Ryan Day bemoans coming up short against Michigan

The No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes came up short today against the No.5 Michigan Wolverines, losing 42-27 against their rivals in Ann Arbor. In the post game press conference after the loss, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day talked about how upsetting it was to come up short in the big game.

“When you work for this game 365 days a year and you come up short, it’s a failure and it hurts, it hurts a lot. We didn’t run the ball very well on offense, hurt ourselves with penalties, and we didn’t stop the run on the other side of the ball,” Day said.

The Wolverines pounded and pummeled the rock down Ohio State’s throats all afternoon long. Michigan gashed Ohio State for 297 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 41 carries. Hassan Haskins had a career day, rushing for 169 rushing yards and five touchdowns on the ground on 28 carries.

Ryan Day also talked about the impressive Michigan rushing attack in the post game press conference. “Yeah, and you know they feel they control the game when that happens. They stayed on schedule the whole time, and I’m sure that was the recipe I’m sure they had to win the game. We weren’t able to stop that and that’s really, really disappointing. Especially when you know they’re going to do it. Got to take a hard look and figure out why that was.”

Haskins’ five touchdowns tied the Michigan school record for the most rushing touchdowns in a single game. The Buckeyes’ offensive line could also find no answer for Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, who had three sacks on the day.

Hutchinson is one of the top prospects in the 2022 NFL Draft and he proved why on Saturday. He’s been one of the most unblockable forces in college football for much of the season and it’s no surprise that Ohio State could find no answer for him.

The game was a dose of humility for Ohio State’s Ryan Day, who said the Buckeyes were going to “hang 100” on Michigan.

Bright Spots for Ohio State and Ryan Day

Sophomore wide receiver Jaxson Smith-Njigba continues to show that he’s one of the best receivers in college football. Simply put, he’s taken his game to new heights during the second half of the college football season.

Against Michigan today, he hauled in 11 catches for 127 receiving yards. For the 2021 season, he’s brought in 69 catches for over 1,100 receiving yards, while bringing in six receiving touchdowns. Coming out of high school, he was rated as a five-star prospect and all he’s done is prove that his lofty ranking was accurate.

In his last four games, he’s hauled in over 100 receiving yards in each game, and he even torched Nebraska for 240 receiving yards.

Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud also threw for 394 passing yards and two touchdowns in the losing effort.