Intentional penalty shows another case of Ryan Day being out-coached

The Ohio State football team took its first loss on Saturday night. They lost 32-31 to a really good Oregon team. In a game that close, every little thing matters. There were a few moments at the end of the game that kept the Buckeyes from winning and allowed Oregon to walk away as victors.

On the final drive of the game, the Ohio State Buckeyes were trying to get into field goal range to attempt a game-winning field goal. On the second-to-last play of the game, Dan Lanning intentionally sent a 12th player on the field to cause a penalty. They just wanted to make sure there were no big gains.

While that is a five-yard penalty, the clock does not stop. Four critical seconds ran off. Ryan Day accepted the penalty instead of calling a timeout. Had he called a timeout, the penalty would have counted and time wouldn't have run off. Ryan Day didn't know that. He was out-coached yet again.

Ryan Day was out-coached by Dan Lanning in the Ohio State football team's loss to Oregon

Lanning knew that this was a loophole in the rules. He said afterward at a press conference that it was an intentional penalty to exploit that loophole. That rule has already been changed by Tuesday afternoon, but that's too late for the Buckeyes. They still get a loss.

I don't blame Lanning at all for exploiting this loophole. In fact, I applaud him for doing so. Day should have a knowledge of the rules like this so he can be better at doing things like this. Day needs to be the one taking advantage of loopholes, not the one being exploited by him.

Day was flat-out out-coached. It's not the first time it's happened. Unfortunately, It's likely not to be the last either. He has perhaps the most talented team in the country. Yet, little moments late in games keep his teams from winning. That's a major problem.