I don’t care that Ohio State was on the road. I don’t care that they had a freshman quarterback making his first start. That 30-18 loss to USC is on Ryan Day, and I genuinely don’t know how you can watch that game and blame anybody else MORE than the head coach.
Ohio State looked like a team that found out it had a football game about 20 minutes before kickoff.
Luke Fahey was not ready for that moment. He was missing throws all night, and I have absolutely no idea what Ryan Day saw in practice that made him believe Fahey was the best option. But fine, you’ve got a freshman QB. HELP THE KID. Instead, the play calling was horrendous, receivers couldn’t catch the damn ball, and the defense was giving up explosive plays like they were handing out Halloween candy.
And can somebody PLEASE explain why Ohio State is lining up in the shotgun when they’re basically an inch away from the goal line? You’ve got 204 rushing yards on the night, you’re knocking on the door, and somehow you leave that possession with THREE POINTS.
Then you’re down 15 in the fourth quarter with about seven minutes left, and Ohio State is operating like it’s protecting a lead. Where is the urgency?! You’re running out of time, not trying to kill it!
Ohio State had 464 yards of offense and scored ONE touchdown, with just over two minutes left in the game. That is almost impressive levels of incompetence.
I’m not saying Ohio State should never lose a football game. USC deserves credit for winning. But there’s a MASSIVE difference between getting beat by a better team and spending four quarters looking completely unprepared to play football.
Ryan Day had an entire team making mistakes, an offense that couldn’t finish drives, a defense getting embarrassed, and absolutely no answers when things started going wrong.
That wasn’t just a bad loss. That was a Ryan Day master class in how NOT to coach a football game.
