Ohio State is still processing the big loss at Texas on Saturday night. Never before has the Ohio State football program blown a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter, but that's what happened. Ryan Day had to stand up and answer questions as to why that happened.
There is plenty of blame to go around for what happened. All three phases of the game failed to execute late in the game. In his first press conference since the game, Day was asked about the defense, and it seemed like he threw Matt Patricia under the bus.
Ryan Day seemingly blames the defense for Ohio State's loss to Texas
The very first question asked of Day was about the coaches putting the players in the best position to be successful and close out games. Day pointed to the defense failing on that final drive to win the game when they needed it the most and questioned Patricia's lack of aggressiveness.
"Late in the drive, in a one-score game, and we needed the defense to go win the game for us, I think we certainly had more opportunities to be aggressive. The fourth down, we did go after him. We didn't execute it very well. I think you can watch the game and see that last drive and say we didn't get enough pressure on the quarterback to go finish the game, win the game for us."
Those are some harsh words for Day to give out about the defense. This is the same defense that led the country in almost every statistical category a year ago. Patricia called that defense, and did so pretty flawlessly. Day clearly wanted Patricia to be more aggressive on defense.
This was a team that was built around the defense a year ago. For three quarters, Ohio State did a great job of keeping Arch Manning contained. However, they clearly lost the aggressiveness that made the defense so successful in the fourth quarter.
Ryan Day didn't let the offense off the hook for Ohio State scoring just three second-half points
While Day criticized the defense for that final drive, he certainly didn't give a pass to the offense. He pointed out several plays that the offense didn't execute in the fourth quarter that could have given the Ohio State Buckeyes the victory.
"We had the five-step to Devin (McCuin) that we didn't connect on. We score there, it's 30-3 and the game's over. Didn't happen. We have the 3rd-and-5 at the end of the game, we have the fade ball to Jeremiah (Smith) to go win it. I thought that was an aggressive call; we didn't hit."
It's clear that both sides of the ball played a massive part in why Ohio State wasn't able to leave Austin with a win. The Buckeyes need the defense to step up at the end of the game, but the offense can't get soft, either. Ohio State has all kinds of things to work on in the next few weeks.
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