Some of you want to highlight Ryan Day's 2-7 record versus top-5 opponents. It would be relatively easy to "defend" Day's performance in most of those games, but I'm not his defense attorney. Instead, I want to take a look at how some previous Buckeye head coaches fared in big (and little) games:
Woody Hayes
In his last ten seasons, Hayes had six legitimate chances to win national championships and blew all six of them. He posted a losing record against Michigan (4-5-1) including dropping his final three Games; and in bowl games (2-6); and against top-5 competition (4-8-2, going 0-4-1 in his last five attempts). In addition, Hayes lost three games as the #1 ranked team in the country, once to an unranked opponent (Michigan State, 1974); and lost two games as the #2 ranked team, once to an unranked opponent (Missouri, 1976).
1969: #1 Ohio State loses to #12 Michigan, costing the Buckeyes the consensus national championship
1970: #5 Ohio State defeats #4 Michigan
1970: #2 Ohio State loses to #12 Stanford in the Rose Bowl, costing the Buckeyes the AP national title
1971: Ohio State loses 4 games, including to #3 Michigan, to finish the season unranked
1972: #5 Ohio State loses to unranked Michigan State
1972: #9 Ohio State beats #3 Michigan
1972: #3 Ohio State gets blown out by #1 USC in the Rose Bowl, 42-17, costing the Buckeyes a national championship
1973: #1 Ohio State ties #4 Michigan
1973: #4 Ohio State beats #7 USC in the Rose Bowl to finish second in the AP Poll
1974: #1 Ohio State loses to unranked Michigan State
1974: #3 Ohio State beats #2 Michigan
1974: #3 Ohio State loses to #5 USC in the Rose Bowl, costing the Buckeyes the UPI (coaches) national title
1975: #1 Ohio State beats #4 Michigan
1975: #1 Ohio State loses to UCLA in the Rose Bowl, costing the Buckeyes the consensus national championship
1976: #2 Ohio State loses to unranked Missouri
1976: #8 Ohio State ties #4 UCLA
1976: #8 Ohio State loses to #4 Michigan, 22-0
1976: #11 Ohio State beats #12 Colorado in the Orange Bowl
1977: #4 Ohio State loses to #3 Oklahoma
1977: #4 Ohio State loses to #5 Michigan
1977: #9 Ohio State gets blown out by #3 Alabama, 35-6, in the Sugar Bowl
1978: #6 Ohio State loses to #5 Penn State, 19-0
1978: #14 Ohio State ties unranked SMU
1978: #16 Ohio loses to unranked Purdue
1978: #16 Ohio State loses to #6 Michigan
1978: #20 Ohio State loses to #7 Clemson in the Gator Bowl; Hayes punches an opposing player, gets fired the next morning
Earle Bruce
Bruce had one noteworthy season, 1979, his first in Columbus when he went 11-1 as Woody's replacement. In his remaining 8 seasons, Bruce compiled an uninspiring record of 70-31-1. Overall, Bruce had a record of 5-4 against Michigan; 5-3 in bowl games (but 0-2 in the Rose Bowl); and 1-3-1 against top-5 teams (his only win coming against #1 Iowa in 1985). In 1984, Bruce's #2 Buckeyes lost to unranked Purdue.
1979: #2 Ohio State beats #13 Michigan
1979: #1 Ohio State loses to #3 USC in the Rose Bowl, costing the Buckeyes a consensus national championship
1983: #6 Ohio State loses to #2 Oklahoma
1984: #2 Ohio State loses to unranked Purdue
1984: #6 Ohio State loses to #18 USC in the Rose Bowl
1985: #8 Ohio State beats #1 Iowa
1986: #9 Ohio State loses to #5 Alabama
1987: #7 Ohio State ties #4 LSU
John Cooper
I will spare you the details and give you just a synopsis of of the Cooper Era: 2-10-1 versus Michigan; 3-8 in bowl games (but with two of those wins coming in "BCS" bowls); and 2-8 against top-5 opponents (with both wins coming in 1996, against #3 PSU and #2 ASU). Cooper never won a national championship but twice finished #2 in the polls (1996 and 1998).
Jim Tressel
Tressel is beloved by Buckeye fans for his 2002 national championship, his excellent record against Michigan (9-1), and his decent showing in bowl games (6-4, but just 1-2 in national championship contests). Against top-5 competition, Tressel compiled a record of 4-7; he lost his final six games against top-5 opponents, with his last win coming in the epic 2006 Game versus Michigan. Four times Tressel lost a game as the #1 ranked team in the country, twice in national championship games (2006 and 2007); once to #18 Wisconsin (2010); and once to unranked Illinois (2007). Tressel's worst loss came in 2009 when his #7 Buckeyes lost to an unranked Purdue team that finished the season with a record of 5-7. Tressel was fired after the 2010 season (all wins vacated) for lying to the NCAA.
2002: #2 Ohio State beats #1 Miami to win the national championship
2003: #4 Ohio State loses to #5 Michigan
2005: #4 Ohio State loses to #2 Texas
2005: #4 Ohio State beats #5 Notre Dame
2006: #1 Ohio State beats #2 Texas
2006: #1 Ohio State beats #2 Michigan
2006: #1 Ohio State loses to #2 Florida, costing the Buckeyes the national championship
2007: #1 Ohio State loses to unranked Illinois
2007: #1 Ohio State loses to #2 LSU, costing the Buckeyes the national championship
2008: #5 Ohio State loses to #1 USC by the score of 35-3
2008: #10 Ohio State loses to #3 Penn State
2008: #10 Ohio State loses to #3 Texas
2009: #9 Ohio State loses to #3 USC
2009: #7 Ohio State loses to unranked Purdue
2010: #1 Ohio State loses to #18 Wisconsin
Interregnum
As the de facto interim head coach, Luke Fickell compiled a record of 6-7 (3-5 in the Big Ten) with losses to Michigan and to Florida in the Gator Bowl; Fickell did not face a top-5 opponent.
Urban Meyer
Urban Meyer was arguably the best head coach in the history of Ohio State football: his overall record was 83-9 (.902 winning percentage), and he was 7-0 versus Michigan, 5-2 in bowl games (2-1 in playoff games), and 6-2 versus top-5 competition, with three Big Ten titles (2014, 2017, 2018) and a national championship (2014). Even with all that success, Meyer had a few unfathomable lopsided losses to unranked teams during his tenure in Columbus: 2014 to Virginia Tech (35-21); 2017 to Iowa (55-24); and 2018 to Purdue (49-20), with the losses to Iowa and Purdue costing Ohio State a spot in the playoffs.
2014: #8 Ohio State loses to unranked Virginia Tech by the score of 35-21
2014: #4 Ohio State beats #1 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl
2014: #4 Ohio State beats #2 Oregon to win the national championship
2016: #2 Ohio State loses to unranked Penn State
2016: #2 Ohio State beats #3 Michigan
2016: #3 Ohio State loses to #2 Clemson by the score of 31-0
2017: #2 Ohio State loses to #5 Oklahoma
2017: #6 Ohio State beats #2 Penn State
2017: #6 Ohio State loses to unranked Iowa by the score of 55-24, costing the Buckeyes a playoff bid
2017: #8 Ohio State beats #4 Wisconsin
2018: #2 Ohio State loses to unranked Purdue by the score of 49-20, costing the Buckeyes a playoff bid
2018: #10 Ohio State beats #4 Michigan
Ryan Day
Despite having an overall record of 61-9, Ryan Day has developed a reputation for losing big games: he is 1-3* versus Michigan; 2-4 in bowl games; and 2-7 versus top-5 competition. However, unlike Urban Meyer and to some extent Jim Tressel, Day doesn't inexplicably lose games that he is supposed to win, with his "worst" loss coming against #12 Oregon in the 2021 season.
2019: #2 Ohio State loses to #3 Clemson
2020: #3 Ohio State beats #2 Clemson
2020: #3 Ohio State loses to #1 Alabama costing the Buckeyes the national championship
2021: #2 Ohio State loses to #5 Michigan*
2022: #2 Ohio State beats #5 Notre Dame
2022: #2 Ohio State loses to #3 Michigan*
2022: #4 Ohio State loses to #1 Georgia
2023: #2 Ohio State loses to #3 Michigan*
2024: #2 Ohio State loses to #3 Oregon
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