Ohio State coach Ryan Day deserves brunt of blame after fourth straight loss to Michigan — Jimmy Watkins

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State coach Ryan Day holds the microphone in front of several thousand Buckeye supporters, and he’s telling them how bad he wants to beat Michigan.

Winning this game is his top goal each season, Day says. And the Buckeyes do everything possible to win this game every day.

“But this is not about them today,” Day said at OSU’s skull session pep rally Saturday morning. “This is about us. This is about our team. This is about our fans. This is about our university. This is about our state. This is about our toughness. This is about our work ethic. This is about our integrity, our character, our resilience and who we are as Buckeyes.”

No, Coach Day, this game is about you.

Ohio State lost 13-10 to Michigan on Saturday, a sentence nobody can believe for the fourth year in a row. Losing three straight to the “M-word,” as Day called the Wolverines Saturday, tortured Buckeye fans for the last three seasons. Losing a fourth time to a 6-5 version of UM that has no answer at quarterback? Might cost the coach.

Check your reason at the door: Day wins all the games he should, and he builds a talented roster every season. But after Saturday’s unfathomable, unforgivable loss, Ohio State fans deserve accountability from the coach, regardless of the 66 wins, nine — sorry, ten — losses and a bevy of top-five recruiting classes say otherwise.

Listen to what Day said about this game last week. In a television interview, he called losing to UM “one of the worst things that ever happened to me.” When asked about those comments during his Tuesday press conference, Day compared this game to military action.

“This game is a war,” Day said. “Anytime there’s a war, there’s consequences and casualties. Then, there’s the plunder and the rewards that come with it.”

If this game is a war, then styles make fights. And even if Ohio State had won the battle on Saturday – which, again, for the fourth straight time, it didn’t – This game proved without a doubt that the Buckeyes have lost this war.

They say styles make fights, and for much of the last decade, Ohio State and Michigan made for the perfect contrast. The Buckeyes, who hoard five-star receiving prospects and first-round NFL quarterbacks like grandma collects family pictures, forced UM to play modern football. Throw the ball, play in space, subtract a linebacker for a safety. Day’s Buckeyes hung 56 points on 2019 Michigan using this strategy.

But somehow, over the past four years, Michigan has bullied OSU out of its identity and dragged the Buckeyes to UM’s bruising, run-first level. The Buckeyes ran 26 times on Saturday for 77 yards. They threw 33 times, five of which came during the fourth quarter, which means that, for three quarters of the most important game of Ohio State’s season (Day’s words), the Buckeyes chose three yards per carry about as often as they chose their strongest attribute. Oh, and the opponent was missing its best cornerback.

They also missed two field goals, threw two interceptions and had too many players on defense for that converted a crucial third down on UM’s go-ahead drive. They also gained one yard on their final fourth-quarter drive and 10 total yards in the fourth quarter. They also fought Michigan at midfield as the Wolverines planted their flag on the block “O” at Ohio Stadium for the second time in four years, and there will be Buckeye fans who want Day fired as a result.

Sounds crazy, I know, and I’m not saying I agree. But losing as a three-touchdown favorite to your rival also sounds crazy. So does failing to achieve your top goal, for which you prepare every day, four times in a row. And so does telling your fans how much this game means to the program (they already know), then losing it to a six-win version — sorry, seven-win version — of your opponent.

Ohio State coach Ryan Day held the microphone during Saturday’s game in front of more than 100,000 Ohio State fans. What do you think this result says about his place in the rivalry?