Why this Ohio State football victory is the biggest win in the Ryan Day era

Saturday afternoon was a great day for the Ohio State football team. After starting out down 10-0 against Penn State, they rallied to beat the Nittany Lions 20-13. The defense didn't allow a single touchdown. The only touchdown Penn State scored was on a pick-six on Will Howard's first throw of the game.

There was a lot of chatter about how poorly the Buckeyes had played coming into this game. Ryan Day took a lot of heat for how his team performed off a bye week. They struggled to beat Nebraska, needing a game-winning interception on the final drive of the game in order to prevail.

Day has faced a lot of criticism, including from members of Scarlet and Game. He hasn't been able to win games against the best opponents he's faced. His record against top-five opponents is pretty poor. On Saturday, he won the biggest game of his Ohio State football coaching career.

Beating Penn State is the best Ohio State football victory Ryan Day has ever had

Taking down the Nittany Lions in a regular season game doesn't seem like it should be the biggest win on a coach that has played in a National Championship Game's resume. Day played in that game in his second season, before he had all of his own players and real expectations.

Coming into this game, the fanbase was ready to turn on him. If he lost this game, it was going to be very hard for him to come back to Columbus and still have support from the fans. Instead, he made sure that his team left Happy Valley with a victory. He came out and made sure his team was ready for the challenge.

This is Day's greatest accomplishment so far and he should bask in the glory. He should be happy with his win after all of the criticism the team took. He knows this isn't the ultimate goal though. Winning a national championship is what this team wants to do. He can solidify his legacy if he can accomplish that.