Ohio State football: Confidence level against Purdue

Coaching Staff – Confidence Level 9

Ryan Walters will be coaching against Ohio State for the first time in his career. During his stop at Illinois, he was able to avoid coaching against Ryan Day and the Buckeye offense while he was establishing his reputation as a defensive wizard. That good luck comes to an end this Saturday as Kyle McCord, Marvin Harrison Jr., TreVeyon Henderson, and the rest of the Ohio State offense make their way to northwest central, Indiana.

Walters has suffered almost as many losses through the first half of his first season as Ryan Day has suffered through his first five and a half seasons. After defeating undefeated Maryland last week, Day celebrated his 50th victory as a head coach. He became the second fastest to do so in Ohio State history, eclipsing all former Buckeye coaches except Urban Myer. He became the fastest to reach fifty wins in college football since Chris Peterson did so at Boise State.

Day isn’t worried about win number 50 however. He is focused on victory number 51, which means if he is going to get it, he will need to shake off a bad memory. That being the 49-20 loss Ohio State suffered back in 2018 when Day was the offensive coordinator and play caller. That night, despite breaking the all-time passing record with the late Dwayne Haskins under center, the Buckeyes only managed 20 points.

Walters will be looking for the upset magic once again while Day will be looking to avoid another heartbreaking defeat in West Lafayette. My confidence level in Ohio State’s coaching staff when compared to Purdue is at a nine.