Greg McElroy considers why Ryan Day took shot at Lou Holtz

The Ohio State Buckeyes pulled off a stunner this weekend, ripping out the hearts of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in South Bend in the final seconds, 17-14. While it was a heart-stopping finish, many college football fans across the country did not expect what happened in the post-game interviews with Buckeyes’ head coach Ryan Day.

The Ohio State head coach went after former Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz for his pre-game comments. The two traded words through the media and their verbal sparring has continued a few days later.

This week on his podcast, ESPN’s Greg McElroy pondered why Day decided to take a shot at the legendary football coach, who has been notoriously biased towards Notre Dame for the past few decades.

Greg McElroy shared his thoughts on the Always College Football Podcast

“What Ryan Day is doing there is he’s not, he’s doesn’t necessarily care about taking shots at Lou Holtz. That doesn’t do him any good. If anything….directing shots at Lou Holtz….it’s kind of unnecessary,” McElroy said on Wednesday. “It’s a little bit low-hanging fruit. But at the same time, his job is to appeal to the people of Ohio. That is all he cares about. Like right now, he’s come under some heat.

“After the most recent performances against Michigan and the performance against Georgia last year. And how they’ve come up short against Alabama in the national championship game. He’s come under some heat.

“So when he says Ohio against the world, that’s a rallying cry for his own team. It’s a rallying cry for his own fan base. He doesn’t have an obligation to everybody else to be, ‘Oh, we’re presidential and this is how we’re gonna handle ourselves. It’s a call to arms. And for the record, I love Ryan Day. You guys know that. I think everybody, I hope everybody knows that. I think he’s a great coach. And just because you lost a couple of games to Michigan doesn’t mean you think your team’s soft or you stink or whatever it is. You lost a couple of games. It happens. I think Ryan Day’s a really good coach,” McElroy said on the “Always College Football podcast.”

“But since when has it ever been Ohio against the world?” the former Alabama QB asked. “Because I’m pretty sure every year, it doesn’t matter what year it is. You could lose C.J. Stroud. Put the Buckeyes in the playoffs. Every preseason, Ohio State’s in the Top 5. If anything else, Ohio State’s always propped up, man. And rightfully so. They have a good team. They have a good coach.”

“They’ve got another special opportunity lying in front of them here this season to potentially chase a championship,” McElroy continued. “Where I really believe if that field goal goes through the uprights last fall, against Georgia, in January or whatever it was….December. I really believe that Ohio State would be the reigning national champions. So, I don’t really blame Ryan Day for reacting that way, because it’s a call to arms for his team. Clearly, it got his team to play really hard and took some advantage of some mistakes down the stretch, to get a win on the road.”

Up next, Ohio State will get a bit of rest before taking on that Maryland Terrapins. That one is slated for Saturday, Oct. 7th. Kickoff is set for noon EST.