Every Saturday night, Ari Wasserman and David Ubben react to the weekend’s game schedule on “Until Saturday.” On Mondays they revisit the biggest takeaway from The immediate reaction on Saturday evening. This week: Ari wonders why Ryan Day changes his coaching style when Ohio State plays Michigan.
Kalen DeBoer sent the punt team out, but he wasn’t punting. This is a man who never doubts himself or his team.
The Apple Cup was tied with 1:15 remaining. Washington faced a fourth-and-1 from their own 29-yard line. DeBoer called on the punt team to try to get Washington State offsides. When that didn’t work, he called a timeout, not to give up on getting a first down, but to set up the perfect play.
Washington has adopted a triple option concept. Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. had the option to dive the ball, hold it or pick the crease. Star receiver Rome Odunze came around the back in an orbital motion, and Penix — with his back to the line of scrimmage — threw him the ball.
The cameraman was fooled. With the throw focused on the running back stuffed without the ball, Odunze was running down the sideline for a 23-yard gain. It was the perfect call at the perfect time. Seven plays later, the Huskies won on a field goal.
WHAT A FAKE, WHAT A TOY 🤯
Fourth down conversion is good for @UW_Washington!!! pic.twitter.com/J5jeYzgdRh
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 26, 2023
It’s amazing what happens when a coach puts the ball in the hands of his best players and trusts them to make a play.
Here’s who Ryan Day should be for Ohio State.
But that’s not what it is when the Buckeyes play Michigan. Day loses sight of this and what’s on his list during The Game. And as a result, Ohio State unthinkably lost three straight games to Michigan.
It wasn’t long ago that Day was a bright, emerging offensive mind who would run this program mercilessly. He would try on fourth down when others wouldn’t. He would make decisions based on who was on his sideline, not who was on the other side. He would design perfect game concepts to catch his opponents napping.
So why, on the stage where winning is supreme, was he so inclined to make safe choices that prevent mistakes rather than trusting his superior athletes to win the game? Why does he never try to attack the opposition? Why does he lack imagination and the courage to use it?
GO DEEPER
Ohio State final thoughts: How Ryan Day, Kyle McCord and more must change after Michigan
Nothing illustrated this more than a key sequence before halftime of Ohio State’s 30-24 loss to Michigan on Saturday. Ohio State got into a 14-3 hole early in the game, but battled back to within 14-10 in the second quarter. He stopped and had the ball with 3:23 left in the half at his own 2-yard line. Then, seven plays later, the Buckeyes were at Michigan’s 34-yard line.
Instead of trying to attempt a gut-busting touchdown — or even a more manageable field goal attempt — Day inexplicably ran down the clock and attempted a 52-yard field goal. At a crucial moment, Day was more worried about the danger Michigan might pose than trusting his team to make a play.
With a kicker who had a career long 47 yards, Day set up for a 52-yard field goal in the freezing cold. Jayden Fielding didn’t notice, of course, which shouldn’t be surprising given that Ohio State’s special teams have been terrible this year. So the Buckeyes walked away with nothing — the same thing they would have gotten if they had gone on fourth down and failed.
Failure, actually, would have been better because at least the Buckeyes would have tried something. Anything.
The sickest part? Day would have been fine if he had played at Maryland or Minnesota. But he got scared and changed who he was in the most important game of the year. That’s what makes you tick.
Some might argue that it was a prudent decision, but coaching goes deeper than using a blackjack support card. You don’t make decisions that impact your team, such as deciding whether to hit or stand based on the book’s recommendations. Decisions, large and small, impact your team and reveal a coach’s feelings towards his players. Permeates.
Day had Marvin Harrison Jr. Now it’s probably the last game he’ll play for Ohio State. Instead of cocking it and going for the jugular, Day went conservative and gave up a scoring opportunity he surely would have taken against any other team in the Big Ten.
He took the ball from Harrison’s hands and placed it on the foot of a player who had never made a field goal that long. He missed, just as he missed a field goal late in Georgia’s College Football Playoff semifinal last year. The difference here was that all of Ohio State’s weapons were in good condition. He had Harrison, TreVeyon Henderson, Cade Stover and Emeka Egbuka — some of Ohio State’s many elite players got Columbus to win in these moments. Day, however, took the ball out of his hands.
A coach’s decision does not win or lose a game. The attitude yes. And that was a window into how Day felt in a big moment in the game that he will ultimately be judged by.
Day says he spends 364 days a year preparing for Michigan. Wouldn’t that fourth down have been a great time to try something new? What did he have saved specifically for the Michigan game that could have helped him in that moment? Where was a play like Ted Ginn Jr.’s memorable 2006 touchdown reception, where he lined up hidden as a tight end and beat the Wolverines over the top? Isn’t the Michigan game the stage where you come clean and present new things that the opponent hasn’t seen on tape? Isn’t that what it means to prepare all year round?
Day did some things formatively that a smarter football mind would be able to easily identify. But the most ironic part is that Michigan — the smashmouth program that’s supposed to be all grit and no tricks — had its longest passing game of the day thrown by a running back. His second-longest run came with a package designed for backup quarterback Alex Orji.
Sherrone Moore, a 37-year-old who was replacing the suspended Jim Harbaugh, took more shots in this game than the offensive guru had in his bag. Day didn’t even try. He wanted to make fewer mistakes.
GO DEEPER
Mandel: Sherrone Moore outpaces Ryan Day as Michigan flexes once again
Ohio State has elite level players, but where was the game skill? The creativity? The bravado of doing something you wouldn’t normally do? Even the bravest coach might be terrified of what DeBoer did, but Day didn’t even attempt a fourth-down conversion in the game. In the first quarter, he punted on fourth-and-1 from OSU’s 46-yard line.
Day thought Ohio State had better players, and the Buckeyes simply did what they always do. Michigan game-planned the Ohio State game and hit the Buckeyes where it hurt. Day was replaced by a 37-year-old replacement.
That’s not to say the Buckeyes should fire Day or that he should look for another opportunity. The state of Ohio has a lot to offer. And yes, despite Michigan’s problem, Day is 56-7 and a year ago Ohio State was on the verge of winning a national title.
You don’t fire people just on a whim. This is what dysfunctional programs do. The problem, though, is that those seven losses are in the games Ohio State fans care about most. Nobody cares about beating Rutgers or Minnesota. And no one cares when you’re aggressive against teams that can’t beat you.
Day spent the entire year trying to build a strong team with a great defense that could better compete in a Michigan-style game. Ohio State was tougher, sure, but they still lost.
He’s almost not good enough in this rivalry.
That’s not good enough for Ohio State.
Scared trained day. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t watching Harbaugh from across the court. It didn’t matter that Michigan had the weight of the world on its shoulders during this illegal scouting scandal. Day sees Michigan’s helmets and considers what could go wrong before thinking about what his team could do right. Playing not to lose leads to losing.
GO DEEPER
No matter how much Ryan Day wins at Ohio State, losses to Michigan will control his legacy
When the cameras zoomed in on his face after the game, you could see the inner turmoil. It’s hard to encapsulate what he must have felt. It must have been agony. The fear, the regret, the nervousness, the pressure, everything. This doesn’t just mean losing a game. This means losing the game. Still.
How does Day solve the problem? It’s not about firing a coordinator or recruiting better. It’s a complicated and deeply rooted issue.
He needs to figure this out quickly because winning a lot of Big Ten games will never be good enough at Ohio State. Ohio State has failed to achieve any of its goals in each of the last three years because it has failed to win the game. Ohio State coaches, fair or not, will always be judged through the lens of how they perform against Michigan.
Jim Tressel is a legend. Urban Meyer is a legend. The pair has won national titles, but the biggest source of pride is their combined 16-1 mark against the Wolverines. Day, in all fairness, you played Michigan’s best, and it’s unreasonable to assume it will never lose. Sometimes teams lose to really good teams.
But what is it? It’s unacceptable. This is the kind of pressure you sign up for when you cash those eight-figure checks.
The pressure can’t keep eating Day alive or it will get him fired.
Just ask John Cooper.
(Photo: Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)