Look back at Greg Schiano and Ryan Day altercation from 2022 Ohio State-Rutgers game

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Look back at Greg Schiano and Ryan Day altercation from 2022 Ohio State-Rutgers game

Ohio State football coach Ryan Day and Rutgers coach Greg Schiano have a history on the same sidelines with the Buckeyes‘ coaching staff and as Big Ten opponents. No moment was more intense than their in-game argument in 2022.

Day and Schiano will play against each other for the fifth time as head coaches when the Scarlet Knights head to Columbus on Nov. 22. Ohio State has won all four of the previous matchups (the Buckeyes have a 10-0 record against Rutgers all time), including the 2022 game at Ohio Stadium that got heated after a fake punt.

The Buckeyes scored 28 first-half points against Rutgers and were up 49-10 in the fourth quarter on Oct. 1, 2022. Ohio State’s offense rode Miyan Williams, who became the third running back in program history to score five rushing touchdowns in a game. He also totaled 189 rushing yards on nine yards per carry.

With backups in the game, Ohio State had a fourth-and-2 and put in the punt team. But instead of punting, Jesse Mirco caught the snap, rolled out right and changed his punting motion to a sprint, rushing toward the right hash marks and catching the Scarlet Knights’ special teams unit off guard.

With Mirco already one step out of bounds, Scarlet Knights defender Aron Cruickshank lowered his shoulder and buried it into Mirco, knocking the punter off his balance and igniting a skirmish between Cruickshank and Ohio State players.

Oct 1, 2022; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day and Rutgers Scarlet Knights head coach Greg Schiano argue after Knights wide receiver Aron Cruickshank (1) hit Ohio State Buckeyes punter Jesse Mirco (29) out of bounds on a fake punt run that resulted in a penalty in the fourth quarter of the NCAA Division I football game between the Buckeyes and the Scarlet Knights at Ohio Stadium. Cruickshank was kicked out of the game for the penalty.

In a storm of scarlet, Schiano rushed over to the Buckeyes’ sideline to attempt to defuse the situation.

“My player was in a sea of Ohio State players, and it was closing fast,” Schiano said after the 2022 game. “I wanted to make sure of two things. I wanted to stop our team from coming across the field. That’s how things get very ugly. And I wanted to make sure our player got out of there safely.”

Toward the end of the skirmish, Day and Schiano got into a shouting match. Both coaches received unsportsmanlike penalties.

Oct 1, 2022; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Rutgers Scarlet Knights head coach Greg Schiano walks across the field to exchange words with Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day after an Ohio State fake punt during the fourth quarter of the NCAA Division I football game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Ohio Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Scheller-The Columbus Dispatch

After the game, the coaches met and shook hands, additionally expressing their admiration for each other in the postgame press conferences.

“It was just one coach defending their side, one coach defending theirs,” Day said in the postgame press conference. “No hard feelings. I have an unbelievable amount of respect for him.”

“We’re good friends,” Schiano said. “We’re good. There’s no problem between us.”

Schiano claimed the fight was more about the safety of Cruickshank from the Ohio State sideline rather than the fake the punt. Day also revealed the play was an improvisation by Mirco.

Ohio State posted after the win that Mirco was the Special Teams Player of the Game.

Before coaching separate programs, Schiano was the defensive coordinator from 2016 to 2018 at Ohio State under Urban Meyer. Day joined the staff in 2017 as the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, and was named the acting head coach when Meyer was placed on administrative leave in 2018.

After becoming the full-time head coach in 2019, Day did not retain Schiano, who started a second stint as Rutgers’ head coach in 2020.

Dan Aulbach is the Columbus Dispatch’s Breaking & Trending Sports Reporter. He can be reached at daulbach@dispatch.com or @aulbachdan on X.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Watch Ryan Day-Greg Schiano altercation at 2022 OSU Rutgers game

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