Ryan Day is living with the kind of loss that lingers. Ohio State had Texas on the ropes Saturday, led by 20 points in the fourth quarter, and still walked away with a 24-23 defeat after letting the Longhorns storm back. It was the Buckeyes’ third loss in their last four games, and the fallout has landed squarely on Day’s decision-making.
The biggest flashpoint came with 1:23 left, when Texas reached the Ohio State 1-yard line. From there, Day had to choose between letting the Longhorns score and giving his offense more time, or trusting his defense to make one more stand. He went with the defense, and Texas punched it in anyway with 25 seconds left, leaving Ohio State barely any time to answer.
Asked Tuesday if he should have let Texas score, Day didn’t dance around it.
“Well, it didn't work,” Day said. “So the answer is yes.
I mean, if we win the game, then it would have been the right decision, you know? And, you know, in the moment, you're going to make a hard decision.
And I decided to try to hold the line.”
That wasn’t the only call under the microscope. With Ohio State ahead 20-3 early in the second half, Day chose to punt on fourth-and-4 instead of keeping the offense on the field to try to stretch the margin.
“I think the defense was playing excellent and I felt like that was the right thing to do at the time,” Day said.
He didn’t back away from that choice, though he admitted another fourth-down spot later in the game may have called for more urgency.
“You look back and say, you know, probably could have been aggressive on the second fourth down in plus territory for sure,” Day said. “We've got to do a better job finishing these games.”
The second half brought a clear shift. Ohio State lost its rhythm through the air and, by Day’s account, the team’s edge faded with it. The Buckeyes stopped looking as sharp on offense and, as the game wore on, the aggression seemed to drain on both sides of the ball.
“We had momentum, we lost it, and then we weren't able to get it back,” Day said. “And I think it's a team effort just in general.”
What had looked like a comfortable win turned into a gut punch that’s still sitting heavy inside the program.
“As you can imagine, it's extremely frustrating,” Day said. “It's maddening. And, you know, we're excited to get back on the field and get going because the last couple days haven't been fun around here.”
Ohio State gets its next shot Saturday at home against Kent State at 12 p.m.
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