article is painful.  The loss always hurts so much, but when it is brought upon ourselves, it is in fact, demoralizing and psychologically damaging.

Ramzy and Kyle, thank you for this absolute masterpiece.

I think I've been too hard on Stroud but somehow way too easy on Day.

I feel like he's not going to give up play calling, so will be interesting to see where we go from here

2) strategic overthinking

Speaking of overthinking, this play was horribly frustrating to watch. They had just completed a long pass to Egbuka and had a little bit of momentum. Then on 3rd and 4 from the 10 yard line they take ~25 seconds of the play clock subbing players off and on to set up a play. And that play looks like it poorly fakes both a handoff and jet sweep while only one TE and one WR go beyond the line of scrimmage. So Stroud ends up having to throw it off his back foot to the corner of the endzone after Stover finally made his way across the field. We almost desperately need 4 yards and we're going run that play?

It almost worked, but that can't possibly be a play with a high success rate.

This Ohio State team is so poorly coached and undisciplined.  I was in denial all season long because I generally trust Day but you can't argue he routinely makes the wrong decisions in down & distance + special teams situations.  Against Maryland and at least one other time this year, the Buckeyes lined up to go for 2 after a touchdown, took a false start penalty, and each time Day then sent the FG team back on the field instead of going for 2 from farther out.  You could argue that this bled over into the Fake Punt call on Saturday.  The team is so poorly coached that the F'ng Center, after a 5 yard penalty, doesn't even know the GD play call.  The fake was well designed by the OSU coaches, but how dysfunctional do you have to be not to be able to hit that in the biggest game of the year?  And furthermore, why aren't you just going for the 4th and 5 with your Heisman QB and your Biletnikoff WR?  It's totally disorganized and embarrassing, especially on special teams, where Day is completely lost.  Why are they taking all these penalties on high-leverage special tams plays in the first place?  As Ramzy said, it's fixable, but it starts with recognizing that they have a big problem.  And they do.   

The Game 2021 & 2022 | 1st Half: OSU 33, UM 21 | 2nd Half: OSU 17, UM 56

A buddy texted me at halftime and said, "we got this, we're a second half team!"

My reply: "they live in the second half, they dominate people in the second half, look at the Penn State game. We'll see who shows up..."

Well, we saw who, and what, showed up.

A few things Ryan Day MUST do to attempt to even out the emotional investment disadvantage Harbaugh has over him:
#1) collaborate with Urban Meyer, Tressel, and even John Cooper to further understand what this game means, what it does to a coach (good or bad) ; figure out what the pitfalls are and craft a winning strategy for long-term success.
#2) Relinquish play calling responsibility to Kevin Wilson up in the booth
#3) Reevaluate his goals, which should always start with beating The Team Up North and winning the B1G. That means building a tough team on both LOS and becoming a run 1st offense.
I'm not ready to give up on Day yet, but I believe this type of change is necessary to stay employed at THE.

Unbelievably well written boys. Those of us that lived through the Cooper era are still scarred and, after watching Saturday’s game, those feelings came right the fuck back like they were there yesterday. It’s just sad because we all know how the story ends. Hopefully it won’t take 11 years this time…

Day should have had C.J. Stroud pick on that scab until it bled.

Reminds me of a favorite story of Jim Tressel:

"We played Illinois when we had [tailback] Joe Morris," Dick MacPherson, the former Syracuse coach who hired Tressel, said from his winter home in Florida. "Jimmy runs a sprint draw nine times to get into the end zone. The next series, he starts with a sprint draw. I get on the phone, and excuse my language, I said, 'Jesus Christ, Jimmy, don't we have another damn play?'

"He said, 'Yes we do, Coach. As soon as they stop this one, I'll call it.'

"That's Jimmy Tressel to me."

@Ramzy and @Kyle, to you gentlemen, thank you for this article.  Once we lost the game, I deleted the recordings of the game, Big Noon and GameDay that I had planned to go back and watch and rewatch.  I haven't been able to read more than the headlines on 11W or other Buckeye sites and could not listen to any of the podcasts I normally listen to.

But, your expected article(s) today was one that I planned to read through to the end, even if it pained me.  This is because the insight you always bring forth would help me understand the "why" and "how" of this game it has done exactly that.  While some of us scoff at the so-called importance of a "Michigan Man" to TSUN and their fans, the experience with a Tennessean and now a Delawarean at the helm of TOSU who did not grow up with this Rivalry has me even more in the belief that that is a key resume item for the role.  I really like Day and hope that he invites the OSU greats of the past that lived this Rivalry to a prolonged retreat with the entire FB staff to do a deep dive into what The Game is and how it should be respected. 

Also, I don't care what you are afraid the cameras might see, but Coach Day, I would much rather see a leader who has eyes full of tears and head up facing TBDBITL while singing Carmen Ohio in Ohio Stadium with those outgoing players that will never again be able to. To leave in the way he did bothers me more than it should, or maybe not.

I so desperately want to see the Utes beat SC Friday so that the possibility of a rematch is there, I just hope that this coaching staff and team are up to the challenge should it present itself.  I am 50/50 on that hope at the moment.

An outstanding read that was a painful reality. Hoping the staff learns from this past Saturday.

Oh my

While I appreciate the analysis of Kyle on the defensive mishaps, I don’t think they were the difference in the momentum or the outcome. I would appreciate Kyle providing a critical analysis on both sides of the contest. I was sitting just behind the OSU bench at the 48 yard line. It was evident that neither UM long passes would have stood had the game been refereed equitably. UM cannot pass block. They were permitted to hold defenders that would have readily sacked or disrupted those plays. Regardless, the non call changed the momentum and simply let M know what they could get away with, along with PI. I can make a great argument that, in an equitably referred game, the Buckeyes would have won. I would appreciate if the E-warriors team would run the data to see how many team with CFP potential have had zero penalties over 2 quarters in championship caliber games. I’m disappointed in Ramey for getting on the band wagon and fanning flames of perfection, ridicule and over-dramatization of 2 losses. 
As I watched the game I was confused for a bit re: in game adjustments. Then I thought strategically: what adjustment can be made and realized that you can’t adjust to holding, pass interference.

The game was lost when it required 105k  and about 45-60 seconds after the play (1k allotted to UM) escalating their hostility toward referees on a blatant UM penalty before they threw the flag. The rising threat to the refs was palpable. If you don’t think the fix was in- request the film- the entire field of play- not just TV camera views and watch from the perspective of an unbiased referee. I may be biased in the heat of a play, but upon  replay and afterthought, I will correct my 1st impression. I was disheartened for the players who are pawns in the BIG’s determination to fulfill their part of media contract they just signed that OSU has carried. If OSU beat UM this year, THE GAME would have lost relevance/ viewers. Instead, now subsequent years will maintain the high viewership TV achieved last Saturday. Follow the money.

So let it be written, so let it be done…

My apologies for my typos.. misspelling Ramzy in particular.. I’m a fan of his writing style.

My apologies for my typos.. misspelling Ramzy in particular.. I’m a fan of his writing style.

And unfortunately, the locals don't take kindly to paycheck players.

It's a huge hassle, sure. They can coach at Wake Forest if they don't want to deal with it.

Abso-freaking-lutely!

The part that bumfuzzles me the most is, same OC/HC since 2017; same offensive strategy; same points average. Which begs the question(s): is it personnel?  Is it execution?  Is it “edge”?  Or could it be, and I vomit in my mouth a little while typing this, a TTUN organization that hired an NFL DC, and now has his disciple in the same position, that telegraphs the Ryan Day-style of offense?

Throw for show. Run, block, anf tackle for dough.

I'm having trouble reconciling the yardage breakdown given in the article. TTUN gained 530 total yards - if 360 were gained in 5 plays, and the rest of the plays netted an average of -3 yards per play, where did the additional 170 yards come from? Surely I'm not understanding the statistic correctly or something.

Stroud isn't mentioned until the third from last paragraph. This is surprising. I saw a cautious, scared QB throwing check-downs most of the day. I agree play calling was spread around too much, but QB play has to better (and tougher).

Day like Cooper takes the rivalry both not seriously enough (during the season) but also too seriously (in game). The coach and team seemed to have absolutely no fun out there. Fun + swagger + aggressiveness is what wins. Tension slows you down. 

Day needs to show some emotion. So does OSU's QB. Stroud was like a shy kid in a school play. Compare that to the enthusiasm of Krenzel, Pryor, Braxton, JT, Cardale, and Fields. 

And we need a QB who runs. Short-field problems with Haskins and Stroud but not with Fields.

The offense this year reminds me of 2015. Schemes obviously totally different. But in 2015 and this year, there was amazing talent but confusion and indecision about how to use it. And in 2015 there was a lot of tightness around the entire program despite the wealth of talent. 

Have Kevin Wilson call plays. Get Devin Brown as QB. Play with some swagger. And Day, somehow, needs to turn his attitude around and be irrationally positive next year. Follow Harbaugh's example. He was absolutely and totally humiliated but stuck with this cheesy "happy warrior" stuff. And you know what? That stupid Del Griffith unrealistic optimism sometimes works. 

All very good points in the article. And I would like to add, since I'm not through beating this dead horse yet....Gee Scott, if you want to headbutt someone and get flagged for it, at least make it count and do it to someone that really deserves it. Find Desmond F. Howard (because you know he'll be down there somewhere) and like a heat-seeking missile, deliver the payload and knock him the f*ck out.

I agree 100% that Day needs to relinquish OC duties on gameday. Absolutely. Why do we have Kevin Wilson, ffs!? I think it’s also worth mentioning that Stroud may have been dinged up during the MD game (hip) which was why he was uncharacteristically inaccurate and we weren’t picking on the DB’s or getting MHJ more involved. I don’t know. But MOST inexplicable and totally absent from this otherwise excellent article is WHY IN THE NAME OF ZEUS’S BUTTHOLE did we have Chip Trayanum taking the majority of the handoffs and NOT Williams or Hayden. Did I miss that Hayden was hurt? I seem to recall an 11W article after MD “just hand it to Hayden.” Did he break his foot or team rules? I truly think this was the heart of our issue Saturday. Who is/was Chip Trayanum!? He did ok, but cmon. He transferred to OSU from ASU to be a LB. Oh well. Here’s to getting healthy and learning from everything. I KNOW Coach Day is NOT going to allow himself to become Cooper 2.0. If he didn’t “get it” before, HE DOES NOW. My prayer is this was the “wake up call” if one was needed. Heck, I want that flag now for our own museum!!

Day does not understand the rivalry, he just doesn't.  And he will never get it.  Play calling needs to be taken away from him at the least.  What happens next year when he is 1-3?  Will Gene give him "another" year?  It is time to make some hard decisions.  I'm not saying Day needs to be fired anymore, like I was saying Saturday night, but something needs to change and change quickly.

Great read, as always!

Have to say it's pretty interesting that I got downvoted into oblivion yesterday for posting a meme calling Ryan Day, Ryan Cooper. I agree, it can be fixed, but so far that's exactly what it is.

I honestly don't think Day will give up the play calling, then what?

I couldn't sum up how I've felt since Saturday any better than every bit of this article. Every single point is spot on for me. Awesome work guys. 

Very good write up about the game calling for the game. But our receivers don't block well. And our DBs don't shed blocks well. So in practice this probaby looks good cause its weakness on weakness. This needs to get fixed.

I am continually amazed how Ramzy comes and lays it out so more eloquently than most anybody can while still maintaining the raw angst of a regular old joe buckey fan.

Ryan Day needs to get situational during the season.

Ramzy - Counterpoint to your Role Player thesis: Chris Olave in 2018. When he turned his first touch into a touchdown, the announcers had to look up how to pronounce his name. When he turned two other touches (a reception and a blocked punt designed for him) into two more, a star was born. But I take your point that a gamelan heavily featuring Dwayne Haskins throwing the ball to Paris Campbell and handing it to Mike Weber and J.K. Dobbins is what made a virtually unheard of 4th-stringer accounting for 3 touchdowns so demoralizing for the would-be Revenge Tour.

Serious question, will we avoid another Cooper era? Are there any reasons for optimism? I have been down in the dumps way more than I want to admit to my family and colleagues (and would only admit to fellow lunatics on this board) and fear that there is not much hope for the team. Then I will have to turn to the Browns and oh no that would be even worse. . . . I know we are all in our feelings and want to say that Day doesn't get it and we are doomed but is there any reason to hope. . . . I think yes because our recruiting is still great and there is nowhere to go but up. And, long term, Day has max two years to win. And if he loses two more, we can get Fickell (he would leave Wisconsin for us) or Vrabel (maybe he would leave NFL) or Freeman (if and only if he has proven to be a success at Notre Dame) or we could go into a lab and create a super-coach made up of a mixture of Woody/Tressel/Urban/Spielman/Archie/Jack Tatum/Johnny Utah.

Question….what is the title picture a pic of? Looks like a big shit stain to me.

Thanks for making me feel worse again, Ramzy & Kyle. I was making my peace with this loss BUT NO … you had to go and solidify the Joh Cooper fear/overthinking that plagued my youth and young adulthood. Now I’m pissed and worries again. 

You just had to write it, didn’t you?

Now, be on your ways.

Good Day, Sirs…

I said, GOOD DAY! 

Love it, and The Blue Lagoon too.

*one point of clarification - UM has scored 31 points in the 1st halves of the last 2 games

Thx for the article.  In terms of the O being too complex, I was reminded of what may be an apocryphal story about Woody from the ‘70’s.  In a key situation, the O coordinator asked Woody what he wanted to do.  This was back in the day of dominant fullbacks.   OSU had several great ones.  Woody’s response “Give the big dumb*&# the ball.”  Sometimes, I think this should be the approach; “Just give the big dumb*&# the ball!”(note: I am not trying to cast aspersions at the intelligence of any past, current or future players!). 

Go Buckeyes!  Go Utes!

Thx for the article.  In terms of the O being too complex, I was reminded of what may be an apocryphal story about Woody from the ‘70’s.  In a key situation, the O coordinator asked Woody what he wanted to do.  This was back in the day of dominant fullbacks.   OSU had several great ones.  Woody’s response “Give the big dumb*&# the ball.”  Sometimes, I think this should be the approach; “Just give the big dumb*&# the ball!”(note: I am not trying to cast aspersions at the intelligence of any past, current or future players!). 

Go Buckeyes!  Go Utes!

Thx for the article.  In terms of the O being too complex, I was reminded of what may be an apocryphal story about Woody from the ‘70’s.  In a key situation, the O coordinator asked Woody what he wanted to do.  This was back in the day of dominant fullbacks.   OSU had several great ones.  Woody’s response “Give the big dumb*&# the ball.”  Sometimes, I think this should be the approach; “Just give the big dumb*&# the ball!”(note: I am not trying to cast aspersions at the intelligence of any past, current or future players!). 

Go Buckeyes!  Go Utes!

I don’t know why it’s important to spell Biatabutuku correctly. I can’t spell it; I can’t pronounce it; I can’t get the bad taste out of my mouth. But all of you know what I’m talking about!

I don’t know why it’s important to spell Biatabutuku correctly. I can’t spell it; I can’t pronounce it; I can’t get the bad taste out of my mouth. But all of you know what I’m talking about!

So who’s going to print all of this out and put it on Day’s desk tomorrow? 

how does writer come up with 54 plays for negative 3 per play and positive 360 on 5 plays  opponent had 492 yds of offense so if they lost 162 yds on negative plays how do they still end up with 492 yds?? which means they had 522 yds and subtract 160 yds. for 492

Great read thanks

We are all hurting..I get it. I hurt too. But saying Day doesn’t get it is self serving dribble. I guess  captain Harbaugh, Mr Michigan didn’t get the rivalry either going 0-5, and basically 0-6 with his cop out…and now is the master of the universe. Sitting at 2-5. 
 

I am old enough to have seen the ebb and flows of this rivalry. Two year win streaks (or more) have happened 23 times in this series Mich 11 and OSU 12. Suffer as you must..but the tide will come in again

See, Rose Bowl 2022, for evidence that randomly sharing the ball on offense isn't something that this offense has to do.

Henderson - 17 carries

Other ball carriers - 3 carries

Smith-Ngjigba, Harrison Jr,, Henderson - 25 receptions

Other receivers - 11 receptions

Take what is given and keep doing things that work.  Get the ball to your best players over and over again. Worked pretty well that night in Pasadena so we have evidence that this staff understands the concept, but sure brain sharted on 11/26/22.

I'm very concerned.

In line with the article, I am still shocked we have the best wide receiver in college football and we did not ride him on every series in the one game that mattered most.   Line him up wherever you need to but please throw him the football.  ttun had to be shocked we did not ride this horse all game long.  At a minimum the kid will get PI calls in his favor if he does not catch the football.

Thanks Ramzy, Thanks Kyle!  Great piece as usual!

Ramzy, if you could coach ball as well as you write, I'd find 10 m/year in booster money to get you hired. Well done on the article.

Who was the Michigan DB the one year that we picked on over and over and over again? The entire game plan seemed to be to get that guy in a bad matchup and then exploit it. 

The cheesecake factory analogy is spot on.

Throw the ball to 18. Run a few plays that look like you are throwing the ball to 18. Repeat. Win.

Cooper never got it. Will Ðay ever get it?

Ramzy says everything my brain thinks.

Ramzy. Great article. Loved the Luke Farrell mention . He was a beast as a blocker. Very overlooked

This wont be a popular take but what a juvenile article to be written by someone connected to the 11w staff. So a guy who coached under urban meyer, was insulted by harbaugh, fired his defensive staff due to last years loss, talked repeatedly about the pain of losing to them has no idea the game is important??? If only he listened to the casual fans he could have found out the game is meaningful!!
It's funny that harbaugh is suddenly the gold standard for how a coach should handle the rivalry. His 2016 meltdown and 2018 loss out-coopered most everything from the 90s.
There's plenty of rightful criticism over days performance Saturday and he deserves scrutiny. But "he doesn't get it" is weak at best. Using that logic every out of state buckeye is incapable of getting it as well.

Day is highly regarded as one of the best playcallers in college football, and we're only a couple Games away from the same Day that got Don Brown fired. The coaching staff is all the same, except the line coach. And frankly, removing an elite playcaller and replacing him with somebody not as good seems a lot like - scheming a play for Xavier Johnson instead of throwing to Marv.

Criticism is warranted along with introspection when your team pisses away a Game. But if the offense isn't clicking, you have to start with the QB. Day certainly knows you can't run a swing pass into zone coverage, so when CJ confirms zone coverage at the line, why doesn't he call a zone passing play? Or a TO? Or fake the handoff and bootleg to the boundary? CJ actually gives X a signal which I assume means that the sprint-out is on, but the whole line is run blocking. It's not like Day is calling one play with only one option. CJ has to know that sprint-out is DOA and stick with the run. The bottom line for me is that teams have figured out that CJ isn't as good against quarters coverage, and that's exactly what we saw from MD and UM. He's gunshy and not making correct reads frequently enough to blow this offense open.

This was fricking incredible. Thank you.

On defense the easy way is the wrong way. Many of our defensive players step the wrong way and never seem to close gaps or roll to the ball. Does anybody ever throw a damn forearm shiver to separate from blockers. 5 big plays is what happens when you put 8 in the box with others playing man. Even with being more aggressive with stunts we never got to their QB. Again, we became predictable. 

Ramzy: I enjoy reading you. However, this story is waaaayyyyy too long. It's redundant.

Ryan Day seems like a good man. However, 2 more losses in the next 2 years, and he has to go. We can't wait 13 years, like we did with Cooper, to play well against Michigan. Speaking of which, I didn't see "matchup advantages" for the Buckeyes. Before the game, I thought we had many. As the game played out, Donovan Edwards was faster than our safeties. WR Johnson made our DB's look silly. And Michigan had more power on both lines than we did. We had Marvin Harrison, Jr. But McCarthy outplayed Stroud by a lot.

Tell me: What advantage did you see?

So I’m assuming then that Mr. Michigan himself, Jim Harbaugh, lost his first 5 attempts at beating the buckeyes because he just didn’t get the rivalry? Maybe Day is just a terrible in game coach, maybe he’s really good at hiding his emotions, I have no idea, but I think it would be hard not to “get it” at this point. Or hell, maybe he’s like my 76 year old mother who has been rooting for the buckeyes since she was in grade school and still won’t say she hates Michigan, because “she wasn’t raised to hate anyone”. 
 

I will say even my mother was screaming to stop running the stupid wide receiver screens all game, and my dad, who sadly passed 9 days before the Notre Dame game, ALWAYS questioned Strouds toughness. I didn’t agree with him, I quoted stats and yards, he would say “he’s just off”. Seems like they are both right, but…both those issues are fixable for day. I hope. 

This was well written and so on point. Again, I was a wait and see guy when Day was given the keys to the Caddie and I’m still waiting. Knowles was great at the mini OSU in a league where defense is optional. Still waiting to see if he can handle the BIG. 

Panthers if you need a new coach hire Ryan day asap !!! He would be perfect hurry up and Offer him the job.

I was an offensive coordinator for high schools in Chicago and Baltimore. As you can imagine, it was incredibly fun to scheme for ways to gain the offensive advantage. But, as I gained more experience and got my ass kicked enough, I learned one fundamental truth that every coach must learn at some point: no matter how clever or smart you are, the teams that block and tackle best win the game. 
Saban eventually learned this and has milked this recipe to goat status. You have to physically dominate your opponent, no matter how good your QB and receivers are.  Day and Knowles are too wrapped up in the Bull Shit. Play fundamentally sound and dominate physically on both sides of the ball.  With our talent, if you don’t emphasize the physical nature of the game, you begin to look like… well, Oregon. Ouch!

Great write-up gents.

can't believe we lost to this crap-ass team.  Immediately after, I was pissed of course, but thought, "Man, they were just better than I thought."  Then, I actually thought about it and considered how the game played out and nope, they actually suck.  I mean, they are disciplined for sure, but discipline isn't even close to enough if Ohio State doesn't shit the bed in the 2nd half.  And really, they were pissing the bed in the first half and were still leading.  Such bad coaching.

I thought as I was watching "so Day's wrinkle for the game is he thinks he's going to beat UM featuring walkons and backups"? I don't care what his record is next year, if he loses again he must go before he Cooperizes the program and ruins 17 years of Tressel and Meyer's hard work.

“It's always darkest before the dawn"

Absolutely amazing article. You so read my mind and put it all in your article.

Well I always thought Ramzy Nasrallah was an Idiot, now I know Ramzy Nasrallah is a full of shit moron!! Most of what he wrote is well senseless! What is this guys claim to fame? He as usuals has all the answers. What a joke I remember watching my 1st Osu vs Mich game in 1966 remember hearing how everyone hated Michigan but the Devil won that game. Ok Ramzy give us the formula for beating Michigan? The problem with OSU’s team just like it was with Rich Rod’s is he abandoned the defense in recruiting as I stated 3 yrs ago  and I warned if we don’t stop taking 5Wr’s and start taking 5star defensive linemen which we have zero DT who will play on Sunday . Last year we got a 5star Safety and LB from Ohio but did we do the work to find any Ohio kids who can play DT or OT? Nope. Day is a system coach not a Football Coach, Ohio State is still behind on both lines in Recruiting. 

I would remind readers who seem to think Day can’t coach the running game. Most yards ever in one game by a Buckeye running back and most yards ever in one game by a Buckeye freshman- Tre Sermon and Treyveon Henderson. The HC and play caller those two games- Ryan Day. That was our fourth and fifth running backs out there on Saturday. Do I wish we had stayed with more running plays - well yes I wish some things were different when we lose. Should we have relied on the fourth and fifth running backs in THE GAME- well then folks would be second guessing that.

This piece is masterfully done! 10 out of 10…

Perhaps that would have been different if they had incorporated a new concept meant to get the Biletnikoff winner the ball instead of scheming up a swing pass.

How about not doing this as often, all game long. 

You have to watch the tape with the volume all the way up so you can hear the stadium living or dying in real time. You have to feel when death warms over or hits peak in-game euphoria.

Masterful and as truthful as ever.

Not that I want to help OSU, but my recommendation is do what you see Corum & Morris doing here last year after their loss to UGA.  Don't be MSU and fight after the game.  Don't leave the field immediately and sulk.  Sit and watch and take in the other team celebrating and remember what it looks like and feels like to be on that side.  Be respectful and let it drive you to improve.  This is what you need your players to be like.  You need them to care and want to be there and do so on their own without anyone making them do it.

Ramzy, you are the best sports writer I have ever read, bar none. But the danger inherit to your writing ability is that you can make nonsense sound like undeniable truth. As an expression of emotion, this article is fantastic; as an analysis of the game and what actually happened on the field, it is mostly incoherent. Almost everything Ohio State fans on this site have written about the game — myself included — is incoherent. And I think the problem is that we are all fixating on how Ohio State lost rather than looking at how Michigan won. This is the sort of arrogance we have been accusing Michigan fans of for years. This part in particular stood out to me:

“This game is won by the team who imposes the best version of itself while forcing the rival to choke on the reality of what's happening. Defeat and deflate the bodies and minds, because that's the investment required for winning the next meeting, and the one after that. Win the game and become their recurring nightmare. It's not done with trick plays and role players.”

Michigan had exactly one drive where they imposed the best version of themselves on Ohio State, and the biggest play on that drive was a 15 yard pass on third down by a converted linebacker. The drive ended on a pass interference penalty in the back of the end zone, which set up a McCarthy scramble for a TD, Michigan’s first rushing touchdown of the day, their only rushing touchdown that took place while the game was still in doubt.

That drive came on the heels of nearly three quarters of Michigan abandoning their entire offensive identity and relying on their biggest weakness — their downfield passing game — to execute low percentage plays and make something out of nothing. Cornelius Johnson still has fewer yards than Julian Fleming on the season even after gashing Ohio State for 160; he entered that game with fewer yards and touchdowns than Cade Stover. Colston Loveland is a third string true freshman tight end, and his go-ahead touchdown on a deep route was his first of the year; he had fewer yards and touchdowns coming into the game than Jayden Ballard.

So how did Michigan win? By not giving a shit. They didn’t even try to play their game because they knew that they would lose if they did. Instead of trying to be the best version of themselves, they recognized that the best version of themselves wasn’t good enough — because it hadn’t been good enough for the better part of a decade — and instead played like a team with nothing to lose. Success became a possibility because failure was an option. The rivalry has changed; Michigan has been playing with house money ever since they forfeited in 2020.

Didn't read the article.

I can't.

If I do, I'm certain Ramzy will sooth my soul.

I don't want to be soothed. I want to fester. I want my hatred of ttun to become infected. I want guile and pus to permeate my being until it boils over enough to infect every ttun fan I come in contact with. I hate ttun forever and ever. Amen.