Power Two Podcast: Quit or get fired — It’s time for Ryan Day to leave Ohio State
JordanW330 via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images

The conference championship games are set. Michigan upsets Ohio State to win four-straight games in the rivalry.

Welcome to a new episode of Land-Grant Podcast Network’s Power Two Podcast. On this show, we talk about Big Ten and SEC football…and everyone else. This show is for the die-hard fans and the casual college football fans.

After every week of action, we will catch you up on all the major matchups of the previous weekend and look ahead at the games, storylines, and players you should be paying attention to for the next week.

My name is Jordan Williams, and I am joined by my co-host DaNaysia Jones. Lock in as we run a power sweep through the college football landscape.


On this week’s episode, Jordan and DJ take a moment to absorb the fact that the 2024 college football regular season is officially over.

Jordan shares his thoughts about how Ohio State’s season has gone. It’s time for Ryan Day to lose his job. It doesn’t matter if he quits or gets fired, but Ohio State needs a new coach as soon as possible. DJ, an SMU alum, speaks about SMU making the ACC championship game in their first season in the conference.

With the season coming to an end, we take a minute to review the teams in all seven conference championships games being held this weekend.

In the two-minute drill, Jordan spends much longer than two minutes on the state of the Ohio State program. From the lack of adding a kicker in the transfer portal to the poor decision-making and playcalling, Ryan Day has a program he can not coach. He has a mental block when it comes to Michigan, and it’s time to move on.

After the Ohio State game, a major fight broke out due to Michigan trying to plant its flag at Ohio State’s 50-yard line. The same scenario happened and led to fights in multiple games this Saturday, including Florida-Florida State and UNC-NC State. DJ and Jordan express how embarrassing it is for programs to win, try to disrespect the losing program, and then be shocked when there are consequences. Fights shouldn’t happen, but teams also shouldn’t outwardly disrespect their opponent and expect them to accept it lying down.

Two of our predictions ended up right this weekend as Syracuse overcame a 21-point deficit to beat Miami, ending their chances to make the ACC championship game. Throughout his career, Mario Cristobal has failed to win big games, so this loss was easy to see coming. South Carolina also pulled an upset, beating Clemson in their in-state rivalry game to end the season 9-3 — a perfect end to a great year for the the Gamecocks.

For the power sweep segment, we have five great conference championship games for you to check out, starting with UNLV-Boise State on Friday. On Saturday at Noon, we have Iowa State vs. Arizona State followed by a Georgia-Texas rematch for the SEC championship game. We have two bangers in the primetime slot with Oregon and Penn State playing for the Big Ten championship and SMU hoping to upset Clemson to win the ACC. We have a Saturday full of great games to watch even though it’s a smaller slate.

In the two-minute warning, DJ celebrates Beyonce headlining the NFL’s Christmas Day game, while Jordan is annoyed by the lack of good deals on Black Friday. 25% isn’t a good deal. If the deal doesn’t start at 40% or higher, they can keep it!

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You can also find Jordan’s article ‘B1G Thoughts’ on Land-Grant Holy Land.

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Connect with us on Twitter: Jordan: @JordanW330 and DJ:@dj_danaysia

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It’s Over: No logical arguments remain for Ohio State to keep Ryan Day
Gene Ross via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images

It is time for the Buckeyes to finally move on from their failed head coach.

On Nov. 27, 2022, I wrote that Ohio State needed to fire Ryan Day. One day prior, the Buckeyes had lost their second-straight game to Michigan, and suffered their first loss to the Wolverines at home since 2000.

The response back then was mostly in defense of the head coach. Day’s defenders championed his 45-5 overall record at the time, his dominance on the recruiting trail, and his three College Football Playoff appearances in his five years in charge of the program. Fans of other teams laughed at the idea of wanting to fire a coach who won the vast majority of his games and had even gotten his team to a national title game — which they notably lost by a million.

While I would love to sit here and gloat about being right, it brings me no joy to report that I was absolutely correct, and now we are all paying the price.

Here we are two years later, and not much has changed since the Buckeyes lost that 45-23 contest in Columbus. All of the incredibly obvious flaws under this coaching staff have come home to roost time and time again, culminating in Ohio State’s worst loss in program history on Saturday.

As a 20-point favorite at home, Ohio State lost to a 6-5 Michigan team without its best player on each side of the ball. The group of Wolverines that handed the Buckeyes their fourth-straight loss in the rivalry is the least talented group that program will ever have again, without a single notable quarterback, wide receiver or defensive back on the field for the 13-10 upset. Michigan is only going to get better moving forward, but the talent gap didn’t matter in the slightest because of the coaches on the home sideline.

The only advantage Sherrone Moore’s team had in that game on paper was its defensive tackles, and Ohio State’s offensive game plan was to run directly into their face masks 25 times. The duo of Kenneth Grant and Mason Graham forms the best interior defensive line in the country, and they were matched up against an interior offensive line that just lost its starting center and needed to completely re-form the depth chart.

It doesn’t take a genius to understand who has the upper hand in that battle.

So what was the plan for the braintrust of Day and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly? A steady diet of runs between the tackles, resulting in little to no yardage each and every time and keeping the offense behind the chains for the entire afternoon.

Ohio State ran the ball 26 times for 77 yards, and without the one chunk run by Quinshon Judkins for 17 yards, gained 60 yards on 25 carries — 2.4 yards per attempt. No matter how many times the Buckeyes literally and figuratively rammed their heads into a wall, they just kept going back to the well.

Ohio State had one drive all game where they decided to go up-tempo and attack the Michigan defense through the air vertically. On that series, which began with two minutes remaining until halftime, Will Howard completed six of eight passes for 58 yards, drew a pass inference and scored the only touchdown of the game on a 10-yard throw to Jeremiah Smith.

Howard had more passing yards on that one scoring drive than in the entire second half combined, where he attempted only 15 passes and completed seven for 56 yards.

You would think following the success of that drive that Ohio State would’ve made adjustments coming out of halftime, but you would be wrong. Of the Buckeyes’ 10 plays on first down in the second half, seven of them were runs. Outside of the one 17-yard run by Judkins — the team’s longest rush of the game — the other six attempts totaled 17 yards. Even when playing behind the sticks, they doubled down with three more runs on second down in the second half for a net gain of three whole yards.

The overall split for Ohio State in the second half was 15 passing plays to 12 run plays, with four of those passes coming on the Buckeyes’ final desperation drive. Those 12 rushes gained 41 total yards, which, again, without the outlier 17-yarder, means OSU ran the ball 11 other times for 24 yards — a mind-numbing 2.18 yards per carry.

There are a few obvious reasons why this happened, and an obvious reason why it failed so spectacularly.

Firstly, Michigan defensive coordinator knew he could trick Chip Kelly into running into a light box. A lot of Kelly’s offense revolves around having a numbers advantage, and the Wolverines were not stacking the box against the run. What the OSU offensive coordinator failed to account for were the actual names on the jerseys, and the Graham/Grant duo against a maligned interior OL was a win for UM every time, regardless of what the numbers said.

The bigger reason why this was the case, in my opinion, is that the 2021 loss to Michigan has completely broken Day’s brain. Following that game, Jim Harbaugh came out with his famous ‘born on third base,’ comment. Even more detrimental to Day’s coaching philosophy is what Wolverines then-defensive coordinator Josh Gattis had to say of Day’s program:

“They’re a good team. They’re a finesse team, they’re not a tough team.”

So much of what made Ryan Day a great fit both as Ohio State’s offensive coordinator and then its head coach was his offensive scheme. Even before Brian Hartline started dominating the recruiting trail with five-star talent after five-star talent, Day’s offenses were a quarterback’s dream. His passing concepts, which heavily involved mesh routes and other crossing patterns, opened up the field and made it easy for guys to get open.

C.J. Stroud threw for almost 400 yards in that game with two touchdowns, while TreVeyon Henderson ran for 74 yards and a TD. The offense was not the problem.

Ohio State ultimately lost because Day made a terrible decision to retain an overmatched Kerry Coombs as defensive coordinator. He would rectify that decision with the hiring of Jim Knowles — whom he actively hamstrung with a stubborn, over-the-hill defensive line coach until this year, but more on that another time — but from that point on to this very day, everything about the way Day runs the program became about chasing toughness.

Day fundamentally misunderstands what it means to be a tough team. The Buckeyes’ head coach has spent the last three years trying to prove Gattis wrong by insisting on running the football, even despite obvious weaknesses along the offensive line and a treasure trove of future NFL talent at wide receiver.

In Day’s mind, running the football at will is the only true measure of toughness. In reality, being able to run your offense and do whatever it is that you’re good at even when the other team knows it's coming is toughness — and would actually win football games.

Even in his postgame press conference following this cataclysmic loss, Day proved that he still doesn't get it:

“We struggled to run the ball.” Day said. “We have to establish the run, especially in this game. [...] That ultimately, with the turnovers and the missed field goals, was the difference in the game.”

Ohio State’s wide receiver trio of Jeremiah Smith, Emeka Egbuka and Carnell Tate is far and away the best unit in the country. TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins are great players, but with your offensive line missing its two best players and the opposing team featuring a pair of dominant tackles, ‘establishing the run’ was never the way the Buckeyes were going to win this football game.

There are so many other reasons why Ohio State lost its rivalry game for the fourth-straight year, and all of them fall squarely on the shoulders of its head coach.

Kicker Jayden Fielding had a miserable game, missing a pair of sub-40-yard field goals. Punter Joe McGuire’s average punt distance was 36 yards. On the other side, Michigan’s Dominic Zvada, whom they added through the transfer portal, nailed a 54-yarder with ease. The Wolverines’ punter, Tommy Doman, boomed a 68-yard punt to flip the field.

Ohio State has lost a number of games over the past few seasons because of poor special teams play, and frequently the inability to make field goals. There is zero reason a program of this magnitude should not have been able to solve that problem by now. Michigan went out and got better at kicker, while the Buckeyes let the 2023 Groza Award winner at Miami of Ohio transfer to Alabama without a fight.

Clock management has also been a massive flaw during Day’s tenure. Ohio State led by two scores in the fourth quarter against Georgia in 2022 and lost the game. This year, the Buckeyes had the ball inside Oregon’s 30-yard line with 30 seconds left and one timeout and didn’t even get a chance to attempt a game-wining field goal.

Against Michigan, the Wolverines had a 3rd-and-2 with two minutes left, and instead of having a chance to make a stop and getting the ball back with some time, the Buckeyes committed an illegal substitution penalty — even AFTER a timeout — and provided a free first down.

The list goes on and on, but the general problems for the Buckeyes remain the same. There is only one way that things are going to truly change in Columbus: Ohio State needs to fire Ryan Day.

In my eyes, there are no remaining logical arguments for keeping Day around.

The biggest negative of the program moving on would be a likely exodus of players, which would obviously suck. Guys like Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs are generational talents, and it would be brutal to see them go. However, Day has already proven that he cannot win with these guys, so what good is having them in the first place?

The Buckeyes might take a few years to get back on their feet from a talent standpoint, but we’ve already seen Day’s ceiling even with the most elite players money could buy.

Ohio State’s 2021 recruiting class was the No. 2 group in the nation, and they went 0-4 against Michigan and 0-12 in Day’s self proclaimed goals of beating TTUN, winning a Big Ten title and winning a national title, barring an incredibly unlikely miracle run this year. The head coach’s recruiting has been something his defenders have pointed to throughout his tenure, but again I ask: What good are all these top-five recruiting classes if you aren’t going to win anything of substance with them?

For so long Day has been propped up by his overall record, which now stands at 66-10. His defenders have somehow deemed it impressive that Ohio State had never lost to an unranked team during his tenure, which is no longer true after this loss to a 6-5 Michigan team. Personally, I think any average college football head coach would have no problem winning the vast majority of its games with this roster, especially with how the Big Ten was constructed in the first three years of Day’s tenure.

Those 66 wins mean nothing to me when you can’t beat anyone of equal talent in the games that matter most, but congrats on beating up on Purdue and Iowa, I guess.

Ohio State fans get a lot of flack for complaining about 11-1 and 10-2 seasons, but that should be the absolute floor for one of the biggest brands in college football. The Buckeyes get to trot out an army of five-stars every week against teams that are four-score underdogs. The talent disparity between the top and bottom of the sport has only grown, and Day shouldn’t get a free pass just because he can win games against Northwestern and Rutgers.

What is the defining win of the Ryan Day era at Ohio State? What is one game you could point to where Day out-coached his opponent? His most notable victory is probably the 2020 Sugar Bowl against Clemson during the shortened COVID season, and even that was followed up by an embarrassing blowout loss in the national title game where he gave up on his team at halftime.

You’re telling me there isn't anyone else out there who could at least match that kind of production given Ohio State’s resources?

I don't buy into the narrative either that Day is this un-replaceable entity and that Ohio State would have to have some home run hire immediately lined up if they are to move on. Before Urban Meyer hired him as his offensive coordinator he was a completely unknown commodity. Ohio State is not a program where a guy should be learning on the job for his first head coaching gig, and we are seeing the fallout of that decision now.

This is one of if not the single most desirable head coaching job in all of football, and the powers that be would have virtually limitless options to replace Day with anyone they see fit.

It’s not like Ohio State would completely fall off the map with a new head coach, as some seem to think. This program’s brand has been built over decades and decades, and it isn’t going to instantly crumble because it fired a bad head coach. The Buckeyes may need a transition year in 2025, but they aren’t suddenly going to become a team that regularly finishes 7-5 or 8-4.

Ohio State didn’t cease to exist when Woody Hayes or John Cooper got fired, and it will continue on as a national powerhouse far after Ryan Day is gone.

Day has had more than his fair chance to change the narrative. The Buckeyes could have come out and bludgeoned a bad Michigan team and gotten the bad taste of the last three years out of their mouths. Even had Ohio State gone on to lose in the College Football Playoff, fans could hang their hats on restoring order to the rivalry and getting a chance to compete for a Big Ten title.

Instead, here we are. Ohio State is still going to make the College Football Playoff, but is there any reason to believe Day won’t lose to the first talent-equated team he faces? Even a stunning national title run would feel hollow after another loss in The Game, and would only make Saturday’s outcome that much more frustrating.

It is time to move on. Is Ohio State going to go out and hire a stud head coach this offseason, go undefeated in 2025 and win the national title? Probably not, but the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over against an expecting different results, and that is where the program is right now.

The Buckeyes need a complete reset, and that starts with finding a new leader.

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Week 15​

Friday, Dec. 6
7 p.m. | Western Kentucky vs. Jacksonville State | Conference USA Championship Game | CBSSN
8 p.m. | No. 17 Tulane at Army | AAC Championship Game | ABC
8 p.m. | No. 11 Boise State vs. No. 22 UNLV | Mountain West Championship Game | FOX

Saturday, Dec. 7

12 p.m. | No. 16 Arizona State vs. No. 18 Iowa State | Big 12 Championship Game (Arlington, Texas) | ABC
12 p.m. | Miami (OH) vs. Ohio University | MAC Championship Game (Detroit, Michigan) | ESPN

2 p.m. | Southern at Jackson State (SWAC Championship) | ESPN2
2 p.m. | Montana at South Dakota State (FCS playoffs second round) | ESPN+
2 p.m. | Rhode Island at Mercer (FCS playoffs second round) | ESPN+
2 p.m. | Villanova at UIW (FCS playoffs second round) | ESPN+
3 p.m. | UT Martin at Montana State (FCS playoffs second round) | ESPN+
3 p.m. | Abilene Christian at North Dakota State (FCS playoffs second round) | ESPN+
3 p.m. | Tarleton State at South Dakota (FCS playoffs second round) | ESPN+

4 p.m. | No. 3 Texas vs. No. 7 Georgia | SEC Championship Game (Atlanta) | ABC
4 p.m. | Illinois State at UC Davis (FCS playoffs second round) | ESPN+
7:30 p.m. | Louisiana vs. Marshall | Sun Belt Championship Game | ESPN

8 p.m. | No. 9 SMU vs. No. 12 Clemson| ACC Championship Game (Charlotte, North Carolina) | ABC
8 p.m. | No. 1 Oregon vs. No. 4 Penn State | Big Ten Championship Game (Indianapolis) | CBS

9 p.m. | Lehigh at Idaho (FCS playoffs second round) | ESPN+

Football: 10 things that went wrong for No. 2 Ohio State in ‘The Game’ - OSU - The Lantern
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".

Football: 10 things that went wrong for No. 2 Ohio State in ‘The Game’ OSU - The Lantern

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Hangout in the Holy Land: What just happened?
justingolba via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Every Ohio State fan’s worst nightmare came to life on Saturday, and we talked through all of it.

The latest episode of Land-Grant Holy Land’s flagship podcast is here! Join LGHL’s Josh Dooley and Justin Golba as they discuss Ohio State football, basketball, recruiting, and much more! Come for the hot takes. Stay for the warm ones.

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For this recap episode of Hangout in the Holy Land, Josh and Justin are in a bad space mentally, and it is time to talk about it. The No. 2 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes fall for the fourth consecutive season to the Michigan Wolverines, and this one hurts the most.

So, what happened? How is it possible that the 10-1 Buckeyes lost 13-10 at home to the 6-5 Wolverines?

We discuss the offensive game plan (if you want to call it that), the lack of execution, and why the Buckeyes lost this game.

We then have the inevitable Ryan Day discussion and the college football playoff discussion.

Make sure to like and subscribe to the podcast. As always, Go Bucks!

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Connect with the pod:
Twitter: @HolyLandPod

Connect with Josh Dooley:
Twitter: @jdooleybuckeye

Connect with Justin Golba:
Twitter: @justin_golba

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What I’ll remember from my first Ohio State vs. Michigan football experience: Stefan Krajisnik - cleveland.com
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".

What I’ll remember from my first Ohio State vs. Michigan football experience: Stefan Krajisnik cleveland.com

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Here are 5 things we learned from the Ohio State Buckeyes' 13-10 loss to Michigan - The Columbus Dispatch
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".

Here are 5 things we learned from the Ohio State Buckeyes' 13-10 loss to Michigan The Columbus Dispatch

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Ohio State Buckeyes Coach Gets Brutally Ripped Into By Notable Analyst - Sports Illustrated
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Ohio State Buckeyes Coach Gets Brutally Ripped Into By Notable Analyst Sports Illustrated

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Maryland basketball shows more promising signs in another blowout win​

In its final tuneup before the Big Ten schedule begins, Maryland basketball cruised past another overmatched opponent from a lower level of college basketball. The Terps tied a program record with their fifth win by 30 points or more.​

In its final tuneup before the Big Ten schedule begins, Maryland basketball cruised past another overmatched opponent from a lower level of college basketball. The Terps tied a program record with their fifth win by 30 points or more, handling Alcorn State, 96-58.

Mid-half run seals the deal early ... There was a tiny smattering of fans in the stands, no surprise given students have been gone for Thanksgiving break, it's an NFL Sunday and the opponent was an 0-8 team from a school most only know as the alma mater of former NFL star Steve McNair. This game was scheduled to get a sweat in during the break, bridging the gap between the holiday and the Big Ten opener against Ohio State this week. So with no energy in the building, it wasn't surprising to see a flat start by the Terps, who saw Alcorn State (0-9) go on a 12-1 run to take the lead.

But Maryland abruptly turned it on. DeShawn Harris-Smith knocked down a free throw and then was the beneficiary of the latest sweet pass by Derik Queen, who found him cutting to the basket for a layup. Rodney Rice (12 points, five assists) missed a couple of threes but was undeterred, driving to the basket for a fastbreak layup to give Maryland a 20-18 lead. Queen showed off his face-up game, knocking down a 15-footer from atop the key. Rice drilled a three, Queen blocked a shot and Rice whipped the ball to Jay Young for a run-out layup. With that, the Terps had retaken control of the game, making seven of nine shots during their run.
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Miguel started his Maryland career slowly, shooting less than 50 percent in each of the first four games and sometimes taking questionable shots. But he appears to be getting more comfortable with his new teammates. He shot 5-for-10 and has been above 50 percent while scoring at least 13 points in three of the past four games. Never bashful about hunting his shot, he showed unselfishness in the second half by passing on an open breakaway layup and lobbing the ball to Gapare for a dunk.

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Julian Reese started the season a bit slowly, perhaps because he was getting used to playing alongside another big man in Queen. He continued to look increasingly comfortable and assertive today, though, scoring 14 points and grabbing 11 rebounds on 2-for-4 shooting. The senior center posted his 25th career double-double with more than 13 minutes left and made 10 of 12 from the free throw line, a welcome sight given his struggles there. He made his first three free throws and after a miss was negated by an Alcorn State lane violation, made his fourth. Then he swatted a shot and set a screen for Rice, freeing him to knock down an open jumper. Later in the half, he remained perfect at the line, making his fifth and sixth free throws.

In the past six games, Reese is averaging 14.8 points on 67 percent shooting.

Tafara Gapare's recent emergence has added even more balance and firepower. Coming off that breakout 19-point game against Bucknell, the reserve forward posted nine points, eight rebounds and seven blocks, again showing off his bounciness near the rim. Gapare looks like an increasingly impactful player off the bench this year and potentially a key starter next season.

Maryland's passing is improving fast and it was seamless today. The Terps unselfishly whipped the ball around sharply all afternoon, recording 25 assists on 32 made baskets, an elite ratio. Queen (6-of-9 for 20 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two blocks) again showed off his unusual passing ability, dropping several dimes.It's easy to see their chemistry growing. Rice posted five assists in the first half and is increasingly looking like a reliable secondary ballhandler, which some wouldn't have predicted based on his reputation as a shooter.

They entered the day ranked 11th nationally in both turnovers per game (11.7) and turnovers forced (17.1), a formula for winning lots of games.

They also had their best 3-point shooting day of the young season, going 11 for 23. That's been a weakness. Seven players made at least one. It won't be nearly this easy against Big Ten teams.

Late in the game, Harris-Smith (10 points) might've generated some much-needed confidence, driving for a layup on the break and then knocking down a three. Seconds later, Young hit from the same spot to extend their lead to 38 points.

Up next ... After a run of mostly overmatched opponents Maryland used to gain cohesiveness, the Terps will have an opportunity to gauge where they stand when Ohio State visits on Wednesday. The Buckeyes (5-2) are coming off a deflating loss against Pitt, during which they squandered late leads in regulation and overtime.

Just sayin': Maryland is 7-1 beating Manhattan, Mount St. Mary's, Florida A&M, Canisius, Villanova, Bucknell, and Alcorn State; while losing to #15 Marquette (the only ranked team that have played).

I saw a picture of their Infinity Center (below), are the yellow shirts all students or did they have some free give away t-shirt promotion?

When do final CFP rankings come out? What Ohio State fans need to know - The Columbus Dispatch
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".

When do final CFP rankings come out? What Ohio State fans need to know The Columbus Dispatch

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Ohio State, Michigan players involved in melee after Buckeyes loss - WJW FOX 8 News Cleveland
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Ohio State, Michigan players involved in melee after Buckeyes loss WJW FOX 8 News Cleveland

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Class: 2026
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School: Lewis Center(OH) Olentangy
Height: 6-foot-1
Weight: 195lbs

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Class: 2028
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Height: 6-foot-4
Weight: 180lbs

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Michigan stuns Ohio State football, tops Buckeyes for 4th straight year - Yahoo Sports
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Michigan stuns Ohio State football, tops Buckeyes for 4th straight year Yahoo Sports

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Paul Finebaum not out on Ohio State as National Championship contender after loss vs. Michigan - On3
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Paul Finebaum not out on Ohio State as National Championship contender after loss vs. Michigan On3

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New Video Shows Clear Instigator in College Football Brawl With Michigan-Ohio State - Athlon Sports
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New Video Shows Clear Instigator in College Football Brawl With Michigan-Ohio State Athlon Sports

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Fandom is like your favorite sweatshirt; and other musings on being a fan following a demoralizing loss
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images

Ohio State’s fourth-straight loss to Michigan isn’t the end of the world, even if it feels like it right now.

Ohio State will play another football game in approximately three weeks. Between now and then (and preferably much sooner for our own sanities) we all need to come to terms with the events that occurred in Ohio Stadium on Saturday and figure out the individual ways that we are going to approach them. I am on the record that I believe a change in leadership is necessary for the Ohio State football program, and nothing short of a miraculously transformational four-game playoff run is going to change my opinion on that.

However, I am a lifelong Ohio State fan, and that’s never going to change. I am still going to proudly wear my Buckeye gear in public, I’m still going to watch press conferences and listen to podcasts (although it will probably take me a few days to be able to stomach that again), I am still going to pull for OSU to win every recruiting battle, and I will cheer my heart out for them no matter who or where they play in the College Football Playoff.

But, because I love this year’s team, the program as a whole, and my alma mater in general, I am going to continue to expect better from them all; therefore, when necessary, I am going to voice my concerns here on Land-Grant Holy Land and our various podcasts as I have for the past nine seasons. Since this has been an ongoing discussion during Ryan Day’s tenure in Columbus, I have long believed that just because you love something, doesn’t mean that you can’t criticize it; in fact, I believe it is healthy when you do.

So, that is the specific needle that I am going to try to thread coming out of a ridiculously frustrating, painful, and demoralizing 13-10 loss to Michigan, the fourth in as many years. I will hope for the best, and likely even convince myself that they can make a run to a title once the CFP field is released a week from today. But I will do so with my eyes wide open, knowing full well that Lucy is more than likely going to snatch the ball away from me, as she always seems to do, just as I am winding up for the kick.

But I won’t fault fans if they are off the bandwagon temporarily or even permanently. I’ve made it a point over the years to try and never criticize people for how they express their respective fandoms, as long as it does not turn toxic or violent. So, I am fully in support of you doing you in the wake of a fourth-straight loss to That Team Up North.

If you want to wallow in self-pity and despair for a few days, go for it. If you want to curse the gods for allowing such a fate to befall your favorite football team, have at it. If you want to immediately move on and focus on the good things in your life, I’m happy for you. All of these responses are valid.

My only word of caution is that if you are going to opt for something that hues closer to the first two options, don’t sit in the extreme versions of those emotions for too long. For many of us, it’s likely going to take a while for the pain of this defeat to fade (if it ever fully does), but it doesn't do you — or the people around you — any good to allow it to consume you. Those kinds of emotions ferment and turn into something much uglier that is unbecoming of you and Buckeye Nation.

As I have come into middle age, I have slowly (and often not especially gracefully) realized that allowing a football team — or any other type of fandom — to become the central focus of one’s personality is not especially healthy nor ultimately conducive to living a happy life. Fandom is a drug; the highs of victory are intoxicatingly sweet, but the lows of failure can be mentally and physically crippling.

And yet, those results have nothing to do with us as fans. Aside from maybe the tertiary connection of contributing to an NIL collective or cheering from the stands, we have no real hand in any given win or loss. And yet, our emotions thereafter are real; sometimes too real.

I’m not sure what their schedule will be following the end of the regular season, but sometime in the next day or so, the team is going to officially turn the page and refocus its attention on the postseason. They will do what they can to learn the lessons of this loss and attempt to be better when they get back on the field on either Dec. 20 or 21. I know that the guys in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center are hurting far more over the outcome in The Horseshoe yesterday than I ever could be. So, I am choosing to view the fact that they finding ways to put one foot in front of the other as instructive.

Perhaps this is something I learned living in SEC country during the 2006 and 2007 seasons when Ohio State lost back-to-back national championship games to Florida and LSU respectively, but fandom should be something that primarily brings you joy. It obviously won’t all the time, and when it doesn’t, it’s okay to a break for a while; not from being a fan, but living in the fandom.

It’s like your favorite sweatshirt. You wear it day in and day out; there is comfort in the routine of putting it on, looking in the mirror, and smiling. The warmth the sweatshirt provides is cozy, it’s familiar, it’s a literal hug every day. The sweatshirt brings back tender memories that put a single sentimental tear in your eye. Those memories feel good, so you wear the sweatshirt so often that eventually, you are wearing the sweatshirt when something bad happens. Then you’re wearing it again when something else bad happens. You chalk it up to coincidence and dismiss the creeping sense of connection and focus on the positive times that you’ve had while wearing your favorite sweatshirt.

But then a third and fourth bad thing happen and you can’t ignore it anymore. While the sweatshirt was not responsible for those bad things happening, you can no longer avoid the association between the sweatshirt and those bad things. So, you take off the sweatshirt, wash it, and hang it in your closet.

The sweatshirt is still yours, it is part of you, you could never throw it away. But it got to a point where the sweatshirt wasn't providing your life with the same positivity that it once did. Negative thoughts and memories had latched onto the sweatshirt, coloring your relationship with it and, in turn, how you interacted with the world around you will wearing it.

So, the sane and healthy thing to do in this admittedly disjointed metaphor is to take a break from the sweatshirt. It could be one day, it could be one week, it could be one year; however long you need for the negative emotions attached to the sweatshirt to stop overwhelming all of the good memories. You are the only one who will know when that is, but to bring it back home to Ohio State, if you need to disengage with the all-encompassing content machine that is the Buckeye beat, do it. If you need to avoid college football sites, videos, and podcasts to maintain your sanity, please do. If you need to rotate a generic hoodie into your wardrobe rotation for a little bit, there’s no shame in that; your favorite Buckeye sweatshirt will be there when you are ready to put it back on.

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Ohio State, Michigan players involved in melee after Buckeyes loss, multiple people pepper sprayed - FOX 59 Indianapolis
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Ohio State, Michigan players involved in melee after Buckeyes loss, multiple people pepper sprayed FOX 59 Indianapolis

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There's An Easy Answer For Replacing Ryan Day At Ohio State - Sports Illustrated
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There's An Easy Answer For Replacing Ryan Day At Ohio State Sports Illustrated

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Identifying top Ohio State Buckeyes coaching candidates to replace Ryan Day in 2025 - Sportsnaut
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Identifying top Ohio State Buckeyes coaching candidates to replace Ryan Day in 2025 Sportsnaut

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If This Were A Movie: Ohio State fights a losing battle against the killer robots of ‘Chopping Mall’
Jami Jurich via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Photo by Ben Jackson/Getty Images

Someone get a technician in the control room, I beg of you.

Honestly, the vibes are so rancid in this moment that it’s hard to even come up with a film that encapsulates what we all witnessed today. The season isn’t over, but it felt like we were attending our own funeral for most of this afternoon. It appeared to be less like a movie and more like a circus nightmare.

But in the spirit of Black Friday yesterday and my unrelated desire to wear black today and for the foreseeable future, humor me: Let’s imagine that today’s game took place not in The Shoe but at the Park Plaza Mall, the setting for the 1986 film “Chopping Mall.”

Park Plaza has recently installed a new, state-of-the-art security system: Robots named Protectors 1, 2 and 3. But when a lightning storm damages their control system, the Protectors go rogue, chasing and killing teens who have decided to throw a party in the mall’s furniture store overnight.

Before the robots began to unleash their horrors, the teens had big dreams of a night of fun with friends, lawlessness, and teenage antics. So too did the dreams of Buckeye fans die a painful death today—dreams of finally snapping our losing streak to the Wolverines. Dreams of handing them a double-digit loss en route to the Big Ten Championship. They were to be but a speed bump before it was off to the races.

Then disaster seemed to strike the control room. In the film, the robots make short work of their own technicians, meaning the teens are left to defend themselves against a murderous band of technoids. It wasn’t much different in the game: The Wolverines seemed to manhandle Ohio State’s offense at every turn, and the coaching decisions were inexplicable against a team the Buckeyes were expected to beat easily.

The defense, on the other hand, had some trick plays up its sleeve: Propane tanks and booby traps took the form of interceptions, big third-down stops. They were fighting for their lives out there, just like the teens who come up with some clever solutions to protect themselves in the film.

It wasn’t enough, in the end. The robots were out for blood, defending their streak against the Buckeyes, while the Ohio State players seemed to get in their own way at every turn (TWO missed field goals! Sloppy interceptions! Useless run plays! Failing to capitalize on multiple Wolverine turnovers). But more egregiously, any adjustments that would have been welcomed from the, uh, control room technicians (aka the coaches) never came.

In the film, it could be said the teens shouldn’t have been in the mall in the first place, but realistically, the robots shouldn’t have been allowed to malfunction and go on a killing spree, with or without the teens present.

Similarly, OSU should never have been put in a position to get in their own way – their miscues were unacceptable, but they weren’t the root problem. The logic board went bad. The control room combusted.

And in an effort to provide some actual football analysis here, what was the reason? Sure, the Wolverines were hungry, but Ohio State continued to let them snack! Why the Buckeyes continued to run the football straight up the middle into the mouths of the starving Wolverines is beyond explanation, and actually, much like we’ve seen in some of the other games where the Buckeyes have struggled, the coaches (specifically head coach Ryan Day and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly) either failed or simply refused to adjust the strategy. There continues to be poor clock management from Day, and Kelly’s play calling was inexcusable.

Beyond seeing the film’s survivors walk out of the mall, we can only imagine the ramifications afterward: Lawsuits, news coverage and most likely, a few people out of their jobs. There’s certainly no legal standing for a lawsuit over this football game (unless I’m allowed to sue for emotional damages), but Day and Kelly’s positions should, frankly, be on the line to make up for the slaughtering their team underwent today. It’s time we fix the issues in the control room, before Protector No. 4 turns next year’s Game into a sequel.

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Big Ten Makes Major Announcement After Michigan-Ohio State Game - Athlon Sports
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Big Ten Makes Major Announcement After Michigan-Ohio State Game Athlon Sports

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The worst loss in recent memory: Ohio State has a real problem yet again
Caleb Houser via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Kyle Robertson/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Buckeyes fail to beat their rivals for the fourth year in a row in a game that should be forgotten.

Sick.

That’s the only single word that comes to mind if asking for a one-word reaction to how Buckeye Nation is feeling right now. For the fourth consecutive time, the Buckeyes fail to beat their rival in a game where once again they had the upper hand in several areas.

You could probably sum it up right there, but we need to take a deeper look at the issues at hand in Columbus. Hopefully this rant helps you release some emotions that are completely understandable.

The first reaction when seeing the score is wondering how on Earth this team with this much talent only scored 10 points. Just 10 points against a defense that has lost five games on the year. 10 points to a defense without their best cornerback. 10. points.

The first drive of the game the Buckeyes moved the ball down the field with ease thanks to the passing game, and that should have been the plan all day long considering the points just argued. Knowing full well Michigan is without their best defensive back, why would you not throw the ball twice the amount of times you keep it on the ground?

Having to settle for a field goal was issue No. 1 on the opening drive, and that is on the play-calling. Chip Kelly called the worst game possible and picked the worst time to do it. It honestly made me question if Ryan Day had taken over with how bad it looked.

To consistently ram your head into the same wall is just maddening. It would take about two seconds of thought to realize running the ball directly up the gut into the best interior defensive line in the country probably isn’t the best choice there, yet here we are watching it over and over to little success.

Don’t get me started on stretch runs into the boundary either. Ohio State’s infatuation with that specific ideology for several years running is beyond dumb. Running the ball to the short end of the field without a numbers advantage has never worked, and once again it reared its ugly head today.

In my 30-years of watching this team, I have never been so embarrassed. How can this program continue to play its worst game of the season in the most important one? It’s simple — It’s all on the coaching.

Seeing this offense play scared all day long is hard to wrap your mind around knowing the amount of talent at their disposal. The times they did push the ball down the field through the air it worked. Yes, in a huge moment Carnell Tate dropped a pass in the fourth quarter, but my biggest gripe with play-calling today is the consistent desire to run the ball on virtually every first down.

Then, again, whether needing two or three yards or even 10, Kelly would call for another run on second down that rarely went anywhere, setting up obvious passing situations on third downs. That is very hard for a quarterback to constantly overcome, and Will Howard was not able to rise to the occasion.

Another gripe: why does Ohio State have a bad kicker every single year? The last time a kicker in a Buckeye uniform was dependable feels like decades ago with Mike Nugent! Leaving six points on the board is sickening, and you have no excuse at Ohio State to continuously have this situation come up.

I don’t expect kickers to be perfect, but to miss not one, but two kicks inside of 40 yards is gross. Considering high school kickers regardless of wind make that range and in the biggest moments you miss two? Just cannot happen, especially as you watch Michigan — who brought in an elite kicker through the transfer portal — drill one with ease from 50-plus yards.

Additionally, seeing this team derail their last efforts of hope with the timeout blunder in the fourth quarter is all you need to look at if we’re being honest. How does that happen? It’s 3rd-and-2. If you can get a stop and force a field goal there you have a real shot, but instead you gift them five yards, a first down, and most of all lose your timeout and contribute to them bleeding the clock even more.

This team is flat out poorly coached in big moments far too often, and that’s where this conversation should end.

I’ll just keep this going...​

Ryan Day. It’s just time. I don’t see how three years of this let alone four is acceptable any more. Day is a great guy, but let’s just call it like it is right now. He cannot get the job done.

There’s maybe no one reason you can directly point to as the cause, but that is the issue. There’s too many recurring problems for a team with this much talent and resources to constantly be playing this poorly in the game that means the most.

You’ve been more talented. You’ve brought in different coaches. You have played down the rivalry and then made it the most important game ever, and it’s still the same result for the fourth year in a row.

He coaches different in this game compared to others, and it’s dead wrong. There’s never creativity. Never a moment where aggression and play calling go hand-in-hand. Once again, Michigan throws in a trick play, while it’s doesn’t work, it got them a pass interference call. I am not saying you need trick plays to win big games, but clearly the safe and conservative approach isn’t working either.

You have an advantage all over the field with your receivers against their secondary and you didn’t lean into it. Jeremiah Smith, Emeka Egbuka, Carnell Tate and the rest of the skill guys cannot be guarded. But no, continue to run into Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant. I will truly never understand that aspect to this game. If it’s this “toughness” mantra Day is trying to win against still, then just end it now.

Knowing how many guys came back for this single game and still had the same result tells me all I need to ever know. Day does not have what it takes to beat Michigan, and neither does this staff. Argue it all you want, but what have we seen to believe any different?

You can argue that players have to execute too, and I fully support that stance and agree, but coaches also have to put players in the best place for success. I do not see that being the case anytime the god-forsaken winged helmets are lined up across the field.

I do believe Day is a good football coach. I do. It’s not lost on me there are a ton of bright spots to look at in his tenure. But fair or not, fans know this game alone is how you are judged, and he’s so deep into the John Cooper era it’s scary.

We’ve been let down again. The defense played hard, and while they weren’t perfect, this game is on the offensive staff and that side of the ball. Even a win or two in the College Football Playoff will not take the sting off of this game. The anger we have felt for years continued again on Saturday, and it’s another long wait until you get another crack at them.

I fully believe by then there has to be a change at the helm, because if not, why would I believe anything other than the same result?

Be better. End of story.

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Ohio State vs. Michigan Notebook: Will Howard Evaluated for Concussion But Cleared to Return, Special Teams Lapses Cost Buckeyes - Eleven Warriors
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Ohio State vs. Michigan Notebook: Will Howard Evaluated for Concussion But Cleared to Return, Special Teams Lapses Cost Buckeyes Eleven Warriors

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