Desmond Howard reacts to critical message Maurice Clarett sent to Ohio State coach Ryan Day

After Maurice Clarett challenged Ohio State to bounce back in a big way against Georgia, Desmond Howard also decided not to pull any punches regarding Ryan Day and company.

“I’m rooting to Ryan Day, but I’ve made these comments on purpose, hopefully they get to them and hopefully it infuriates them,” Clarett said on Tuesday during a radio show appearance, regarding challenging Day after the Michigan loss. “I hope that he knows that this is a major moment. He can make something for his legacy.

“I hope the players know as well. They can make something of themselves because the stakes are high, the moment is important and everybody’s watching you. Now it’s like, what do you want to do?”

Alas, the former Wolverines star turned College GameDay analyst joined Get Up to elaborate on Clarett’s thoughts, explaining how Day’s standing with the Ohio State fanbase could suffer some serious, lasting damage if he can’t defeat the Bulldogs.

“Shoot, November 26 when we were in Columbus, and GameDay did the show that we normally do on Saturday mornings, we talked about this game and I said that listen, there’s a lot at stake for Ryan Day in this game. He lost a year ago in Ann Arbor, and people came up with multiple excuses, saying it was snowing and all this stuff. But then now you’re in Columbus, and you have the guy at this point that I don’t know if he was the frontrunner, but a quarterback in CJ Stroud who a lot of people thought could potentially win the Heisman. You’ve got Marvin Harrison Jr. One of the best receivers in the country. It was a beautiful 50 degrees outside. So there were no excuses. But then Michigan won by at least three touchdowns again,” explained Howard. “So at that point, all the fanbase cares about for the Ohio State Buckeyes is the Michigan game. You can say his winning percentile is over 90%. As they watched their team get handled by Michigan for the second year in a row, that was the last thing on their mind. What’s our head coach’s winning percentage.

“Now they have an opportunity to show they can compete on a high level against the No. 1 team in the country, the Georgia Bulldogs. If they go out there and handle their business and upset Georgia, then that would go a long way in helping his fanbase forget what happened November 26 in the shoe.”

Alas, it’s tough to argue with Howard’s point, as Jim Harbaugh faced the same criticisms when the Wolverines couldn’t get past Ohio State for many seasons.

Regardless, a trip to the national championship would quell many possible concerns regarding Ryan Day’s tenure with the Buckeyes. Ohio State has a great chance to do so, and it’ll be a fascinating game between the two college football powers come New Year’s Eve.