From now until preseason camp starts later this week, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about the things we need to get off our chests before the season starts; the things we need to get on the record. You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content here and all of our ”On the Record” articles here.
As the Buckeyes hoisted the National Championship trophy into the air last season, the Ryan Day doubters were silenced for a moment,
drowned out by the roar of the crowd.
Since taking over as head coach of the Buckeyes in 2019, Day boasts a 70-10 overall record, going 24-9 against ranked teams and, of course, leading Ohio State to that aforementioned title in 2024.
Still, the pendulum of public opinion seems to swing back and forth from love to hate, with seemingly no middle ground from fans. In the seven weeks between the end of last year’s 10-2 regular season and the national championship win, fans on social media went from “Fire Ryan Day” to “Never leave us, Ryan Day” without skipping a beat.
Thanks to his overall success with the team and specifically owing to last year’s title, Day has earned the benefit of the doubt from fans, including myself, as we head into the 2025 season. Our attitudes should remain “In Ryan Day We Trust” until he gives us a good reason to adjust them.
But he has one test still to pass, and it’s one that could cause goodwill to sour quickly. It has left us with an elephant in the room coming into this season (or perhaps more accurately, a Wolverine in elephant’s clothing): Ryan Day must beat Michigan, or he has got to go.
Perhaps this sounds harsh, especially in the wake of the two teams’ last meeting. Though Michigan’s 13-10 upset win on the Buckeyes’ home turf (and the subsequent flag-planting debacle) was the thing of nightmares, it’s inarguably also what gave OSU the fire it needed to win the championship in the first place.
That’s great, and in retrospect, I wouldn’t choose a different path for the Buckeyes. But now beating Michigan has become unfinished business, and it’s officially time to finish it.
Day has just one win over the Wolverines, a 2019 walloping on the road in Ann Arbor in which the No. 2 Buckeyes defeated No. 14 Michigan, 56-27. But since then, it’s been crickets.
The Buckeyes have lost four straight to a team we hate so much we won’t even say their name most of the time. Sure, due to the new College Football Playoff structure, a loss to That Team Up North doesn’t single-handedly derail postseason hopes anymore. To that end, the stakes are different from what they were in, for example, 2023, when only four teams could make the playoffs and one loss could eliminate you from contention.
But just because the stakes are different doesn’t mean they are low, and that’s something Day needs to understand and deliver on. The Game, regardless of how good either program is at any given year, is an emotional bloodbath for players and fans alike. We’re not there to have fun. We’re there to defend our honor.
Like it or not, The Game is the axis on which Ohio State’s entire season typically spins: The countdown clock in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center centers ticks down to kickoff of The Game. It’s always on, an ever-present reminder of the importance of this rivalry. Similarly, there are entire websites dedicated to serving the same purpose for fans on both sides: “Countdown to Another Beat Michigan,” “How Many Days Since Ohio State Has Beaten Michigan?” — the list goes on.
Even now, after definitively winning the national championship after a long and grueling playoff season, Wolverine fans will not shut up: “We’re still better, just check the scoreboard.” We’re being trash-talked by a team that went 5-4, a team that had absolutely no business beating us on paper. Not only were they a team that barely eked out a winning record, but they were also missing key players in the matchup with OSU.
It becomes easier to forgive the loss because we know the story had a happy ending. All’s well that ends well. But that happy ending isn’t always guaranteed, and the other side of that coin is this: If we couldn’t beat them last year, when the Buckeyes were dominant in nearly every category offensively and defensively, and the Wolverines were, for all intents and purposes, a little beat up, that’s particularly worrisome.
When we look back at last season, there were certainly execution problems on the field, but one of the primary reasons the Buckeyes lost that game was coaching issues—clock management, game strategy. Those things ultimately rest on Day’s shoulders.
It’s a mental game for him, and it’s one he has to win this year.
As everything around us changes, the traditions surrounding The Game continue to be part of what makes college football so great. It’s bigger than one group of guys on the field at any given time. For a brief moment, there is only us versus them. So just because it won’t derail playoff hopes doesn’t mean we should give The Game any less weight in our minds. It is the greatest rivalry in sports for a reason.
I’m not implying that it’s more important to beat Michigan than to win a national championship: It is always more important to win the title. But a win over Michigan is a non-negotiable stop on the road.
While the ultimate goal should be becoming back-to-back national champions, I won’t be calling for Day to be fired if we don’t so long as we make a respectable showing. Repeating is rare and difficult, and while it is always the bar we’re coming up against as a top program, his job should be safe in my mind, so long as we make the playoffs…and beat Michigan.
Lose to Michigan for a fifth consecutive year, and regardless of CFP outcomes, that’s a dealbreaker for me. Winning the title is the primary goal, but beating Michigan is the secondary one, and we need a coach who can do both.
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