Ryan Day has already done the thing every Ohio State coach is expected to do: win a national championship. That alone puts his seven-year run in rare company, and his 82-12 record in Columbus makes the success easy to see.
But the championship run in 2024 didn’t erase everything that came before it.
The Buckeyes’ home loss to Michigan and the one-point defeat at Oregon were part of the backdrop, and the Michigan loss in particular fed the long-running idea that Day still had to prove he could win the “big game.” Even after Ohio State’s title march, that conversation popped back up this past season with losses to Indiana and Miami in the Postseason.
That kind of baggage can linger. Fans carry it with them, sometimes from childhood, sometimes from an early moment that sticks and shapes how they see every new setback. For Day, that feeling may trace back to Ohio State’s 2019 College Football Playoff loss to Clemson, when the Buckeyes led 16-0 before Clemson stormed back and kept Ohio State from reaching the national championship game.
The pattern only got louder after that. Two years later came losses to Oregon and Michigan.
Then in 2022, Ohio State fell to Michigan and Georgia, including a blown 11-point fourth-quarter lead against the Bulldogs. In 2023, there was conservative coaching against Michigan.
Then came the 2024 regular season, and the questions never really disappeared.
Now they’re back again, sharpened by the losses to Indiana and Miami and by a schedule that gives Ohio State plenty of chances to answer them. This season will be the next test.
That matters because Ohio State has always measured its coaches by the biggest moments. Urban Meyer won big games.
Jim Tressel did too. Woody Hayes won so many that the list barely needs reciting.
That’s a big part of why those names sit where they do in Buckeyes history.
Day has met the standard in plenty of ways, and the national title proves that. Still, the one thing left hanging over him is consistency in the biggest games.
The Game in the Shoe this season could be massive. Win it, and most of the noise quiets down.
Lose it, and the pressure only grows.
Ohio State expects excellence. Day has delivered plenty of it.
The question now is whether he can keep doing it when the stage is biggest. This season will either answer that question or make the doubt even harder to shake.
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Former Ohio State DC Jim Knowles Just Delivered A Surprising Update
Jim Knowles time away from Ohio State has already taken a few sharp turns since he helped guide the Buckeyes to a national championship in 2024. After moving on to Penn State and then getting fired there, the former Ohio State defensive coordinator has remained a familiar name around the program, especially with the Buckeyes now operating under Matt Patricia on that side of the ball.
Patricias arrival has brought a different feel to the defense, and early feedback from players has been positive as Ohio State settles into the new setup. Even with Knowles no longer in Columbus, his next move still matters to Buckeye fans because it keeps him in the same national conversation, and it adds another layer to a coaching carousel that continues to shape the sport around Ohio State. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Fans May Be Overlooking A Back Who Could Matter Fast
Isaiah Wests spring was supposed to be a chance to build on a promising freshman year, but injury kept the Ohio State running back out of practices and the Spring Game. That absence pushed him out of the daily conversation around the Buckeyes, even though he already showed last season he could handle a real workload as a backup with 59 carries, 310 yards and two touchdowns.
West still looks positioned to matter quickly once the season opens, especially with the Buckeyes expecting better play up front and a more favorable offensive scheme. Those changes could give him a cleaner path to production, and while the backfield picture is still sorting itself out, Ohio State has reasons to believe West can be part of the answer fast. [Read more 🡒]
JT Tuimoloau Headlines July 4 Recruiting Wins Ohio State Won't Forget
July 4 has become an oddly productive date on the recruiting calendar, and Ohio State has had a hand in some of the biggest wins. The list of commitments tied to the holiday reads like a snapshot of how college football recruiting has changed, with elite prospects making high-stakes decisions that can reshape a program's future almost overnight. For the Buckeyes, the name that still stands out most is JT Tuimoloau, whose arrival helped validate the kind of national pull Ohio State continues to flex on the trail.
Tuimoloaus college career gave that decision real weight, especially during Ohio States 2024 national title season, when he was a disruptive force up front and a central part of the defenses edge. That is the kind of return programs hope for when they land a player of his caliber, and it is why these July 4 commitments linger in the memory long after the fireworks fade. Some of the other headliners in that group have already taken very different paths, which only adds to the sense that these holiday recruiting wins can echo for years. [Read more 🡒]