Burning Questions: Despite national title, does Ryan Day have a ‘big game’ hurdle to clear?

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From now until preseason camp starts in August, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about the most important questions yet unanswered for the season. You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content and our ”Burning Questions” articles here.

You can count on nearly two hands the number of losses Ryan Day has in his head coaching career at Ohio State. With an 82-12 record through seven seasons as the Buckeyes’ head coach, there’s no question his tenure has been successful. The run he led the Buckeyes to in 2024, in winning the National Championship, will long live in Ohio State lore.

It’s also important to remember what happened before that run.

The Buckeyes lost at home to Michigan, and there was the one-point loss at Oregon. The loss at home to Michigan felt like a culmination of a narrative of Ryan Day being able to win the “big game.” Even with the Buckeyes’ run to the national championship over the next two months, that narrative resurfaced this past season with losses to Indiana and Miami in the Postseason.

In sports, fans can develop sports PTSD in that sense. It can come from experiences when we are young, like when we are eight years old. Those seminal moments shape our expectations, our fears, potentially our outlook. In addition, it can come from a moment early in a player or coach’s career.

For Ryan Day, the PTSD may have come from Ohio State losing to Clemson in the 2019 College Football Playoff. Leading 16-0 in that game, the Buckeyes let Clemson back into the game and fell just short of playing for a national championship.

Two years later, there were losses to Oregon and Michigan. The narrative was starting to form. Then there was losing to Michigan and Georgia in 2022, including letting an 11-point fourth-quarter lead against the Bulldogs slip away. There was coaching conservatively against Michigan in 2023… then there was the 2024 regular season.

The losses to Indiana and Miami have brought back this burning question. With a tough schedule this season, Ryan Day and the Buckeyes will get a chance to answer them.

Ohio State has won so many big games throughout their history. Urban Meyer and Jim Tressel both had their wins in big games. Woody Hayes has too many to count. That’s why those three are held in such high regard when it comes to Ohio State Football head coaches. 

Even with a national championship, Day still has that monkey on his back. The Game, in the Shoe, this season could be monumental. Win, and everything— well, at least most things— is fine. The alternative? Whoa boy.

There is a standard of excellence at Ohio State. For the most part, Day has met it, and has won a national title with the Buckeyes.

His next step is to consistently win the big game. Ohio State will have many opportunities to do that this season. It’s a burning question that will be answered or a narrative that will, unfortunately, be validated this season.

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