Ohio State football: Ryan Day can no longer be defended
By Ryan Stano
The Ohio State football team had a month to prepare for the Cotton Bowl. You never would have known it by the way they played. They lost 14-3 against Missouri, with their only score being a field goal in the first quarter. They never came close to scoring again.
How do you have a month to prepare for a game where the Buckeyes had everyone on their starting offense available to play except Marvin Harrison Jr. and Kyle McCord and score just three points? Good question! The answer is that Ryan Day continues to be in charge.
Day clearly had no backup plan once Devin Brown went down with an injury in the first quarter. He tweaked his ankle (again) and couldn't finish his first career start. It's not like he looked that good while he was out there anyway, throwing for just 20 yards on 4/8 passing.
Lincoln Kienholz looked like a deer in the headlights out there. Day clearly didn't give him many reps in bowl practice despite the fact that he was just one snap away from being the starter. The lack of preparation for the offense is appalling and unacceptable.
Day also made unnecessary changes to the offensive line. Carson Hinzman was mysteriously absent and Matt Jones took over at center while Enokk Vimahi was put in at right guard. Vimahi had no idea what he was doing and got burned badly several times on run plays.
What's worse is that Day didn't address the biggest issue on the offensive line which is the play of the tackles. Josh Simmons got beat like a drum on almost every pass play and almost every run play too. The fact that Day thought Simmons was good enough to take in the portal last season is baffling.
Everything about the last two games this Ohio State football team played shows that Ryan Day is no longer the right man to lead this program. It's too bad he gets one more year because of Gene Smith walking out the door. 2024 could be a painful season to watch.