Ryan Day isn’t backing away from the call that drew the spotlight in Ohio State’s loss to USC.
With the Buckeyes trailing late in the fourth quarter and their lone touchdown pulling them within nine, Day chose to go for two after the score with 2:12 left. Luke Fahey’s pass to Phillip Bell sailed over the back of the end zone, and the failed try all but shut the door on Ohio State’s comeback chances in a 30-18 loss.
Day said Monday on the Buckeye Roundtable show that his first thought was to kick the extra point and keep the game at one score. But after working through the situation, he said the staff settled on the idea that it was better to find out right then whether the Buckeyes were in a seven-point game or still needed another touchdown and a two-point conversion later.
“So we've talked about this many times leading up to the season, that situation. And I think my first instinct was you kick the extra point and then you just play to have an opportunity to win the game at the end.
But when you go back through it, and the team understands, at some point you have to get a two-point conversion to win the game at that moment,” Day said Monday on the Buckeye Roundtable show. “And by going for the two-point conversion at that time, you find out whether you're a two-score game or a one-(score) game earlier than you would if you waited at the end.
“So analytics-wise, and some of the conversations that we had, we decided that when we're in those situations, that's what we would do. But all that matters is you've got to be able to convert the two-point conversion. And that's not what happened.”
The decision came under even more scrutiny because it followed another late-game Ohio State loss in which Day’s judgment was questioned. Against Texas earlier this season, Day was criticized for not allowing Texas to score at the 1-yard line, a choice that would have left more time for the Buckeyes to chase a game-winning field goal. Three days later, he said he “would love to have seen what it would've looked like if they would've scored.”
Ohio State’s shot at extending the USC game took another hit immediately after the missed conversion. The Buckeyes tried an onside kick, but USC recovered.
That forced Ohio State to burn all three of its timeouts before the Trojans added a field goal to push the margin to 12 with 1:46 left. Ohio State then drove quickly to the 12-yard line, but Fahey threw four straight incompletions, and USC finished the game in victory formation.
Even if Day isn’t ready to change the strategy, the Buckeyes’ problems executing that play are impossible to ignore. Ohio State has not made a 2-point conversion since its 2017 season opener against Indiana, and it has failed on its last eight tries overall, including all four under Day as head coach.
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