The Ohio State football program experienced a first on Saturday night when it blew a 20-point fourth-quarter lead. It was the worst collapse in program history. Ryan Day didn't seem to have any answers during the game as the team slowly blew the big lead it amassed.
On the final drive of the game, the Buckeyes failed to stop Texas from scoring a touchdown to win the game. Texas bled the clock before punching it in, leading to questions about whether or not Ohio State should have let them score earlier. Day seems to regret that.
Ryan Day regrets not having Ohio State let Texas score earlier
The final question of Day's weekly press conference was about that final drive of the game. He now regrets not letting the Longhorns score sooner, which would have given Ohio State more time on the final drive.
"Well, it didn't work. So the answer is yes. If we win the game, then it would've been the right decision. In the moment, you gotta make a hard decision, and I decided to try to hold the line. There's a lot that comes with that. Just saying, "Hey, go let them score right there". I decided to make that call, and ultimately, would've loved to have seen what it looked like if they had scored. Made the decision, talked it over with Matt, and that's the decision we made."
This might be a learning experience for the defense and the coaching staff. It's clear they can't lean on the defense as much as they did a year ago. It's not an elite defense, which is understandable. They lost a lot of talent last season. Of course, they played great for three quarters. Patricia didn't give them a lot of help.
Ohio State is going to use the next three weeks to try to fix these issues
For the next two weeks, the Ohio State Buckeyes will have relatively easy games. Each of the games kicks off at noon, as well. That means they have some time to figure things out before they travel to Iowa. That will be a real test, even though the game will be a noon kickoff.
Getting all of these issues fixed before the meat of the Big Ten schedule starts is going to be the key to the rest of Ohio State's season. All of their goals are still in front of them. Day and the rest of the coaching staff need to be better at closing out games and being aggressive throughout.
With this being the biggest blown lead Ohio State has ever had, fans are no longer giving Day grace. He needs to beat Michigan, win the Big Ten, and win a national championship. All of those goals are still in front of the team. It's something that they can still accomplish despite this deflating loss.
Day can still build his team's confidence up, even after a tough week. Once this weekend rolls around, they will be able to put this loss behind them.
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