Ryan Day Drops a Reality Check That Could Change Everything for Ohio State’s Title Push

Ohio State has UCLA this weekend, then Rutgers, then Michigan to close out the regular season. After that comes the Big Ten championship game and another playoff run. The margin for error keeps shrinking, and Day knows the distractions keep growing.

He mentioned that noise and outside talk would only increase as the stakes get higher. “I understand everyone is going to talk about those things, but none of that has anything to do with what we’re doing moving forward,” he said. “If we think that it has anything to do with this weekend or where we are going, then we’re dead wrong.”

The Buckeyes beat Texas in the opener, handled Penn State three weeks ago, and have won by an average of 30 points per game. Julian Sayin has thrown 28 touchdowns against three interceptions. Jeremiah Smith might be the best receiver in college football. The defense hasn’t allowed more than 16 points since September.

Day Knows Repeating as Champions Requires More Than Just Talent and Momentum

Day brought up the goal he and his team set before the season started. “We said this from the beginning: we want to be the first team ever to go back-to-back, and that’s a tall task,” he said. “It’s easy to say, but it’s another thing to do. So we’re in the middle of it right now, got a lot of work to do.”

Ohio State has never won consecutive national championships in the program’s 136-year history. They came close a couple of times but never got over the hump.

The 2015 team that tried to repeat after the 2014 title finished 12-1 but lost in the playoff semifinal to Clemson. That team had Ezekiel Elliott, Joey Bosa, Michael Thomas, and a Heisman finalist in Cardale Jones. It still wasn’t enough. Day’s current roster might be more talented top to bottom than that group, but obviously the challenge remains the same.

Day lost 14 players to the NFL Draft after last season’s championship run, the most of any program in the country. He had to replace both coordinators. Quarterback Will Howard left for the NFL. Running backs TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins both went pro. The entire defensive backfield turned over. The roster got rebuilt, and Day has coached it to nine straight wins.

The schedule gets harder from here. Michigan is waiting. The Big Ten title game looms. The playoff field will be full of teams that match Ohio State’s talent level. Day coached through four straight losses to Michigan before finally beating them last year in the playoff.