Ryan Day

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day might be looking to redefine his role for the 2023 season.

ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit reported Monday on College GameDay (via the Columbus Dispatch's Colin Gay) that Day indicated "he's going to stop calling plays next year because he needs to become more of a manager as a head coach."

"And when you are prepping a game plan, it's a lot more that goes into it Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday to be ready to call those plays Saturday," Herbstreit said. "So he's thinking about relinquishing those [responsibilities], which would be the first time ever. I don't know who, Brian Hartline, or whoever, would be involved."

Ohio State is 45-6 and has reached the College Football Playoff three times in Day's four-plus years as head coach. Still, he might have the hottest seat of any Power Five coach heading into next year.

The 43-year-old seems to recognize the exacting standards of his job and how quickly any positive work he had done before can be undone.

After Ohio State missed the playoff and was pushed around in defeats to Oregon and Michigan in 2021, he overhauled his coaching staff. Most notably, he moved on from Kerry Coombs and hired Jim Knowles as the defensive coordinator.

Handing over offensive play-calling duties would be another major shift and a response to one of Ohio State's biggest issues in 2022. Despite Day being an offensive specialist, the unit rarely hit the heights you would've expected given the talent at its disposal.

C.J. Stroud's completion percentage (66.3), passer rating (177.7) and passing yards per game (283.7) were all down from 2021.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba missing most of the season certainly didn't help, but the Buckeyes still had a pair of 1,000-yard receivers in Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka. Harrison is arguably the best pass-catcher in the country.

Day already has to replace outgoing offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson, who took the Tulsa job. Whether promoting Hartline, elevating another assistant or bringing in an outside hire is the pivot, empowering the next offensive coordinator more shouldn't necessarily reflect negatively upon Day.

Nick Saban is arguably the greatest head coach in college football history and he isn't afraid to let his coordinators call plays. Saban's willingness to take a step back and allow Lane Kiffin to run the offensive show is what helped the program adapt and remain a perennial title contender.

Delegating the play-calling on offense might be Day's last big gambit, though. If Ohio State underperforms on that side of the ball and suffers a third straight defeat to Michigan in 2023, then the buck might stop with the head coach.

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day lamented a missed opportunity in Saturday's 42-41 loss to the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Peach Bowl.

According to ESPN's Alex Scarborough, Day suggested the loss hurts more than most due to the belief that they should have found a way to come out on top: "I don't think there's one guy in that locker room who doesn't feel like we should have won the game. And I think, again, that's a part of this thing that's going to sit in our stomachs for a long time."

The Buckeyes had their opportunities, as they blew 14-point leads in both the first and second halves, and kicker Noah Ruggles missed what would have been a game-winning, 50-yard field goal as time expired.

Ohio State undoubtedly had its chances to put the game away, but it was unable to stop the Georgia offense late in the game.

The Bulldogs scored on each of their final three possessions, including touchdowns on their final two. One was a 76-yard strike from Stetson Bennett to Arian Smith on a busted coverage, and the other was a 10-yard pass from Bennett to Adonai Mitchell with just 54 seconds remaining.

For all intents and purposes, the Buckeyes could have closed it out on their second-to-last drive. They impressively held the ball for nearly six minutes and got into the red zone, but they couldn't punch it into the end zone and had to settle for a field goal to extend the lead to six with 2:43 left.

Georgia took advantage of the opening by scoring the go-ahead touchdown, and although Stroud got OSU into field goal position, Ruggles' 50-yard try was nowhere close.

Ohio State clearly came to play after its regular season ended in disappointment with a blowout loss to rival Michigan, but Georgia's experience in big games and clutch situations ruled the day.

The Buckeyes are 45-6 in parts of five seasons under Day, but they have yet to win a national title under his leadership, and have gone to the CFP National Championship Game only once during his tenure despite their immense talent.

While the sting of the loss to Michigan would have gone away if Ohio State beat Georgia on the same day that Michigan fell to TCU, it wasn't in the cards for the Buckeyes.

Now, Day and the entire Ohio State program have no choice but to regroup during the offseason and figure out who will replace the key players who are NFL bound, including a star quarterback in Stroud should he declare for the draft as expected.

In the nine-year history of the College Football Playoff, lopsided results have been a constant. For every exciting semifinal, the corresponding game brought a blowout score.

Never before had both games included a margin of fewer than 17 points. Not only did 2022 feature two close games, this year's semifinals were also on track for the first pair of upsets in the CFP.

First, the No. 3 TCU Horned Frogs continued a fairy-tale season in an upset of the No. 2 Michigan Wolverines. And then, the No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes took a 38-24 lead into the fourth quarter on the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs. There were apparently two slippers to fit Saturday night.

But the reigning champs spoiled the party.

As the ball dropped and confetti fell to the streets in New York City, the Georgia Bulldogs kicked off an improbable—yet initially expected—celebration on the turf in Atlanta.

Georgia rattled off an 18-3 advantage in the closing frame, stealing a 42-41 victory from the upset-minded Buckeyes. In a bit of déjà vu, Stetson Bennett hit AD Mitchell for the go-ahead touchdown—just as they did in UGA's national championship win last season.

Stetson Bennett ➡️ Adonai Mitchell

Georgia takes the lead with 54 seconds left 😱https://t.co/eWd4uWtdJR

— 247Sports (@247Sports) January 1, 2023

Georgia led for a grand total of one minute and 49 seconds in the Peach Bowl. Until that final quarter, Ohio State outplayed the SEC champions—and it wasn't particularly close.

OSU quarterback C.J. Stroud completed 23 of 34 passes for 348 yards against the nation's best defense, throwing four touchdowns with no turnovers. The two-time Heisman Trophy finalist also scampered for 34 yards, including a key 27-yard scramble that put the Buckeyes in position to steal a victory from the jaws of defeat.

Interestingly enough, they showcased the first offense all season to score even 10 points—ten!—and commit zero turnovers against UGA's stout defense. Ohio State provided a legitimate fight to an opponent that rarely dealt with one in 2022.

But in gut-wrenching fashion for the Buckeyes, veteran kicker Noah Ruggles pulled his 50-yard attempt wide left effectively as time expired.

pic.twitter.com/VjkHcPBsf0

— no context college football (@nocontextcfb) January 1, 2023

There would be no redemption arc.

Ohio State wasted a chance to dethrone rival Michigan in the Big Ten last month. About a week ago, the OSU coaching staff had a rough early signing period and whiffed on a couple of key targets. On the sport's second-largest stage Saturday night, the Bucks fell agonizingly short of stunning top-ranked UGA.

Rather than nearly eliminating the festering anger in Columbus, OSU coach Ryan Day is headed for a noisy offseason. Simultaneously, Georgia boss Kirby Smart put himself on track to become an undeniable program legend.

Between an exceptionally talented roster and a highly favorable schedule, UGA entered 2022 with high expectations. It's merely one sample size, but five of B/R's six college football writers projected the Dawgs would make the CFP. This was largely the anticipated outcome.

Nevertheless, this is uncharted territory for UGA.

The program is officially recognized with national titles in 1980 and 2021, while Georgia also claimed a crown in 1942. As you can imagine, Kirby Smart—born in 1975—did not coach either previous team. He's on the brink of becoming the Bulldogs' first-ever two-time champion coach.

Bennett, meanwhile, has a chance to etch his name into college football lore as the most iconic walk-on in history.

The sixth-year senior put together a stellar two-game run in the 2021 CFP, and he's off to a tremendous start in 2022. Bennett threw for 398 yards and accounted for four touchdowns in the victory, also tossing a 76-yard score to Arian Smith earlier in the fourth quarter.

Stetson Bennett DIME to Arian Smith 🔥 https://t.co/FAYotTWpqp

— garrett (@gxrrettgsn) January 1, 2023

The late-game heroics vanquished the storyline that could've been.

Five years ago, third-ranked Georgia and fourth-ranked Alabama won their semifinal games. However, both teams were actually favored in those matchups with Oklahoma and Clemson, respectively.

TCU and Ohio State would've created a unique championship showdown—and perhaps the only double-underdog clash in the four-team CFP era, given the impending 12-team format.

Yet the Dawgs refused to cooperate, punching their ticket to Los Angeles for a date with the Horned Frogs.

Georgia, without question, will be favored. TCU will have a chance to obliterate the expectation of UGA winning a second straight title. There is a world in which the underdog still hoists the championship trophy.

Ohio State had a chance to ensure that reality.

For that to not happen, it took Georgia's 14-point comeback—multiple, really. It required the Dawgs' last-minute touchdown and OSU's last-second field goal to hook left. Georgia mixed a tremendous level of skill with a necessary bit of luck to survive.

But the favorite is alive. The underdogs don't get all the glory in 2022.

It's hard to imagine C.J. Stroud playing much better on Saturday night. And against the defending champion Georgia Bulldogs, it still wasn't enough.

Despite holding a 14-point lead to start the fourth quarter, Ohio State couldn't hold on against Georgia, losing 42-41 in a College Football Playoff semifinal for the ages.

GEORGIA TAKES THE LEAD WITH UNDER ONE MINUTE LEFT‼️

What. A. Game. #CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/wuHbgnRkRz

— ESPN (@espn) January 1, 2023

The Buckeyes had a shot to win the game with just three seconds remaining, but Noah Ruggles' 50-yard field-goal attempt hooked far wide.

GEORGIA IS HEADED BACK TO THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP‼️ pic.twitter.com/9zENcba88W

— ESPN (@espn) January 1, 2023

Suffice to say, Ohio State Twitter was in disarray after the heartbreaker, namely at Ohio State's game management on the final drive:

What in the ever-loving-best-Nathaniel-Hackett-impersonation-fook was Ryan Day doing at the end of that sequence?

— Thor Nystrom (@thorku) January 1, 2023

Incredible game.

Taking the ball out of CJ Stroud’s hands on first down, given that he had put the team on his back all night, would infuriate me if I were an Ohio State fan.

Stay aggressive until you are in chip-shot range. A 50-yarder doesn’t qualify.

— Sheil Kapadia (@SheilKapadia) January 1, 2023

Let’s not Blame that missed Field Goal on why Ohio State lost the game!!! It was a lot that transpired in the last 9 minutes that decided this football game! Real Talk.

— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) January 1, 2023

That ending sequence for Ohio State left something to be desired… can’t really blame a college kicker for not hitting a 50 yarder from the left hash

— Chris B. Brown (@smartfootball) January 1, 2023

Stroud had gained 5 yards, 12 yards and 27 yards on 3 straight plays. The ball was at Georgia’s 31, Ohio state had 2 timeouts.

Ohio State runs the ball and ends up kicking a FG from their 32 to lose the game 🤮. Just a disgusting way to end the game. Disgusting.

— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) January 1, 2023

Ryan Day did a great job for like 59 minutes in that game, then got conservative and set up his kicker for a 50-yarder from the left hash.

Game changed on the fake punt TO by Smart, and the Harrison hit to knock him out of the game.

— Sam Vecenie (@Sam_Vecenie) January 1, 2023

Ryan Day is not a great head coach.

— Les Bowen (@LesBowen) January 1, 2023

That’s on Ryan Day.

— Brandon Walker (@BFW) January 1, 2023

It is also time to have a conversation about Ryan Day.

How does one get THAT conservative on the cusp of feasible field-goal range with two timeouts in one’s pocket?

— Parker Thune (@ParkerThune) January 1, 2023

It was a particularly harsh result on Stroud, who was brilliant, finishing 23-of-34 for 348 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions.

OHIO STATE STRIKES FIRST 🎯

C.J. Stroud ➡️ Marvin Harrison Jr. for 6❗️ pic.twitter.com/MsWHE3DM1V

— ESPN (@espn) January 1, 2023

MARVIN. HARRISON. JR.

A diving catch to extend the Buckeyes' lead 💪 #CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/8co0XnSAUw

— ESPN (@espn) January 1, 2023

C.J. Stroud drops in his 4th TD pass of the night 🎯 pic.twitter.com/p6w83xC348

— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) January 1, 2023

Perhaps just as impressively to the throwing chops he put on display Saturday was the playmaking ability he showed with his legs, rushing for 34 yards while extending a number of plays after breaking the pocket.

But for all of his many impressive accomplishments during his college career, so much of the narrative surrounding him has focused on what he hasn't done.

Hasn't beat Michigan. Hasn't won a Big Ten title. Hasn't won a College Football Playoff game. A two-time Heisman Trophy finalist, but never the winner. Not much of a runner or playmaker with his legs.

Stroud didn't erase those narratives Saturday, but he did make them feel unnecessarily negative. He was awesome, in what was a performance worthy of a future first-round pick at the NFL draft, and folks took notice:

Stroud making himself some real money so far

— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) January 1, 2023

Hopefully this will silence all the C.J. Stroud doubters. Can’t imagine how anyone can watch this performance - against a phenomenal Georgia defense - and not see NFL stardom. Special package of size, arm talent, athleticism, mentality! ⭕️📈

— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) January 1, 2023

CJ stroud came to play!

— Dez Bryant (@DezBryant) January 1, 2023

Yall mess around and take Will Levis before Young and Stroud if you want to…

— Tony Jones (@Tjonesonthenba) January 1, 2023

It’s not easy to slow things down against UGA defense. Stroud showing incredible calm/poise and delivering one strike after another. Slow heartbeat. Big time impressed!

— Daniel Jeremiah (@MoveTheSticks) January 1, 2023

Stroud's accuracy and touch are really really good. Ball is on-time and right where it needs to be.

Yes, he has great WRs, but he helps them out consistently.

— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) January 1, 2023

The difference between an upset win and a heartbreaking loss was that Stroud and the Buckeyes were held to just three points in the decisive fourth quarter, however. Day will have to own some of that, despite putting on a coaching masterclass for the prior 59 minutes.

That's the cruelty of sports. Sometimes, just one minute can define your legacy. Day and Stroud will be feeling the weight of that harsh truth for some time.

Day will have plenty of time to change his narrative in the future for Ohio State. Stroud will have the chance to do so in the NFL. But on Saturday night, both were left to lament what might have been.

Ryan Day isn't giving up the dream.

Ohio State's head coach still believes his team did enough to qualify for the College Football Playoff despite Saturday's 45-23 loss at home against hated rivals Michigan.

"As we get to those decisions, you got to look at the body of work and what we've done," he told reporters. "We got a lot of good pieces on this team and came up short today, but if we were able to get a shot in the top four, we would be a dangerous team."

He also felt like the final score on Saturday wasn't indicative of how close the game was.

"Obviously it got out of control down the stretch, but it wasn't like we were outmatched in terms of just the overall play," he noted.

That's debatable, though Ohio State did take a 20-17 lead into halftime and only trailed 24-20 after three quarters before the Wolverines outscored the Buckeyes 21-3 in the final frame.

The issue for the Buckeyes is that they won't have the Big Ten Championship Game to bolster their resume. The Associated Press poll bumped them down to No. 5 on Sunday, though the only rankings that truly matter come from the College Football Playoff committee.

Georgia (12-0), Michigan (12-0) and TCU (12-0) will all be locks if they win their respective conference title games. The final spot will likely come down to USC or Ohio State, and if the Trojans win the Pac-12 title game, they'll almost assuredly get the nod.

What will become more interesting is if any of the aforementioned teams stumble. Georgia and Michigan are probably safe at this point, but a TCU or USC loss could thrust the Buckeyes back into the conversation.

For much of the last two decades, Ohio State has overwhelmed Michigan in The Game. Whenever the schools met—no matter the records, spread or other context—the expectation steadily became an Ohio State win.

Blowout, possibly. Close, maybe. One way or another, though, the Buckeyes would be celebrating as the clock expired. After all, they've ripped off a pair of winning streaks of at least seven games in this bitter—but very lopsided—series over the last 20 years.

The most balanced rivalries tend to run in cycles, however.

And the power is shifting back in Michigan's favor.

Perception can change quickly, but it's definitely not an overnight thing. One victory—as Michigan earned in 2011, sandwiched between those long skids—snaps a streak, not a trend.

Just two years ago, for example, the showdown was canceled because of health and safety protocols related to COVID-19. Unfair as the reaction was, there was a festering anger that Michigan wanted nothing to do with the matchup amid a generally awful year for the program. The Wolverines were 2-4 that season and had dropped eight straight games to OSU, including all five in Jim Harbaugh's then-disappointing tenure.

Fast-forward 12 months, and Michigan was in a significantly more competitive state. Still, while the 2021 Wolverines had a great offensive line and standout defense, they hadn't beaten OSU in ages. They hadn't played a quarterback of C.J. Stroud's caliber. They hadn't consistently excelled on offense, especially in red-zone opportunities.

Sorta sounding like déjà vu, huh?

That result last November—a 42-27 triumph by Michigan—basically repeated itself Saturday in the Wolverines' 45-23 demolition of their rivals.

Michigan has that tremendous O-line again. The defense has replaced a few critical pieces extremely well. But the passing game has regularly bogged down the offense, particularly in red-zone chances.

Michigan's strength of schedule was considerably low. The best playmakers, running backs Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards, were questionable all week because of injuries. Plus, the Buckeyes had the home-field advantage in Columbus, where the Wolverines hadn't won since 2000.

On paper, Michigan had every reason to lose.

But this, quite clearly, is no longer the same program or coaching staff that couldn't find answers for Ohio State and was mesh'd to death in 2018. Instead, that conversation has been suddenly flipped on its head.

Ohio State reacted to last season's loss by breaking open the checkbook for defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, who oversaw a stellar Oklahoma State defense in 2021. That decision has been simply magnificent all year, evidenced by Ohio State's climb to a top-10 ranking.

But on Saturday, it simply didn't matter.

Michigan hasn't really showcased an explosive scoring attack. While it entered Saturday ninth in the nation in scoring at 39.4 points per game, its offensive outbursts have come against the likes of Colorado State, UConn and Hawai'i.

Steady and efficient, absolutely, but a unit tied for 71st in the country in gains of 30-plus yards with 21 (1.9 per game) is objectively not a big-play group.

So, naturally, the Wolverines rattled off an incredible day with Heisman Trophy candidate Blake Corum on the sideline for most of the day. They scored five touchdowns of 45-plus yards, matching their season total of such scores.

The season!

Michigan offense DESTROYED Ohio State:

J.J. McCarthy: 290 total YDs, 4 total TDs

Donovan Edwards: 22 rush, 216 YDs, 2 TDs

Cornelius Johnson: 4 rec, 160 YDs, 2 TDs

😳 pic.twitter.com/hYykbIKfO0

— Bleacher Report CFB (@BR_CFB) November 26, 2022

One victory, again, may be an aberration. College football is occasionally strange, and talent doesn't always win. Rivalries can throw another twist into those bizarre results.

Two blowouts, however, send a message. The notice is clear: We, not you, are the team to beat.

Michigan won't be here forever. The pendulum will swing back in Ohio State's favor eventually. Heck, we're not promising the Wolverines to win in 2023 or to dominate the series like Ohio State did for the last 20 years.

However, when the teams line up in Ann Arbor next November, the Buckeyes will have more questions to answer. Even if Michigan has a lesser record, Ohio State will be the program with the most to prove. That's the nature of two consecutive emphatic results in a rivalry.

But right now, the future is merely a hypothetical.

Welcome to your new reality, Ohio State. Michigan has become the class of the Big Ten.